Letters: Philly Orchestra's musicians need to mend fences

ISSUE | ORCHESTRA

Classical music columnist Peter Dobrin let the Philadelphia Orchestra musicians off too easily ("Behind the musicians' strike," Sunday).

Striking before the opening-night gala was a slap in the face to the most generous and devoted supporters.

There is no reason to believe management is primarily responsible for supposed inadequate funding. It has expanded the roster of donors since the economic crash of 2008. The musicians' cooperation with outreach efforts designed to develop sources of revenue has been less than enthusiastic. Their calls for additional compensation for those duties would essentially negate the benefits for the institution. And they are hardly the only employees who have seen their salaries stagnate over the past 10 years.

Orchestra president Allison Vulgamore makes about $720,000 a year, but here is only one president, while there are 94 musicians. And there are plenty of professionals who would jump at the three-year, 7 percent raise guaranteed by the new contract, that you characterize as "not really accomplish[ing] much."

One can only hope that the musicians' ability to patch up the frayed relationship with their constituents will be addressed with 20 free pop-up concerts. They have a long way to go.

|Jeff Portner, Blue Bell

Although we, the Artistic Committee of the Philadelphia Orchestra, agreed with much of Peter Dobrin's article about the orchestra's future, we were surprised that it implied that music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin has not been a strong advocate for the musicians.

From the day he was hired through the last board meeting before the strike, Nézet-Séguin has gone out of his way to sing the musicians' praises to board members and audiences alike. We couldn't be happier with him as our music director. We have always admired his musicianship and humanity, and our relationship continues to blossom season to season.

It is obvious, from his new music director post at the Metropolitan Opera and his continuing engagement with Europe's top orchestras, that the world's best musicians agree with us.

|Robert Kesselman, bass, Havertown; Elizabeth Starr Masoudnia, English horn, Gladwyne; Dara Morales, violin, Philadelphia; and Anthony Prisk, trumpet, Philadelphia