This Sunday, Honolulu Symphony principal conductor Andreas Delfs expressed some strong sentiments about the way his organization had been treated by the city. The symphony performs in the city owned Blaisdell Hall and was bumped out last year by the production of The Lion King which did not help their tenuous financial situation in the least.
Said Delfs in the Sunday newspaper article,
“I’ve never worked with an orchestra that was so good and that got so little respect from its city. I’ve never seen a city treat a major cultural and educational asset so poorly. And I think it’s been a long tradition — I don’t want to blame anyone in particular — of taking this orchestra for granted and not realizing how good it is. The people who make our lives difficult don’t really know what we’re doing.”
One of the problems the symphony is facing is that the city is limiting how far out they can schedule dates which the symphony says prevents them from engaging guest artists who arrange their appearances years in advance. Delfs says it is because the city is skeptical about the symphony’s financial stability. Another thing that makes the symphony anxious is the looming threat of another extended run of a Broadway show that might displace them from the performance hall, and in all probability, from existence.
The symphony sent out a letter to its supporters asking them to contact government officials. The letter reiterated most of the details in Delfs’ interview and expanded on their perspective of the situation.
“Blaisdell Concert Hall was always intended to be the home of the Honolulu Symphony.In fact, it was one of the reasons for its construction. The presentation of symphony concerts was a major contributing factor to its architectural design. There are by-laws allowing for the Symphony and other local performing arts organizations to have preference in securing their dates.The City and County of Honolulu continues to negotiate to bring in acts during the Symphony’s prime season. By our rental agreement, the City is required to offer an alternative venue when the symphony is bumped out of Blaisdell Concert Hall.The alternative venue offered to the symphony is the Waikiki Shell which requires amplification, provides no outdoor coverage or protection for audience or orchestra, and is unsuitable for live classical symphony performances.”
However, according to an excerpt they quote from The Honolulu Symphony: A Century of Music by Dale E. Hall, the symphony doesn’t enjoy the same relationship with the city that other symphonies do.
“The Symphony is not a “favored tenant,” a status particular performing groups sometimes enjoy in city charters. According to the standard rental agreement, the auditoriums director “may give preference” to Hawaii-based non-profit organizations, but has “full authority” in scheduling, taking into consideration “a diversity of events” and “possible financial return to the city and the overall benefits.”
This is unfortunately the latest of many problems the symphony has faced since I started writing about them three years ago. It is something of a shame because unlike the recent situations in Jacksonville, FL and Columbus, OH, the Honolulu Symphony musicians, administration and board seem to be getting along okay. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but I think this is the first time a principal conductor has gone to bat for the musicians during the difficulties of the last few years. If any have, I doubt they had Delfs’ pluck.
(Though I wouldn’t doubt my Inside the Arts compadres, Messrs. Spigelman and Eddins would be equal to the task, I hope they never have to face this situation.)
I can appreciate the position the city is in. The face a choice between the income from a 6-12 week run of a Broadway show versus the uncertain future of an organization that has been facing an uncertain future and having a hard time paying the bills for a number of years. (Disclosure: They owe my facility money too, though not so much that we would refuse to rent to them once they clear their account.) It has been a long, anxiety filled period for a lot of people. I have a lot of sympathy for them.