It looks like the Indianapolis Symphonic Orchestra musicians have settled with management, but at a horrific cost. (Read the details here.) First, there's a 32% pay cut, with the average salary decreasing from $78,000 to $53,000. (There are yearly increases baked into the five-year contract that bring that back up to $70,000 in year five, but still -- how would you like your paycheck cut by a third? And $53,000 is a pretty lousy salary for world-class musicians, don't you think?) Second, the ISO is no longer one of the country's 18 full-year orchestras; the season is now going to be 38 to 42 weeks.
Frankly, these terms place the ISO more in the mode of a community orchestra than a professional one. That's a shame; the orchestra could have been (and was) a whole lot more. Let's hope that orchestral musicians elsewhere (such as in the Twin Cities) don't have to sacrifice so much.
You know, this never would have happened to a professional sports team.
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