OUR POSITION

The Board of Directors and the Management of the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra have chosen to celebrate the 60 th Anniversary of this organization by telling the dedicated, full-time musicians of the orchestra that they will now be part time employees. After enduring pay cuts totaling 27% since 2001, the Board intends to convert all 24 full-time musician positions to per-service, beginning March 16, 2008. As per-service musicians, their salaries will drop from $12,683.00 to $3,123.00 – a 75% pay cut - by September 1, 2008. Additionally, a $1,440 health supplement will be eliminated. This plan will mean the end of decades of artistic growth and the end of an extensive educational program that extended throughout North Louisiana and into East Texas.

Since 2001, the musicians of the SSO have given back over $896,000 in wages, benefits, and eliminated positions. The musicians have also participated in every fund-raising activity produced by this organization and have helped raise 100’s of thousands of dollars of new revenue, bringing the total value of financial involvement to well above $1,000,000! Throughout all of this the orchestra has continued to perform and educate at the highest levels possible and continues to garner positive reviews from the press and our patrons, and even the Board.

The SSO has suffered through hard financial times but we are still here. The organization has even been an economic engine unto itself, pumping millions of dollars into the local economy in payroll dollars and goods and services purchased from area businesses.

Hundreds of hours of discussions have taken place over recent years to generate new programs and ideas to improve the financial picture and to be a more prominent part of the artistic landscape of Shreveport-Bossier City and the region. The Board recently engaged two outside consultants to make recommendations for the Symphony’s future direction. One consultant stated that our expenses were not out of line but that the income needed to be improved. An official Task Force committee made numerous recommendations to the Board to help increase needed revenue and expand our base of support throughout Shreveport-Bossier City and the Board has chosen not to act. They choose to dismantle the orchestra. Even though individual giving to the arts has increased in our area, our portion continues to shrink and they choose to cut.

Real changes are taking place in our region and the Symphony has been prominently mentioned in discussions concerning the new Cyber Command and related developments. Many educated, talented, creative people are beginning to move to Northwest Louisiana, businesses are relocating here, universities and colleges are creating new programs to address these opportunities, and the film industry is solidly in our midst. The Shreveport Symphony Orchestra is the anchor for the performing arts in the region and is well known for its versatility. To have a professional orchestra in residence is a quality of life issue that sets Shreveport-Bossier City apart from other communities who don’t get to regularly participate in the remarkable experience of a live professional symphony concert.