When you see a person quoted in the newspaper talking about a controversial or important issue, it can be difficult to develop an empathetic connection with them because the written word has an inherent insulating element about it. I have been following the travails of the Honolulu Symphony for quite some time now. I have had conversations and email exchanges with some of those involved that it hasn’t been appropriate for me to report on here.
Although the heroic dedication of the Honolulu Symphony musicians who have been playing without pay since before Christmas (they are about 7 weeks in arrears right now) is easily perceptible in writing, it seems to fall short of what I feel listening to them tell their stories.
Earlier this month, the local public radio station interviewed musicians about how they were coping. Some remained stalwart, some said things were getting tough and they had to start looking for work in other states though it killed them to do so. There is a sense that the financial difficulties and not knowing when the next paycheck will come is wearing on the musicians, even if they don’t overtly mention it. You can hear it in their voices. There is also gratitude for public gestures of support like a dentist who didn’t charge one musician for his services.
At the same time, as the musicians go through these difficulties, they are going out and performing concerts to show their solidarity with hotel workers who had been fired and then partially rehired according to some elusive logic. The musician organizing the effort notes that the same could happen to them. I wondered if it was a tacit acknowledgment of the hardball decisions made by the board and management of the Jacksonville and Columbus Symphonies. Not to mention the abrupt closures of Aloha and ATA Airlines which staggered the state last month and left thousand out of work. It is to the Honolulu Symphony Board’s credit that they haven’t been talking about closing during all this.
I should acknowledge that last week an unnamed donor made a $1.175 million gift to the Symphony. It doesn’t solve all the problems, but it helps a lot. (I also should mention that my theatre is one of those the Symphony owes money.) The interviews I linked to aired a week prior to the news of the gift and in fact were conducted a few weeks prior to the air date so the lack of certainty about the future was very real. The good news for the musicians is that Executive Director Tom Gulick is on the record as saying all the backpay, including a restoration of cuts the musicians granted under a previous administration adjusted for inflation will be paid to the musicians.
Whether this good fortune proves a temporary reprieve for symphony operations which will prove unsustainable or just the break they need to implement a well considered plan to renew the organization remains to be seen.