The Score | Financial Front

As of January, musicians of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra have a new contract providing a 12.12 percent increase in compensation over four years, and keeping the orchestra at its current size of 74 musicians. The Chautauqua Symphony’s summer season at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York begins in June. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra musicians and management reached early agreement on a new three-year agreement that goes into effect on September 1. The pact includes 2 percent salary increases in the second and third years of the contract, plus a stipend during nonworking summer weeks. At the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, musicians have a new two-year contract with 2 percent raises each year and increased rehearsal time for some programs. Two orchestras in Florida announced new five-year musicians’ contracts. The Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra’s new contract includes 37 percent salary raises, an increase in musicians from 53 to 60, and an increase in season length from 35 to 40 weeks. The Naples Philharmonic’s new agreement raises musician pay by 3 percent in the first contract year, 5 percent in the second, 4 percent in the third, and 3 percent in the fourth and fifth years. It also calls for the addition of at least two more musicians to the ensemble. At Orchestra Iowa, based in Cedar Rapids, musicians have a new agreement that runs through June 30, 2019 and provides a 7.2 percent increase in minimum base pay over three years. In March, California’s Pacific Symphony announced a new contract for musicians that provides a wage increase of 10.4 percent over five years as well as service guarantees. The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra announced a new five-year contract seven months before the expiration of the current contract. The new agreement, running through August 28, 2022, includes pay increases averaging 2.8 percent per year, increases in minimum scale pay, and a .5 percent increase in pension contribution rate that will begin in year three of the contract.