Song of the Lark

Filed under Uncategorized

February 16, 2013 · 10:35 am

I Answer Some Questions for Michael Henson

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.

18 Comments

Tagged as HEARINGS, Michael Henson

February 14, 2013 · 11:55 pm

Michael Henson on a Call In Program (!) (!) (!)

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.

2 Comments

Tagged as Michael Henson

February 14, 2013 · 9:14 pm

Transcription of Feb 12 Hearing, Part 5

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.

***

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…

Tagged as HEARINGS

February 14, 2013 · 9:03 pm

Transcription of Feb 12 Hearing, Part 4

Part 4 of the February 12 hearing…

Other websites have posted a transcription of the next portion of the hearing, so I won’t bother transcribing that myself…

Here is SPCO bassoonist Carole Mason Smith’s testimony over at the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra musicians’ website.

Here is Save Our SPCO chair Mariellen Jacobson’s testimony at SOSPCO’s website.

Both well worth reading! Fabulous job, ladies.

Tagged as HEARINGS, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra

February 14, 2013 · 8:58 pm

Transcription of Feb 12 Hearing, Part 3

Here is Orchestrate Excellence’s testimony from the February 12 hearing before the Minnesota House of Representatives Legacy Committee. Orchestrate Excellence’s portion begins at roughly 1:15:30 into this mp3. The committee was chaired by Phyllis Kahn. The representatives from Orchestrate Excellence were Paula DeCosse and Laurie Greeno.

***

PK: Next up, Paula DeCosse, the co-chair of Orchestrate Excellence. Is that person here? Okay, yes. Paula de Cosse and –

LG: Laurie Greeno, the other co-chair of Orchestrate Excellence.

Tagged as HEARINGS

February 14, 2013 · 8:53 pm

Transcription of Feb 12 Hearing, Part 2

Several Minnesota Orchestra musicians – Cathy Schubilske, Tony Ross, and Doug Wright – testified in front of the Legacy Committee of the Minnesota House of Representatives in a hearing on February 12. The chair of the committee was Rep. Phyllis Kahn. Other representatives who spoke in this portion of the hearing include Rep. John Ward (DFL) and Rep. Joe McDonald (R).

You can listen to their testimony in this mp3. Their portion begins at roughly 1:02:00.

***

PK: The next person on our list is, um, Cathy Schubilske. I apologize if I mis-pronounce words. Cathy Schubilske the violinist with the Minnesota Orchestra and some musicians from the Orchestra. And each of you should say your name for the tape and identify yourselves.

DW: I’m Douglas Wright; I’m the principal trombonist of the Orchestra and I’ve been in the Orchestra for eighteen years.