QUESTIONS
CRITICAL
Setting Priorities at the League As orchestras come together for the 67th National Conference, it seems like a good time to respond to questions that come up from time to time about the League and its work. These comments are adapted from remarks I made at the American Orchestras Summit at the University of Michigan in March. Klaus Lucka
by Jesse Rosen
Jesse Rosen, president and CEO, League of American Orchestras
Why do orchestras need a League? For the same reasons that they did 70 years ago. We started in 1942 during the Second World War as a group of small orchestras in the Midwest, mostly volunteer-led. An excise tax had been imposed during the war on all forms of entertainment, including concert tickets. The leaders of the top orchestras in the United States at the time—from Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago—went down to Washington and said, “We think we should be exempt from this. We’re nonprofit, and we think this is unfair.” What they heard back from Congress was, “Maybe your point’s valid, maybe it’s not. But you’re from five cities, and if we’re going to pay attention to this, we need to hear from a national constituency.” So those large orchestras sought out the then-American Symphony Orchestra League (the world’s most unfortunate acronym) and joined up with them. The League that formed out of this union of large orchestras and small orchestras became a much more potent force for advocacy. Subsequently, there were other visits to Washington, and the excise tax was repealed. So, the modern League really has its origin in federal-level advocacy, which continues to be one of the core areas of the League’s activity.
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How does the League advocate for orchestras today? One of my important roles is advocating in the press. In the past year I’ve been quoted more than 100 times in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, Financial Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle,
Nashville Symphony President and CEO Alan Valentine will tell anyone who wants to listen that he got $22 million from FEMA—half of what it cost to renew and restore his damaged concert hall—as a consequence of the advocacy work of the League and our national performing arts partners. WQXR, BBC Music, and several foreign publications. I have had op-eds published in the newspapers of Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Honolulu. We have only one interest at the League, and that’s the health of symphony orchestras. We are actively engaged not only in celebrating good news and communicating it and getting it into the media, but in providing context for
understanding tough situations. We also try to share and amplify the learning that takes place from orchestra to orchestra. So when the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra settled its contract six months early, I called the executive director and said, “Tell me how negotiations went.” He said, “They went really, really well,” and he told me why. Then I asked, “What would the head of the Orchestra Committee say?” He said, “Call him up and ask him.” So I did. The head of the Orchestra Committee and the CEO both told exactly the same story, about how they were able to reach a difficult, concessionary agreement six months ahead of schedule. They talked about starting out from the beginning with three shared core principles: maintain the quality of the orchestra, continue service to community, and ensure a healthy, sustainable financial model. That was good and important news. So, I wrote an op-ed piece that appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. A couple of weeks later, the Cincinnati Symphony called to share positive developments with their contract. I said, “Well, I need to talk to your Orchestra Committee chair if you want us to consider writing about it.” I called the head of their committee and heard basically the same story. I often tell reporters that most orchestras successfully negotiate their contracts; it’s only the symphony
SUMMER 2012