A closer look at X, Y and Z

It’s a bit of odd evolution that service counts are used to calculate full-time salaries. Salary is the main issue, of course, but what happens if a player misses a service? One must have a way of properly deducting for the absence. What about the part-time musicians? We must have an amount to pay them when they are hired. And so, even though the full-time salary is just that - a full time salary - it was decided many years ago that the value of a rehearsal or performance is X and we multiply it by Y (a usually arbitrary number of services) and get Z – the salary.

The current $60.15 multiplied by 211 services equals the 2007-08 base pay of $12,693. Principal positions in the orchestra make slightly more. (Service counts vary for part-time players, but 50-60 has been typical for many.)

What does this mean from the standpoint of managing an orchestra? It means that you have 211 opportunities throughout the season to make use of the symphony’s full-time players. Whether you schedule the full-time players to work once or 211 times, the cost of the full-time players is exactly the same.

In past years, the SSO took great advantage of these services and the income they generate from performances. In 1997, for example, the orchestra performed over 300 concerts. Many of these were educational concerts for the young people of our area with over 175 educational concerts each season. There were concerts in the malls and shopping centers, businesses, offices, run-outs to surrounding communities and many more. Interestingly, the budget was also balanced that same year, at about $1.5 million. The additional income clearly shows a relationship to the number of performances sold to outside organizations and venues. As recently as a couple of years ago, the orchestra was presenting well over 120 concerts each season and, in fact, gave the musicians a small end of the year bonus because of a significant surplus!

From September through December of this season, the SSO did not schedule in-school concerts. It seems a choice has been made to eliminate most of those performances that provide real community outreach and have the orchestra perform only a fraction of the number of possible concerts.

If you ran a business, wouldn’t you take advantage of the hours you pay your employees and assure that they are working to the advantage of the business? Of course! The best way the SSO can promote the orchestra and increase income is to have them perform! With over 200 opportunities available each year, why has management chosen not to take advantage of all of the services they can?

Oddly, for an organization taking such drastic measures, the SSO is not decreasing the pay of office staff to administer such a greatly diminished schedule. With the board plan of 43 services a season, that leaves a full-time staff to oversee just 33 days of work by the orchestra.

Here is our position.