Credit: Dave Hoffmann
I lived in Baltimore for a couple of years while I was working in DC. During that time I had the opportunity to hear the Baltimore Symphony a number of times. I always enjoyed hearing this orchestra. In most cases, I enjoyed hearing them more than the NSO, but that’s not the point.
I was disappointed to hear this week that the BSO musicians will again have to take major salary and benefits cuts in order to keep the orchestra in the black. You can find many places on the internet to learn more about the details of their renegotiation, but I want to focus on one under-reported part of the new contract.
They will apparently begin an orchestra fellowship program for pre-professional musicians. This is how Ann Midgette covered it in the Washington Post:
The BSO also announced an experimental Fellows program that would allow exceptionally talented pre-professional musicians — conservatory students and recent graduates — to play with and be mentored by the orchestra and, on a temporary basis, to fill some of those empty orchestra seats.
This seems to be a curious time to announce an expanded educational program, right? Well maybe not. It turns out that the normal size of the BSO is 96 musicians. Currently only 85 of those seats are filled by full time members, and part of the new agreement includes a hiring freeze.
It seems to me that this new “Fellowship Program” is more about saving money than teaching students. I have a few questions about this program: If the fellows fill chairs in the orchestra, will they be compensated the normal negotiated extra rate? What will happen to the extras who have been filling these vacant seats up until now? I wish I knew. And by the way, is this the best time to encourage young people to chase orchestra careers? At least these fellows will have the opportunity to learn about contract negotiations.