National Symphony Orchestra musicians return to work after brief strike in Washington, DC

The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), based at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, announced Friday evening the settlement of a strike by its musicians that lasted less than a day. The musicians’ strike, the first in 46 years at the Washington Orchestra, threatened to force the cancellation of the orchestra’s opening night, scheduled for the next day.

Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC

Orchestra musicians, angry at setbacks at the height of the pandemic, were demanding modest pay increases of 6.25 percent per year on a four-year contract. They pointed to orchestra president Deborah Rutter’s annual salary of $1.3 million. Management responded that the musicians’ demands were not “financially viable” and offered only a 12 percent increase over four years. The orchestra claimed it did not have the resources of other well-known ensembles. The ONS allocation, as indicated in the Washington Postis $52 million, compared to $237 million in New York, $414 million in Los Angeles and $495 million in Boston. The two parties have been negotiating since May with no solution in sight. The musicians, numbering more than 90, voted unanimously last week in favor of the strike.

The deal called for meager 4 percent raises this year and next, under an 18-month deal that appeared to be somewhat interim in nature. “This 18-month contract will give all parties time to come together to reach a longer-term agreement that demonstrates our respect for their artistic contributions and will maintain the orchestra’s competitiveness in the field,” the orchestra said in a press release.. The orchestra and musicians will negotiate again in 2026. The musicians will earn a base salary of $172,000 by the second year of the agreement, but will still be below the pay levels of other leading orchestras, notably those of Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Cleveland.

The National Symphony was founded 94 years ago and its reputation particularly developed under the leadership of Mstislav Rostropovich, the famous Russian cellist and conductor who conducted it from 1977 to 1994. Other directors include the symphony since then have featured American Leonard Slatkin, the Germany-based musician. Christoph Eschenbach and his current boss, the Italian Gianandrea Noseda. The NSO became affiliated with the Kennedy Center in 1986, giving it greater prominence and a semi-official character. Its board of directors includes billionaires like Roger Sant of AES and other wealthy individuals.

Gianandrea Noseda (Photo by Levg / CC BY 3.0)

The strike agreement was announced on Friday, after increasing tension over the previous days. Musicians from the Washington National Opera and those from the Kennedy Center Opera joined in solidarity with their NSO colleagues. According to the JobHowever, these musicians had just ratified contracts providing for only 9 percent over 3 years.

On Tuesday, the cancellation of three days of concerts by singer Sara Bareilles was avoided at the last minute, after she declared her solidarity with the musicians, and they accepted a three-day extension of negotiations. When some NSO musicians began handing out informational flyers about the contract fight to people attending Tuesday’s concert, Kennedy Center security ordered them to leave or face removal by police.

The new agreement falls far short of restoring the concessions NSO musicians agreed to earlier in the pandemic, when they each sacrificed $60,000 in income. Even before the pandemic, the economic situation in the classical music world, financed by private funds and supported by multimillionaires and billionaires, had led to budget cuts and concessions for orchestral musicians.

Bitter strikes have occurred over the past period, including the six-month struggle at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 2010-2011, as well as strikes in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago and elsewhere. Some orchestras in small and medium-sized American cities, notably in Honolulu, Albuquerque and Syracuse, have disappeared.

Two years ago, San Antonio became the largest city in the United States (ranked seventh nationally and second in the South) to lose its orchestra. In some cases, musicians reorganized into newly formed ensembles.

As great as the struggle facing musicians at the NSO and those in other major orchestras is, the fact is that the vast majority of professionally trained musicians are unable to earn a full-time living in the field they choose. chose and studied for. There are thousands of excellent musicians in major population centers in all parts of the country who receive part-time wages and are required to supplement their salaries by teaching or working in other jobs unrelated to music. The solution to this continuing crisis will only come through the unification of all working class struggles based on the socialist reorganization of economic life.