Hush falls on Atlanta Symphony Hall as musicians remain locked out

The Grammy Award-winning Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) has canceled its concerts until Nov. 8, following a breakdown in contract negotiations between musicians’ union and management, and the resulting lockout of musicians.

Musicians were locked out of Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta, Ga. on Sept. 7, according to a statement from Paul Murphy, President of Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Players Association (ASOPA), which was posted to the Atlanta Federation of Musicians’ Facebook page.

The symphony’s 70th anniversary season was set to begin on Sept. 25. Instead of performing, the musicians staged a silent protest across from the arts center.

“This is a dire and critical juncture for the city of Atlanta, which is in danger of losing the flagship of its culture,” said ASO Music Director, Robert Spano in a piece titled “Deafening Silence” on his website.

The contract between Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Players’ Association expired on Sept. 6, as the two groups could not agree on new terms, according to The New York Times ArtsBeat blog.

The two parties disagreed on terms relating to salary cuts, health benefit contributions and the orchestra’s configuration, among others. The ASO website provides a Q&A section, which details the situation and its impact.

The ASO has been operating with a deficit for the past 12 years.

While the two parties could not agree on the terms of the new contract, they do agree that a lack of public arts funding is a factor contributing to the nationwide trend of financial woes for symphonies and opera companies.

Mayor of Atlanta, Kasim Reed said in a statement on Thursday that he urged both sides to return to the bargaining table, realizing that the ASO’s financial solvency and musical excellence are intertwined, not opposing forces.”

“A protracted lockout is not good for the ASO and not good for Atlanta,” he said.

Georgia’s arts funding is about 6 cents per capita compared to the national average of 87 cents. The state occupies the 50th position on the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) funding list. On its website, the ASO claims that this lack of funding is exacerbating its financial challenges.

Among the musicians rising up in solidarity with Atlanta Symphony musicians on the web and over social media are the Minnesota Orchestra Musicians, who endured a 16-month lockout in 2010-2011 and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Musicians, whose members were locked out of the Hilbert Circle Theatre for one month in 2012.

Musicians of the New York Philharmonic sent $10,000 to ASO musicians to show their support and New York’s MET Orchestra Musicians, who voted to authorize a strike in May of this year when it looked like contract negotiations would fall apart ahead of the July 31 expiration date, posted “How You Can Help the ATL Symphony“.

The musicians’ union and ASO management will return to the bargaining table with the help of a federal mediator – the same mediator who handled the Metropolitan Opera negotiations in August – according to a Sept. 27 post on the ASO Facebook page.