syrdavid

"A conductor without an orchestra is just a guy wavin' a stick."
-----Mitch Miller

It has been very difficult to get the word out about Symphony Syracuse beyond a brief mention in the P-S and no reviews. Surely, at the very least, this is a newsworthy event to write about.

Just so Mr Dekaney cannot be accused of being disingenuous about "making a living" as a freelance musician in Syracuse, he might also add that he has a wife with a full time job and benefits, he teaches at Syracuse University, and he is the Interim Director of the Center for Live Music in the 21st Century, and more. Not every musician in Syracuse has those advantages.

Great concert by two of Syracuse's best.

"The Syracuse Philharmonic held two public forums in September at the Onondaga County War Memorial, and people spoke about the kind of music they’d like to hear, where they’d like to hear it and when."

Does anyone fact check these things? This is what the Philharmonic people might want the public to believe, but it is not true. Most of the people I heard commenting were skeptical of the Philharmonic plan and suggested they go back to the drawing board. Did they listen? It doesn't seem so.

Aren't the president and music director of the Philharmonic full-time employees of SU? It would seem that SU and the Philharmonic are attached some way. $$$$.

Think Packers or Patriots . . .

By the way, in 2005 the SSO had been showing small surpluses for several years.

Thank you, senecariversam, for the very reasonable explanation. You might say, it was just good business.

What I see, however, is that Ridings and Nichols made their contingency plans, allowed the SSO senior staffers plenty of time to leave the SSO, got Daniel Hege his golden parachute at SU, but cut the players loose without any contingencies as well as allowing the community be left holding the bag with unused tickets, unfulfilled season tickets, and a half-hearted fund drive that the community got hooked into.

But, as you say, the assets are safe.

According to this article, the bankruptcy of the SSO was in the works as early as 2005 between M&T bank, and SSO officials Ridings and Nichols. Doesn't anyone see some moral and ethical failings here, if not illegal, as the SSO continued to sell tickets, seek donations and funding from government and institutions, and negotiate contracts "in good faith."

Had Ridings and Nichols offered the assets to M&T at that time? It would seem like a good story for some investigative reporter to investigate. Is this how the "elites" in our area operate? It sounds shameful to me.

M&T's donation of the archives, albums, paintings from the SSO offices to the Historical Society appears to be a very good move. The Historical Society has a long history of care, preservation, and display of their assets.

However, one has to ask "Why the instruments to the Cultural Resources Council?" Are they experts in the care and maintenance of professional grade musical instruments? Do they have the budget and facilities to maintain these instruments, and just what are their plans for them? Does someone there play the contrabassoon or the celestra? Are they starting a band of their own? Perhaps it might better have been donated to Symphony Syracuse whose members might actually put these instruments to regular and good use.

The same can be said for the SSO library. It might better have gone to Symphony Syracuse so that it would actually be used for public concerts rather than sitting in a locked room somewhere on the SU campus.

Fairydust, if even one statement in your rant was remotely true, you might have a point. There's no "slush" fund (and it's "us" taxpayers), musicians aren't employees of the city/county and don't get any county benefits, and if you could tell the difference you might find that SU students think it's an important part of their education to have a professional orchestra in their town.

It's obvious that the Phil board of advisors don't represent the community but only their own narrow interests that might be characterized as anti-union and anti-musician. It's surprising that Syracuse University was naive enough to put themselves into this position, and, further, that the president of the organization, an SU employee and administrator in the college that trains musicians and other artists, is working so hard against the interests of those artists. Syracuse University is charging major dollars to train musicians so that they can become second-class citizens in an organization run by SU and the people that helped with the demise of the SSO. Absurd.

There are some serious moral and ethical problems with this situation and how it came about.

I, too, am suspicious about the reporting here. There is nothing that could even remotely be construed as a dialogue. it might as well be a press release from the SkanFest.

This kind of story only panders to the union bashers without any proof that the union might be at fault. Let's hear the other side of the argument. That's only fair.

Neil,

Give it a rest, wouldja?

The SSO is out of business. You're not going to get another chance to be screwed by them.

Dear Kindred,

You are mistaken, and you take out your anger on the wrong people.
These concerts are in the same locations they have been for years. A lot of people like them. You could attend one (anonymously, of course) and see for yourself.
The people you complain about in your post are not the people in this article. The musicians didn't run the SSO, they were the employees. They didn't screw anybody out of their money, the management and board did. The musicians were screw-ees like everyone else.
I agree that the Attorney General should take a look.
However, since, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary, you continue with the same, tired, tirades, methinks you are not one who listens to reason or evidence.

Andrew, Andrew, Andrew . . .
There are so many things in the world that you can be misinformed about and comment upon, why pick on a bunch of unemployed musicians who had nothing to do with how the SSO was run?

Why not try the US Congress, the World Bank, the military-industrial complex, the Bridge to Nowhere, Bush tax cuts . . .

Neil,

I think it's time to put your ticket argument to bed. You have a legitimate complaint, but the organization you have a beef with doesn't exist any more. You should never have been out of one cent for tickets bought without the delivery of a concert . . . It's unethical, immoral, and most likely illegal. But the people you have a complaint with are not the musicians, but the administrators who have found jobs in other cities and the board of directors who are hiding behind bankruptcy laws.

Just a small, but important, distinction. We former SSO musicians are not playing under any kind of contract. The Opera hired all of us as freelancers. They may have "contracted" us as freelancers, but we, collectively, don't have a contract with them.

Just a small, but important, distinction. We former SSO musicians are not playing under any kind of contract. The Opera hired all of us as freelancers. They may have "contracted" us as freelancers, but we, collectively, don't have a contract with them.

Please . . . the SSO was not a part time job for us. It was our full time job. There is no union fund for us . . . this is the musicians union, not exactly your typical union. Our pension is very small by today's standards, and we pay for most of our medical insurance.

Many of us have Masters Degrees and a few musicians have doctorates. We have all invested quite a lot in our instruments . . . the symphony doesn't provide them, and we work very hard to maintain the skills we have.

We understand that not everyone will like the symphony, and that's fine. Yet, we do a service to Syracuse by representing it all over the state of NY. When the assets of Syracuse are listed, the symphony is always there. We're proud of what we do, and you might be surprised as to how highly the SSO is thought of in the music world. It's part of what makes our city and region unique and attractive.

When a contract is negotiated, both sides generally give a little in order to come to an agreement. And both sides agree to it. When I see Mr Ridings blame everything on the musicians, do I have to remind him that the Board of Directors agreed to this contract . . . which included a two year wage freeze.

Ten years ago, musicians saw that there problems with the way business was being handled . . . no one to sell concerts, no new programs or initiatives, no audience development, no one applying to private foundations for grants, poor programming, and a general can't do attitude. Each year we repeated our concerns and were ignored. While we may share in the blame, I find it difficult to bear the full responsibility.

I have seen both misinformed and misleading statements here over the past few weeks. Prior to this year, most musicians made well under $35K, and we each gave back over $5K this year taking us down into the high $20K range. We offered even more concessions for next year.

We are neither "rich" nor "greedy." Most of us live in Onondaga County, and our wages go to support local businesses, schools, etc. . . . and we pay taxes, too.

We understand the anger over lost tickets and lost concerts. We're angry about it, too. It's wrong, and it should never have happened. What happened last night started years ago. I am particularly angry that only 15 board members (of over 40) showed up last night to make this decision.

All my colleagues and I ask for is just a little respect and understanding for what we do, and have been doing, for the last 50 years. We thank those who have supported us, and we would like to continue to earn your support.

Quite a bit has been written here by commenters on the merits of the SSO and having it in the CNY community. Everyone, of course, is entitled to an opinion, but there has been a great deal of misinformation given as well.

I'm a 40+ year member of the SSO. I have a home on which I pay my county and school taxes; I sent my kids to public schools; I shop at Wegmans each week; I buy gasoline and hardware in my neighborhood, and I attempt to be a good citizen in my community. I might even be a neighbor of yours. The largest share of the SSO budget stays right here in Onondaga County where my colleagues and I live and spend our paychecks.

Most of of the musicians in the SSO make less than $35K a year, and even less for this year and last because we each gave back in excess of $5K to help the SSO pay its bills.

The SSO has always operated on a tight budget. In addition to musicians and staff salaries, it must pay for hall rental for rehearsals and concerts and office space, transportation costs to travel to Rome, Cortland, and Watertown for regularly scheduled concerts, and to Jamestown, Olean, Lake Placid, Chestertown, and other places where concerts take place each year. The budget also goes to pay for guest artists, music, advertising, etc. There's little or no fat in that budget.

If you don't go to concerts or see a need for a symphony, or opera, or stage, or museums or any of the many other not-for-profit organizations, that is your choice. If you don't believe having a really good orchestra adds to the quality of life in our area, you are welcome to your opinion.

However, I don't understand what putting nearly 100 SSO musicians and staff out of work in this community does to make it a better place or how it will make your life easier. I don't see how having the Civic Center dark all the weekends the SSO usually plays makes downtown Syracuse a more viable place.

Could an orchestra of amateur musicians take the place of the SSO? Wishful thinking, but I don't think so. The SSO is highly thought of in the musical world if not by many here.

Should the SSO operate more efficiently? Yes, absolutely. Could it be run better? Yes. Should the SSO listen to the community about the kinds of music it performs and the programs it presents? Yes it should. Could the SSO be more imaginative in its offerings? Yes! Should the SSO change? Absolutely. Is it too late? It may be.

Maddie,

Where in the world did you hear that? It's 100% false. The anti-union rhetoric is expected, but making false accusations is really unfair.

As to the high pay level, you may be surprised that the SSO is among the lowest paying orchestras for musician salaries in the US.

It's tough enough seeing the worth of one's career being debated in the newspaper, but it's quite another to see incoherent and false commentary. Dr Rubin should know better, and I'd like to think Maddie is simply misinformed.

Let's see . . . verisimilitude, cannon (it's canon, by the way), unenumerated mistakes in Act I that were fixed by Act 2, etc. What's the meaning of all this?

I have to disagree totally about the comment about the "often-drawn-out-score." In my humble opinion, there is not one wasted second in La Boheme.

Also, a little insider information . . . Syracuse Opera used a reduced orchestra version with single winds . . . not Puccini's lush orchestration.

The Syracuse Newspapers used to have real reviews and real reviewers: Frank Macomber, Abraham Veinus, William Fleming. Earl George, and others. These individuals shared deep understanding of music and the ability to write.

Furthermore, they understood that a review was a critique of the performance, of what went on at that performance on the day/night in question.

Where in this "review" of the SSO performance is any mention of John Raschella's expert trumpet playing, or any of the other solo playing in this very soloist-oriented piece? Where is any mention of the pacing of the performance of Maestro Loebel?

In other words, where is any mention of the performance in this review? Rather, we have the musings of these individuals about their junior high days, the musicians going through their "getting to know you phase (what is that, anyway?), and other ruminations.

While I think it is nice that we can read the thoughts of our friends and neighbors about this movie or that performance, I, for one, would prefer to read a real critique of the performance by someone who is an expert and can write.

Hi earthtone,

II hear what you are saying, but consider this:

The SSO budget is over $5M, and most of that is in payroll, so it stays right here in the community.

The SSO presents concerts downtown during most of its 39 week season bringing people downtown to go to concerts at the Civic Center, a county owned and operated facility, and not incidentally these folks also frequent bars and restaurants and parking lots bringing that money downtown, too.

The musicians of the SSO (and yes, I'm one of them) are busy in the community paying their taxes, buying groceries, buying cars, the same as everyone else, and performing too, and not only with the SSO.

The musicians you mention are no less important to the community and to music . . . musicians are musicians. But, on the economic side, it makes sense for the city and county to put some emphasis on an orchestra that will mark its 50th anniversary soon of regular concerts downtown.

I think you are correct, however, with the idea that the more musicians we have performing downtown, of music of every kind, the better off downtown will be.