# Tough Times Hit a Leading U.S. Regional Orchestra



## johnnycontra

"The GRS: a Five-Step Grand and Rapid Departure from Success" 
Paul Austin (Grand Rapids Symphony) 

1. Michael Kaiser 
In Michael Kaiser's book, /The Art of the Turnaround/, the story of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater Foundation seems to apply to the Grand Rapids Symphony (GRS), that is, saving one's way to health does not work -- creating exciting new artistic ventures, marketing them aggressively, and using new funds to reinvest in additional important projects does work. The GRS's newly-appointed President/CEO promoted this book last fall and encouraged all to read it (musicians, staff and board alike). Now that the musicians have done so and would like to use some of the ideas gleaned from the book, our President/CEO feels that this is no longer a good idea. The negotiation committee asked the GRS President/CEO to invite board and staff members to attend Mr Kaiser's appearance in Kalamazoo during his cross country tour of the USA last month (only a one-hour drive from Grand Rapids), and he failed to do so. It was discovered that Mr Kaiser has been invited to come to Grand Rapids in September to speak to the board of directors. We asked if the musicians could be included in this event, so that the bridge between parties can be made. So far this request has been denied. 

2. Isolation from the Grand Rapids Community 
While the GRS musicians continue to present our management with new, creative and exciting projects, they are not interested in any of our ideas. As Grand Rapids is the second most philanthropic city in the USA, we suggested a challenge grant to our broader community much like the Charlotte Symphony had done a few days ago. As downtown Grand Rapids is under a massive development of a medical mile which is within walking distance of our performance venues, we asked for the GRS to partner with our medical community modeled after music wellness programs that had been highly successful in the Pittsburgh Symphony and Knoxville Symphony. As Grand Rapids is known as the boyhood home of Gerald R Ford, we continually ask for them to include a Fourth of July concert in our schedule. As summer tourism is an important revenue source for west Michigan, we presented the idea of repeating our Thursday/Friday Picnic Pops concerts to the lake shore on Saturdays; on August 10th, /The Chicago Tribune/ featured a story describing Grand Rapids as a relaxed urban getaway and an ideal weekend attraction, with specific mention of the Grand Rapids Symphony. Two days ago, we read of an online challenge in eastern Michigan that raised nearly five million dollars for 75 arts organizations in the Detroit area. Finally, our management and board are unwilling to take the story about their financial concerns to the broader community, to which the musicians have asked "if not now, when?". Simply, they seem unwilling to serve the Grand Rapids community. 

3. Failure to Explore Increased Revenue: Picnic Pops 
From the stage, musicians look out at three to four thousand audience members per night at our Picnic Pops concerts, a ticketed event held at a local ski area. This is a widely popular series for our community. We have frequently asked management to add one week to this season by transferring a week that currently is not profitable from our winter season to the summer season, and they refuse. We are mystified by the fact that they refuse to expand the summer season by one week, as it is an obvious source of revenue for the organization. We are aware of a business person who wished to be a sponsor for a Picnic Pops concert, yet was told by a GRS staff member that they would not be able to send a person to his office to say thank you as well as provide information about the Picnic Pops series to his key office staff. (Mind you, this potential sponsor was not asking for a conductor to pay a visit to his company; rather, it could have been any staff member.) As a result, this person decided against funding a concert. 

4. Balancing the Budget During Challenging Economic Times 
GRS management insists on presenting a balanced budget to their board in two weeks, in spite of last weekend's front page story in /The New York Times/ which reported that signs of economic recovery are occurring across the world right now. The musicians firmly believe in the basic economic fact is that it is best to manage debt during times of recession instead of attempting to balance a budget. 

5. A Derailment from the Success of the Past 
During the past decade, the GRS has received local, state-wide, and national attention to much critical acclaim. In 2000, we gave a one-week tour of northern Michigan to places where live symphony orchestras are rarely heard. In 2003, we gave a performance in the newly-renovated Max M Fisher Music Center in Detroit. In 2005, we presented a concert in Carnegie Hall. In 2007, we received a Grammy nomination. Now, in 2009, the musicians are viewed as a problem to work around instead of a resource with which to work. We are an orchestra that serves as an arts ambassador for Grand Rapids, and we are being dismantled with no light at the end of the tunnel by leadership with no vision or willingness to work with the musicians on their new, creative and exciting ideas. 

ADDITIONAL NOTE 
The fact that the management members at the bargaining table were GRS musicians in the 1990s is completely disheartening to the musicians. There had been the view by the musicians that our new President/CEO would be a Janus-type figure who could look into the past as well as the future, bridge any potential musician/management divide, and provide a unique perspective to the board of directors. Unfortunately, the gap between the musicians and the management/board has grown to a level that has never been seen in Grand Rapids. Indeed, this is a grand and rapid departure from success.


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