In Friday’s (4/18) Houston Chronicle, Steve Brown reports, “The Houston Symphony’s players and management have reached a four-year labor agreement that will increase the orchestra’s minimum salary to $97,240 in the 2017-18 season. With nearly six months to go on the current contract, the players ratified the new agreement Thursday after three months of negotiations, the orchestra announced. The agreement helps smooth the way for the inaugural season of new music director Andrés Orozco-Estrada, who takes over this fall. The players’ minimum pay will increase by an average of 2.85 each year from this season’s $86,840. Many musicians earn more than the minimum rate because of seniority or because of higher salaries for each section’s principal and assistant principal players. ‘I, together with my orchestra colleagues, look forward to our work with Andrés, the staff and board to advance the artistry and reputation of the Houston Symphony,’ said David Kirk, the orchestra’s principal tuba player and chair of the musicians’ negotiating committee. ‘We welcome the opportunity to serve our hometown in an even broader way through additional free community programming allowed for in the new agreement.’ … ‘The terms will enable us to grow artistically, expand our engagement with Houston’s growing and diverse population, and maintain a sustainable balanced budget,’ said Mark Hanson, the orchestra’s executive director.”
Posted April 18, 2014
