To: The Executive Board, Woodruff Arts Center, Mr. Larry Gellerstedt, Mr. Jim Abrahamson
I have been a life-long attendee of concerts performed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. I remember well the loss of some of our most prominent arts supporters at the airline crash at Orly Field, I remember well the work of Robert Shaw in bringing the ASO to national prominence, I remember well the first recordings that won Grammy Awards, I remember will the joy with which Maestri Spano and Runnicles were greeted by the Atlanta arts patrons. I have, in the past, been a proud donor to the ASO, albeit in a very small way. That very small way, however, came from a donor who really had to examine her finances, find ways to cut a rather meager budget to support a symphony that had so impacted my life. In other words, I have a long history and a long love affair with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Two years ago, I watched with dismay the contract negotiations with the musicians. Dismay, in that I was embarrassed that poor management and an unarticulated vision for the ASO’s future was visible to the whole music world. Embarrassment that world-class musicians were reduced to groveling for pay they had, based on the record of their accomplishments, clearly earned.
At the time of the last settlement, Ferdinand Levy, former dean of the Georgia Tech College of Management, said in a September 27, 2012 article in the Atlanta Journal, “If the management hasn’t been as successful as they could have been in the last five to 10 years, they are not going to be successful in the next five to 10. It doesn’t work that way, and as long as the current management survives, nothing will change in the next two years.” How right he was.
A poor economy has little to do with your lack of donations. Your donors are not telling you that you should destroy your orchestra, by asking, once again, for unwarranted sacrifices by your musicians; they are telling you that they see a poorly-run organization. Their hesitation to give is not due to poor musicianship or ill-planned programming, it is because you are not doing your due diligence to see that this orchestra survives. Dr. Romanstein has promised much, and failed to deliver. The Board of Directors has provided poor leadership. That is what your donors are telling you.
By my count, and according to your website, there are 68 staff members associated with the ASO. Sixty-eight. That is only 20 less than the total number of musicians you employ. It takes no genius, no dean of management to determine that when you have almost as many administrative people, many of whom are performing the same functions, albeit in different divisions, you are doomed to failure.
Mr. Romanstein, we are not an art museum, we are not a humanities center; we are a world-class orchestra. You hold no degree in business management. Your association with music is as an associate professor and chair of a department of music of a rather small, private university. You have proved to us that you are not up to the task of leading the ASO forward. Positions within the administration need to be consolidated, positions eliminated, a realistic budget that reflects the trends of giving and sales needs to be created and adhered to, bridges need to be built between administration and musicians, innovative solutions need to be created and deployed. A leader does not diminish or destroy his only asset. That is a lesson you clearly are unable to learn.
Board – you are made up of some of the most successful businessmen and women in Atlanta. If your president is unable or unwilling to curb spending, reduce a bloated administrative staff and recognize the value of the ONE asset that he has, it is your fiduciary responsibility to step in and either replace the president, or use your talents and expertise to create solutions. Quit using your position on the board as a way to enhance your public profile and do the work you are charged, as board members of a non-profit entity, to do.
Ask yourselves what has changed since September 2012. The musicians still show up and perform world-class music; your music director still challenges the musicians to create a prominent place in the world of American orchestras. The musicians still make themselves accessible to their public and promote the orchestra, with concerts, special performances and personal appearances. They are doing their jobs. They are giving their all, they are making Atlanta proud. This despite decimated ranks, cuts in pay, additional jobs to cover their own expenses and a charge to cover part of their healthcare expenses. Has it not yet occurred to you that given the cuts that they have already taken and the proposed miniscule raises that have been proposed, which aren’t even cost of living raises, that even 10 years after the original 2012 lockout, they will still not be able to recover their losses?
It is up to you, ASO Executive Board and Board of Directors, to create solutions without destroying your one asset. There is a legacy that has been passed down to you. You have been charged with protecting and preserving that legacy without destroying OUR orchestra. Show the leadership necessary to fulfill your obligation to the musicians, your donors and your listening public or forever face the reality that you were not up to the task. Our musicians haven’t failed – you have.
Most sincerely,
Kathryn S. Amos
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