Why Are Work Conditions for Orchestral Musicians Getting Worse?
Orchestral musicians increasingly live with precarious finances and inequitable employment conditions, jeopardizing the very future of the symphony orchestra as a cultural institution.
Heather Kurzbauer, a violinist, journalist and legal scholar who was born in the U.S. and lives in Amsterdam, has made this the focus of an extensive work of research, which was first published in 2022 as her doctoral dissertation, and was just made available this month in book form.
You will recognize Heather as a frequent contributor to Violinist.com, having written numerous articles for us since 2015. Her new book is called Employment and Vulnerabilities in the World of Orchestral Musicians: Symphonic Metamorphoses. As an academic book, it's is a bit pricey for the average reader ($131.00!), thus the best bet may be to find it in libraries at conservatories and other institutions.
Nonetheless, Heather's research is a valuable contribution to our field, and she generously agreed to talk about some of her findings.
Kurzbauer did an extensive amount of research, interviewing 250 orchestral musicians and other stakeholders in the United States and the Netherlands, in order to get a handle on the deteriorating welfare of musicians in both countries, which have strikingly different financial models for their artistic institutions. Heather spoke with me about her research, about the difference between how things work in the U.S. vs. the Netherlands - and about the many things that are the same for orchestral musicians everywhere.
Laurie:: What is it that prompted you to write this book? How long did it take? Did it turn into a bigger project than you expected?
Heather: I was a happy working musician (member of the first violin section of the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra for over two decades) lucky to play in a wonderful chamber orchestra with all the benefits of tours, recordings, concerts in the Concertgebouw Hall and most importantly, a real family of musicians. My American counterparts always commented how lucky I was to work in a country that believed in the arts - major orchestras are heavily state subsidized.
And then, with a change in politics (triumph of right-wing politics) culture became unnecessary, dubbed a "left-wing hobby." Many institutions suffered and yes, my orchestra was all but cut (reorganized, became a part of a larger radio orchestra). I began to question how the dream could have become a nightmare. First thinking that the answers were 100 percent tied to finances, I began with a "Follow the Money" approach before moving on to looking at challenges (vulnerabilities) that not only individual musicians face but the sector as a whole.
The very composition (pun intended) of the orchestra with its internal hierarchy and external management/conductor hierarchies impacts musicians’ actions and reactions. Furthermore, the position of freelancers loomed large - by far the most vulnerable within our midst. After colleagues begged me to include #metoo material and look further into other forms of discrimination (racial/age discrimination/gender pay gap) I realized that the project was growing by leaps and bounds! The PhD dissertation was XXL at over 700 pages, fortunately I was able to cut the book down to a more manageable size!
Laurie:: What are the biggest challenges facing orchestral musicians today? How are these different from the challenges orchestral musicians faced, say, 50 years ago?
Heather: Fifty years ago, women were fighting to take their places as professionals on equal footing in orchestras; the battle for further diversity in terms of race was yet to begin (with a few exceptions). Other challenges included a 52-week contract and participation at the bargaining table. While some of these issues are taken for granted nowadays, our orchestras are far from diverse. The gender pay gap is still sadly at play, and as finances for the arts (both in the US and NL) are not dependable, this form of vulnerability is as real as it was in the last century. On the bright side, the era of the authoritarian maestro and a male-dominated podium seems to have ended!
Laurie:: What is the most surprising thing you learned, in speaking with 250 musicians and stakeholders about these topics? Was there anything that changed your perspective or led you to some new thoughts/conclusions about the situation?
Heather: What really surprised me was that regardless of financing structures (models) — the United States, with its absence of state funding, and the Netherlands, with its almost total reliance on the state - orchestral musicians and especially freelancers shared the same anxieties with regard to their employment. The impact of strikes and lockouts in the U.S. struck orchestras great and small, and the culture cuts in the Netherlands impacted famous orchestras as well as their regional orchestral colleagues. The COVID-19 pandemic had enormous effects on orchestras (and every other form of employment), regardless of geographic location.
Laurie:: You spoke to people in two specific countries where you have lived, the U.S. and the Netherlands. How do conditions compare in these two countries - how are they different, how are they the same?
Heather: Aside from what was mentioned above with regard to orchestral financing, the role of the union is entirely different in the two countries. In the U.S. for the most part, orchestral musicians are union members; whereas in Europe, membership is much lower because the union is duty-bound to bargain collectively for musicians (and freelancers!) regardless of their union membership. Also, salaries in Europe are set according to strictly defined parameters, with little room for individual (principal player) bargaining. And in the Netherlands (as well as the rest of Europe) retirement age is also set by the state, whereas in the U.S., we all know of orchestral musicians who stayed to play way in their 80s.
With the advent of Fair Practice legislation in the Netherlands in which at least in theory freelancers have to be paid on par with the fully employed, there are more protections in place for a category of workers known as the false self-employed (lots more on that in the book); however in practice there are difficulties in making this new reform really work.
Laurie:: How does it help a community, to have orchestral musicians living and working in that community?
Heather: All artists contribute to the richness of their communities - without creatives from a multiplicity of sectors, a community loses its curiosity, its drive to expand into new spaces. Orchestral players are not only individual artists but team players in the best sense of the word, if that isn’t contribution, then what is?
Laurie:: What is the most important thing that a community can do to retain its orchestral musicians?
Heather: Beyond a tongue-in-cheek answer, "pay them," I think U.S. communities can learn from their European counterparts who still find music as an important contribution to not only national culture, but national well-being.
* * *
If you wish to buy this book for yourself or for your institution's library, use the discount code 25OFF2023 to get 25 percent off when buying the book; click here. All royalties are going to funds for unemployed musicians.
You might also like:
- Remembering Miles (Mike) Hoffman (1952-2023), Violist, Writer and NPR Commentator
- Remembering the Immortal Ivry Gitlis (1922-2020)
- The Artist's Right to Remain Silent in the Face of War
* * *
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Pundits have been bemoaning the “aging audience” for countless decades. Thirty-plus years ago the “aging audience” here was used as an argument to devalue the musicians’ worth; we were hearing the same argument a couple of years ago during our strike. I don’t think those were the same gray-hairs in our audiences!
The truth is that younger adults may be no less interested in hearing orchestral music than their parents, but they are much more likely to be investing time in developing busy careers, they may be paying student loans and taking on mortgages, they may be raising children. Time and money are limited and often symphony attendance doesn’t fit in their busy lives although these same younger adults are often paying for their children’s music lessons.
Careers get established and then with seniority comes more time off, discretionary funds are more plentiful, children grow up, and older adults return to the concert halls. It’s a cycle that has been going on for a very long time. The “dying-off audience” is a canard that needs to, well, die.
I agree that simply saying the audience is dying off is not insightful. However, the economics do not look good. Fewer of the ultra wealthy are donating. There was recently an article indicating that the met was having issues in this regard. Further, the middle class is being devastated. Less saved for retirement, etc.
I remember when I was young, I was surprised to find that few of my musical peers listened to classical music recreationally. That really says something. It is a far cry from the music being popular, as in Wagners time, or much later having an NBC symphony orchestra.
Orchestras in the usa and Europe rely heavily on government funds. If those dry up, it will be difficult to sustain them in their current form.
Mark: classical concert audience in the 1970s was full of old people. Nowadays, it's still full of old people. Hint: these are not the same people ;-)
Okay, as long as there are more old people in the pipeline, all is well. And what we got is old people music ever after. I wonder why I'm not encouraged by that? And I might point out too, with regard to young people not having the time, that they seem to find the time and money to go see Taylor Swift.
As from ~ 'Apostle' of both Jascha Heifetz and Nathan Milstein, Elisabeth Matesky, Violin Concertising Veteran ~ {#6}
Reading of the dire forecast by the Author of a Book costing USD $131.00, and 25% less thanking V.com for their discount code {yet still pricey for most} written by an obviously once happy employed Violinist in The Netherlands, it's assuring her Research is based mostly on Terra Firma, yet I would mention there has rarely been US Equal Reimbursement for Every Post in a Major or Regional less many Community or College of even the coveted Civic Orchestra of Chicago, 'baby' orchestra, so to speak of our hallowed Chicago Symphony Orchestra for many decades from the mid Twentieth to now Twenty First Century ...
The *Quality of a Symphony Orchestra brings with it almost 'equal' payment for professional musicians and those within a Symphony Orchestra as very experienced Mary Ellen Goree & a Violinist Pro {having gifted her precious Time to the San Antonio Symphony and salvaged it to its now newer 'Self' suggests} re Audience's being 'older' decades ago and still 'older' right now makes sense to me, a former Member of Sir Georg Solti's termed Greatest of All Chicago Symphony Orchestra in The World and when invited by Maestro Solti to move to Chicago to be in 'his' Orchestra.
This Subject is quite complicated regarding many conditions of Employment for Orchestral Musicians depending on Which specific Orchestra and Where it's located; its previous & ongoing
reputation and/or lack thereof depending on hosts of Events, i.e., The Metropolitan Opera, which has in the past several years been somewhat aligned in the public eye by attendance of their Annual The Met Opera Gala Evening by even Politicians suddenly dressing up in Dior or ultra très chic gowns to attract Met Opera longtime Lovers to their political posture on given issues of grave concern to most Americans in our Country & Cable televised to impress on
'the public' and an innocent one, the importance of "Culture" & IMO has been/is a bit stymied by the appearances of those not really knowing much nor caring about Grand Opera for 'Opera's
Sake' by itself ... Not here to speak about US Politics, but the truth seems to be most everything as of late cannot be divorced from the subject of US Politics and seeming demise of the wealthiest Country on Earth appearing to not be so due to all the strife going on with and within our own Country??
I do believe those 'In the Know' due hard core experience from the negotiating table with Orchestra Boards of Director's and usually comprised of a wealthy group of citizens living in any given City within the US, dictate Payment plus Reimbursement Policy to Orchestral voted in very keen Negotiators for the sole purpose of protecting professional musicians Rights having come to expect Benefits of Work re Health Care; Dental Care; Pension plans; and Retirement Income due to Tenured vetted Pensions ... Not at all an expert in this area by any means, it does appear much of these
having become Expectations are again, in past recent years, being harder fought for than ever before until far beyond After Years of World War II, when becoming a Major US Orchestra Member was a vitally important position of eminence; refined abilities on one's instrument and Lifetime from Employment Benefits earned via growing Then Orchestra Endowments gifted by very wealthy Donors and many enthusiastic Music Aficionados amongst them ... It HAS CHANGED LATELY and those suffering from this Are The Fine Musicians employed or seeking Employment just out of Music Conservatories or Major Schools of Music, working/studying so diligently yet not finding positions of Life long employment due to our US Government's pledge to help another Country or a given Country with immense financial support while allowing the 'Invited' to enter our Country with Free Almost Everything's upon what is being termed 'asylum' arrival depleting otherwise would be funds for Music and its US Public Schools Education of Music ... This All Plays into the Problems being encountered by truly fine and well prepared younger musicians which are being 'Pro' Represented by Local Musician Unions across the US and trying their Best to help boost those who wish professional careers as Orchestral Players hoping to obtain finest jobs in Major Orchestras or Regional Best Orchestras which have in these past 4 decades across our country become much finer Regional Orchestras with fine young upcoming Conductors of US Birth and from other Countries gaining invaluable and the very needed ingredient to advance highest musical excellence with their abilities to work with orchestra members on an equal 'footing' and in our English language which is The USA Language of Speech although to add, also Spanish in given areas of the Country which now = another element for American born-bred conductors & one for musicians wishing to travel abroad to take auditions for other fine Foreign Orchestral positions speaking Spanish and even in France, if said musician/s are truly adept in French from the USA ~ This is Not to discourage our youth coming up from working very well to become their own Best's to find a fine orchestral position in the US, yet to suggest other horizon's if the Job Market for the Major's and best Regional Orchestras throughout the US and in sought after Major Cities, (if the Crime is kept to its lowest denominator) due rising expenses to pay Rent or buy a Condo or live in a known safe area of a major City right now is possible for a young musician just out of a US Conservatory of Music ... These young musicians have & deserve every right to want a Life & a Life with a chosen Spouse with children and a home to help provide or be a sole Provider of all listed for Lives Lived with Happiness due to fulfillment of hard work & Love (borrowing from an Article in this Violinist.com from 2017), being able to Play with that unidentifiable element of each owning 'Feeling' or human connection to the printed page & far beyond the Score/s of all Music by our Composer Heroes/Heroines and Now due to a possible 'War' with the advent of 'A. I.' (Gosh forbid our Talents might be falsely mirrored??) and the endless new advent of 'new' compositional techies who compose on the Computer which the current 'Young Set' are attracted to due lost Public School Music education of our very deprived young people during the Pandemic Long Out of School situations and lack of contact and learning naturally to intermingle with others early in young lives which is part of the Problem posed by the Author of the Subject being discussed. One must always go back to The Beginning to try to analyze a root Problem to invent New Options, aka, behaviors and types of Teaching and Learning to Revive Young Students in the public schools of America so that our History is passed on minus any Interference with its Truths yet not exaggerated to a point of creating disdain for truly bad decisions made in the far and even not so distant Past ...
It was not my intention to allude to some of what is currently set down here but maybe those who might view this could be given a moment to Think Through our Troubles now to figure out the Next 'Foot' Steps needed for our little ones entering school to later on and a quest to study seriously for their own Futures unknown right now with all the turmoil in this upside-down World presently yet based on healthy learning will make 'right' decisions ... This is My Hope and Prayer for the Future of a revitalized United States of America which has known The Best in Life for an entire Century and IMO aching to return to the Best having been side tracked and needing wisest directions on How to get Home ~
Wishing Everyone on Violinist.com a loving & thoughtful Christmas and a prayed for Good Healthy New Year 2024 minus much of the public vitriol experienced lately, I remain ~
~ ~ ~ ~ Yours musically from Chicago ~ ~ ~ ~
.................. Elisabeth Matesky .................
Fwd ~ dmg
Going to a Taylor Swift concert is a once in a blue moon event, not the monthly-or-more commitment (depending on the size of the orchestra) that a Symphony season is likely to be. The comparison does not hold water.
@Mary Ellen Goree ~ {#7} from 'BTW' Elisabeth Matesky {#8} December 18, 2023 AM
Thank You Mary Ellen for your Addendum just above in responding to the Replier & who mentioned young people finding the money to spend seeing/hearing current Rock Star, Taylor Swift ... I fully agree and support your truth as written just above my Chicago "BTW" late night in {#8} quoting your last words, "The comparison does not hold water." As mentioned in my Reply {#6} the problems experienced are related to many others within our Country & its governance or lack thereof as of late which affect all youth from this point going forward hoping to obtain Pro Orchestra Member Careers ...
~ Accept my warmest Christmas Greetings to you and your Family ~
.................... Elisabeth Matesky ....................
Fwd ~ dmg
A fascinating interview.
I can only speak about the situation in the United Kingdom, but I personally blame the government. I think that the challenges faced by orchestral musicians only reflect the results of a long chain of failure with regards to arts investment. I believe that Heather Kurzbauer mentions this lack of proper investment a few times.
In the United Kingdom, governments have consistently failed to uphold music education in schools as a non-negotiable part of the curriculum. The number of people taking private music lessons is decreasing; unsurprisingly, the number of people taking music at GCSE and A Level is also rapidly decreasing. Am I wrong in suspecting that orchestral musicians pay the price for these shifts, at least to some extent?
We'll have to agree to disagree on my Taylor Swift comparison. Younger people can listen to anything they want in their cars. When did you last hear orchestral music coming through their open windows. In my experience it's usually "Hip-Hop," which is the worst of the worst "music" there is. And pop music is a financial juggernaut while orchestral music struggles. There again, the worse it is (admittedly my opinion), the more money it makes. Hip-Hop performers become billionaires. Look at the play counts on YouTube videos. Which ones are racking up all the plays? They spend their time and money seeing Taylor Swift because that's what they want to do. If Taylor Swift came around monthly, they'd go monthly.
Dear Elisabeth, thank you for your kind wishes and warmest Christmas greetings to you!
Mark, I very seldom listen to orchestral music in the car either. Usually, I am listening to 70s on 7 or NPR news. Should you infer from that that I have no interest in classical music?
I listen to classical music in my car, and NPR. I never listen to Hip-Hop. How about you? ;-) Elizabeth probably does though. Lori too. ;-) ;-)
@Deborah AB ~ UK As from ~ Elisabeth Matesky former Londoner for 8 Years/RCM Fulbrighter, et al ... {#14}
Having just read your very sincere Reply to Heather Kurzbauer's mention of Government funding being limited more and more & winding down music education in the schools in the UK, one does supect it almost a 'virus' of lack of concern for the future of our children going forward in both our Countries & very close Allies ...
Not knowing all causes for this disturbing Change of Events, I will chance it and recommend you contact my eminent Colleague of decades who is a former Executive Director of newer 'self' of older Trinity College of Music, now titled and in Greenwich, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, Prof D. W. Aviss, O.B.E., also a superb 'Cellist, former pupil of Mentor of Jacqueline du Pre, and a marvellous Violoncello Artist Teacher and Chamber Music Coach still teaching at TLC in Greenwich. If it will help, please mention my name, Elisabeth Matesky, American Violinist/Artist Teacher and Guest Artist In Residence at former Trinity College of Music in the 1990s in Mandeville Place, London, W1, who happened to read your Reply to an Article worth knowing of and to sum it up in a Word, I will paraphrase a Sage Comment of Ages Prior ~ "Any successful Government ensures Culture in the Country comes close to first in its education of children which is a sign of the Cultural Values in a Great Nation." ~ {Anonymous}
It's a Pleasure to have read your Reply and I do miss London so ~ having resided there for 8 years both in 'inner' London, & out in Wimbledon SW 20!! Wishing you and yours a loving Christmas, I continue remaining a loyal US born Anglophile through & through! Btw, His Majesty The King, King Charles III is a very fine amateur 'Cellist, having studied when quite young with Great Jacqueline du Pre, and with whom I played Piano Trio's when meeting up with Anthony Hopkins @RCM, Professor of Piano, bringing we Three w/JdP; myself on Violin, together for Piano, Violin & Violoncello Trios!
If in touch with Professor Aviss, kindly tell him we met online on
a string site, Violinist.com, while responding to a String player in The Netherlands' recent Book on reduced Orchestral funding of Professional Musicians and replying on 18th December, 2023!!
~ ~ ~ ~ Yours musically and faithfully from Chicago ~ ~ ~ ~
.......................... Elisabeth Matesky ..........................
Fwd ~ dmg
@Mark Bouquet ~ Re 'Hip Hop' Music Listened to?? {#15}
I dare say, Mr. Bouquet, I am not attracted to Hip Hop 'Mucus' to quote my longtime Great British Pianist Friend, J. Lill, MBE, who termed most of the 'younger set' titled genre sounding 'like Mucus' aka, a stuffed up Nose making Noise! Lill has a British wit/ wicked sense of humour, but I totally agree with his adjective for this "stuff "! I, myself, am a Salza loving musician in tandem with my great Love for All of our Epic Classical Composer Heroes and Heroines in the History of Great Music ...
~ ~ ~ Kind Wishes to You ~ ~ ~
.............. E. Matesky ..............
Fwd ~ dmg
I guessed that, Elizabeth, and I was just kidding.
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December 17, 2023 at 06:03 AM · This article was all about the supply side, without mentioning that the demand side for orchestral and classical music is so skewed towards the geriatric end of the spectrum. Audiences are disturbingly old here in USA. So what chance does a future so dependent on that diminishing demographic have? It typically seems that the only young people who care about classical music are the ones who are playing it. I recently went to see "Maestro," and found that even there the audience was almost entirely older people. I'm in that demographic too now, though I've loved classical music since I was a teenager.
One hopeful sign for me is my local SF Bay Area classical music station, KDFC, which anyone anywhere can stream. I'm listening to it as I write this. After a lifetime of listening to classical music, I can say that KDFC is the best classical music station I've ever heard. What makes it so great is the diversity of musical styles they're playing, from traditional classics to music by film and television composers and even video game composers, much of which is truly great music. It's accessible and moves listeners. People of all ages seem to like this music when they're exposed to it, including the classics, and I'd like to hope that the audience for orchestral music will grow as a result. And perhaps there will still be hope for the future of classical music and for the economic prospects of the people who play it.