The whole issue regarding the striking Musicians of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra is one filled with an over-abundance of information from both sides, 'He said-She said' accusations, claims of money mismanagement and greed, etc. For a full-on information overload to aid in your own decision-making, feel free to visit the official Save Our Symphony website, the Musicians of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra website, and the official Detroit Symphony Orchestra website. I am not necessarily picking sides, but I do have my own thoughts on how absolutely ridiculous both sides are acting when it comes to overly-paid narcissistic individuals negotiating a new contract for the future viability of an Orchestra in an already dilapidated Detroit. When you have musicians who earn (questionable term, I assure you) a base compensation of $105,000.00 per year (public information) for part-time employment and Administrators/Directors earning (again, questionable) amounts that far exceed those amounts (public information, but only thru paying for it and I dont have a budget to find out actual figures) squabbling over money, money that is given to them thru hard-working donations and endowments, it really rubs me wrong. As the majority of us struggle to make ends-meat, this type of strike is inherantly wrong and really shows how certain organizations need to have a 'come-to-Jesus' meeting with reality!
All that being said, in a posted message on the Save our Symphony Facebook Page, good questions are being raised regarding the spending of money by an organization that claims to need to cut costs...
Dear SOS members,
The Chicago Tribune has just announced that Leonard Slatkin is subbing with the CSO this weekend. However the DSO is still selling tickets to a concert at Detroit's Orchestra Hall where Mr. Slatkin is scheduled to be conducting.
Is Mr. Slatkin getting paid by the DSO for this week? If so, why is he not here doing something, anything? Meeting with Donors perhaps?
If this bothers you as much as it bothers us, please let Mr. Slatkin know. Here is the email address of his personal assistant who will forward your email to him: asauro@dso.org
If you would like to ask Anne Parsons if Mr. Slatkin is getting paid for this week, here is her email address: aparsons@dso.org
If you would like to ask why the DSO is still selling tickets to a concert where the scheduled conductor , Leonard Slatkin, will be absent, here is Juanda Pack's email address: jpack@dso.org
And if you would like to ask the DSO Board of Directors why they are paying Maestro Slatkin to NOT conduct the DSO, when they claim to not have the money to pay the musicians, here is the email address where your emails will be forwarded to them: DSOBoard@SaveOurSymphony.info
Regards,
Save Our Symphony
Research this for yourself. Express your own thoughts and concerns to the proper individuals, whether for the Musicians or the Admins/Directors. Take action for your Detroit and for the future of your Arts community.
-LAWRENCEcreative
