In Tuesday’s (9/20) San Antonio Express-News [Texas], David Hendricks writes, “With two weeks left before season-opening rehearsals, contract talks between the San Antonio Symphony Society and musicians are on hold after the musicians rejected management’s offer to cut more than $8,000 from last year’s base salary to around $23,000, a level the musicians say they cannot live on. The symphony society also faces a $750,000 operating deficit from the season that ended in June, even though the musicians accepted a pay cut in February from their contracted amounts. … [Symphony President and CEO Jack] Fishman said a portion of the ticket revenue for the coming 2011-12 season has been spent for the organization to survive to this point. It is the first time in eight years that the symphony has spent season ticket renewal revenue to help pay for the previous season, Fishman said. … The musicians said the Symphony Society made an offer of a 26-week season at $893 a week, which would equal a base pay of slightly more than $23,000 per season, 25 percent off less than last season’s contracted base pay. … ‘We have tremendous respect for what the musicians do. We are committed to paying them as much as we think we can deliver. We have to deliver on whatever contract we sign,’ [Fishman] said.”
Posted September 20, 2011
