International Arts News: Show Is Back at Carnegie, but Without a Settlement - The New York Times (03-10-2013) By ALLAN KOZINN A concert at Carnegie Hall by the American Symphony Orchestra went on as scheduled Thursday night, a day after a strike by union stagehands caused the cancellation of the hall’s gala opening concert, which had been scheduled for Wednesday evening. Carnegie Hall made the announcement on Thursday afternoon, saying that the labor dispute had not been settled, and that talks with the union were continuing. As for future performances, a statement from the hall said, “All other performances remain on the schedule pending further updates.” Though picketing stagehands and sympathetic colleagues from other union locals marched outside Carnegie for several hours on Thursday morning, the union, Local 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, announced in a Twitter post on Thursday afternoon that “after making significant progress at the table, Local 1 has temporarily pulled down the Carnegie Hall picket line.” At issue in the dispute is whether the stagehands union will have jurisdiction over the new educational spaces that Carnegie plans to open next year. Discussions about this point have gone on for the last 13 months. A few hours after the original post, the union added a reminder: “Carnegie Hall picket line back on. The call is Friday at 8:00 am SHARP corner of 56th St. & 7th Ave.” The concert that was canceled was a performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by its new music director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, with Joshua Bell as the violin soloist. But although the performance did not take place, a gala dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria went on as scheduled, with about 600 patrons in attendance. Tickets were $1,000 for cocktails, $1,500 for the dinner. In a statement, the hall said it had raised $3.4 million at the gala. “What I feel is that the stagehands work in the performance spaces, but not in educational venues,” Sanford I. Weill, the chairman of the board at Carnegie Hall, said in an interview on Wednesday evening. “They don’t work at Juilliard, or any of the other conservatories, or in other schools. To give them jurisdiction in the educational spaces would just take away money that should be going to education. There is no precedent for that.” Clive Gillinson, Carnegie Hall’s executive and artistic director, also speaking on Wednesday evening, said that he had received “hundreds of e-mails today; it was very moving.” He added: “We have to have a sustainable relationship with the union, one that supports our education programs. These programs are not for the benefit of the staff — the staff is meant to support the mission. We have to absolutely stick to our principles and serve music education and the kids that will benefit from it. The whole notion of creating an educational center where, instead of the money going to the kids, it goes to the staff, is out of the question. It’s unnecessary and it’s unprecedented.” James J. Claffey Jr., president of the union, did not respond immediately to several messages seeking comment on Thursday. The American Symphony Orchestra, which had posted a message on its Web site early Thursday saying that the concert was scheduled to take place, but advising concertgoers to check for updates, provided that information about 1 p.m., saying, “This evening’s concert will go on.” For the orchestra, though, it was an anxious morning. An 11 a.m. rehearsal was rescheduled for 2 p.m., and then put back another hour. It was not until 12:45 p.m. that Leon Botstein, the ensemble’s music director, got the word that his musicians would be taking the stage in the evening. “The American Symphony Orchestra players are fabulous musicians,” Mr. Botstein said, “but the works we are playing are not repertory pieces that they’ve been playing around the world, and that just need a quick run-through at a sound check. We are doing the Antheil ‘Jazz Symphony,’ and the Copland Organ Symphony, which is almost never done. So the level of anxiety was quite high.” A version of this article appears in print on 10/04/2013, on page A32 of the NewYork edition with the headline: Show Is Back At Carnegie, But Without A Settlement.
Posted on: Sat, 05 Oct 2013 05:33:12 +0000
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