Discord at the symphony (we're NOT talking about the music)

By Barry Johnson

We know that symphony orchestras are the canary in the mineshaft of the classical arts, mostly because their expenses are hard to adjust because of the fixed expense of musician salaries (among other things) and their revenues are hard to raise. We've explored the problems at the Detroit Symphony in depth, but other orchestras are in trouble, too, some of them in far worse shape than Detroit simply because they don't have Detroit's history or cash reserves.

In the past week, we noticed these reports about struggling symphony orchestras around the country. We'll start with an update on Detroit and move to Milwaukee, Louisville and Honolulu. Gradually, certain patterns are emerging in these accounts (which would be far better if the reporters involved would put current financial troubles in context by using the readily available IRS Form 990 reports of the various symphonies).


A tax to support the majors? Detroit has more than its share of struggling cultural groups, and the Michigan legislature is considering a plan to raise property taxes in the three counties around Detroit to help the zoo and Detroit Institute of Arts.  And with the musicians' strike in its eighth week, there's a move to add the Detroit Symphony to that list, though its late in the legislative game. When the Detroit Free Press asked symphony officials to comment about the bill, they had no comment, saying they still hoped to extract massive pay cuts from the musicians. Great. Informal talks between management and the union resumed Nov. 5 after six weeks of silence.