Big news…
Forty-two percent of the Minnesota State Legislature wants a state audit of the Minnesota Orchestral Association.
Hullo!
In the great tradition of Song of the Lark British reaction GIFs, here’s Benedict Cumberbatch giving the thumbs up to accountability.
Here’s the full letter from the legislators…
Filed under Labor Disputes, Minnesota Orchestra
Let’s pretend you’ve been asked to analyze the investment income of eight corporations. Consequently, eight shiny charts have just been delivered to your desk…
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Before you go any further, scribble down some thoughts, free of any preconceptions you bring to this blog. Who is doing the best? Who is doing the worst? Who is under-performing? Who is over-performing? Who had the best and worst years? Are there any questions you’d like to ask the men and women in charge of these corporations about the investment decisions they’ve made over the last few years?
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Filed under Labor Disputes, Minnesota Orchestra, The Orchestra Business
Awareness of the Minnesota Orchestra lockout grows daily. However, if you’re just tuning in, I imagine it’s tough to know where to start. So to make things easier, I tagged some entries “merge lane.” These are entries that don’t require any background knowledge about what’s been going on. Pick a few merge lane entries to read, and soon you’ll be up to speed!
Welcome to the Minnesota Orchestra lockout information highway!
However, if you prefer to tackle things chronologically, I do keep an extensive “table of contents” here. And you can always explore topics using the tags in the right-hand column of the blog.
For this particular “merge lane” entry, I gathered 25 quotes that contradict the narrative Minnesota Orchestra CEO Michael Henson has been selling the last couple of years…in other words,”What Michael Henson Doesn’t Want You To Read.” Enjoy!
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An orchestra does not recover easily, from such drastic cuts, if ever. – former Minnesota Orchestra music directors Edo de Waart, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Neville Marriner, Star Tribune editorial, 6 October 2012
Filed under Labor Disputes, Minnesota Orchestra
This February, Minnesota Orchestra CEO Michael Henson was thrust into the international spotlight like never before. He became a recurring character on Norman Lebrecht’s widely read blog Slipped Disc (“Michael Henson and his board continue, against all logic, to defend their lockout” – “a cultural tragedy, scripted by a pair of tough-talking boards and feeble managements” – “we have received a recording of Michael Henson’s stumbling appearance before the state legislature in Minnesota“). Alex Ross of The New Yorker opined, “The management and board in Minnesota need to think long and hard about what they are doing.” On another New Yorker blog, Russell Platt wrote that “Michael Henson, the Minnesota Orchestral Association’s C.E.O., seems determined to put his foot in it.” Orchestra blog Adaptistration ran a “Most Bush League CEO” competition, which Henson won by a country mile (as of this writing, with 77% of the vote). Closer to home, MinnPost was critical of the attitude Mr. Henson took regarding the neutral Grammy concert put on by Mayor Rybak and Judy Dayton, and state legislators were obviously skeptical of Mr. Henson’s testimony.
Especially in light of the massive cuts in compensation that Mr. Henson is proposing for Minnesota Orchestra musicians (thirty to fifty percent), many of my readers have wondered if he has also taken substantial cuts. So I ran some numbers for you…
Filed under Labor Disputes, Minnesota Orchestra
On the heels of this article, Losses Mounting As Orchestra Lockout Enters Fifth Month, in which we hear yet again how the lockout is wreaking economic havoc, I got to thinking.
In April 2012, the Minnesota Orchestral Association put forth a contract proposal to its musicians. They said the average total compensation per musician (including insurance, etc.) would be $119,000 a year, or $9916 a month. (That number could definitely be disputed, but let’s just take it at face value for now.) According to the musicians’ website, there are 80 musicians in the Minnesota Orchestra not on leave (and with the imminent departure of Pitnarry Shin, it will be 79). That means the MOA acknowledged it could afford to spend $7,139,520 on musician expenses during the nine months of the October 2012 to June 2013 season.
Five months have now passed. Obviously the MOA has paid the musicians nothing during that time, so they should still have that $7,139,520 available to spend on musician compensation this season. Correct?
The MOA says that the average musician received $170,000 in total compensation in 2012, or $14,166 per month. (Once again, I know this number is disputed, but stick with me.) That means every four months the MOA paid out $56,664 in salary and benefits to each of the 80 musicians, resulting in an expense every four months of $4,533,120. At the very most.
To sum: they should have $7,139,520 on hand to spend on musicians. To pay the musicians at their old levels of compensation for four months would cost them, at the very most, $4,533,120. And I wouldn’t be surprised if musicians would be happy to have guaranteed work at levels slightly lower than their 2012 rates as the negotiations continue (although, of course, it would be up to them what rate they would ultimately accept).
Therefore…
There is no financial reason why the MOA can’t play and talk through June.
Ideological? Yes. Practical? No.
Filed under Labor Disputes, Minnesota Orchestra
I worked up some charts yesterday, both to gain insight into the Minnesota Orchestral Association’s math, and to prove (once again) that I am a massive nerd with absolutely no life whatsoever. I used numbers gleaned from Wikipedia’s list of the population of American metro areas, this list the Strib published of orchestra base salaries, and a chart the Minnesota musicians made about other orchestras’ endowment sizes.
Filed under Labor Disputes, Minnesota Orchestra, Uncategorized
Michael Henson is up for an award…and you can help him win it!
Filed under Labor Disputes, Minnesota Orchestra
On 12 February, Minnesota Orchestra CEO Michael Henson testified before the Legacy Committee of the Minnesota House of Representatives. About 75% of his testimony was word-for-word identical to the one he gave at the 23 January hearing of the Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee on the effects of lockouts, so I’d like to mention I discussed that January testimony in-depth in this two-part essay, if you’re interested in reading that.
Henson’s January performance was by no means strong, but his February performance was disastrous. As soon as he was asked to answer questions off-the-cuff, he had great difficulty expressing himself. There was incredulous giggling in the audience, as well as spontaneous applause when Rep. Alice Hausman expressed her concerns. Several legislators were clearly unsatisfied by the answers that Mr. Henson gave, saying things such as “That doesn’t answer my question” and “so you’re not sure.” So I wanted to review the questions that were asked, remind everyone exactly what Mr. Henson said, and then discuss why certain of his answers were so problematic…and, when I can, answer the questions more fully.
Filed under Labor Disputes, Minnesota Orchestra
I was just about to fall asleep when I jolted wide wide awake with the realization:
I DIDN’T BLOG ABOUT THE MPR CALL-IN PROGRAM YET! I only mentioned it on my Facebook page! Argh! I’m dropping the ball! *wink*
So here’s the deal… Courtesy of the musicians’ Facebook page…
Minnesota Orchestra Principal Cellist and Negotiating Committee member, Tony Ross, and CEO Michael Henson will be guests on MPR’s The Daily Circuit tomorrow, Friday the 15th, at 11AM to discuss the lockout with host Tom Weber. Please tune in and call in with your questions!
You can listen online by tuning into MPRnews.org.
Filed under Labor Disputes, Minnesota Orchestra
And here’s a rather fascinating coda to what went on after the main body of the testimony… Mr. Henson was actually called back from the audience to answer a few questions from lawmakers. This concluding portion of the hearing can be heard starting at approximately 1:35:00 in this mp3.
Rep. Phyllis Kahn was the chair. Other representatives who spoke include Anna Wills (R), Jean Wagenius, John Ward (DFL), Leon Lillie (DFL), Dean Urdahl (R), and Mike Freiberg (DFL). This meeting occurred on 12 February 2013 in front of the Legacy Committee of the Minnesota House of Representatives.
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PK: Thank you, all. Are there any quick questions for Committee members? And again, we’ll…Rep. Wills…again, we will be continuing this discussion; I don’t want to stop it here, but…
Filed under Labor Disputes, Minnesota Orchestra
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Song of the Lark 