What a difference a week makes

Last week, the Kentucky Opera seemed very interested in having an orchestra in the pit for its upcoming production of Carmen:

The opera’s general director, David Roth, said opera administration is talking with the local branch of the musicians union, American Federation of Musicians Local 11-637, so that it can contract its members to perform the music for performances of “Carmen” on Sept. 23 and 25.

“We must have a live orchestra and live performances at all levels, and that includes an orchestra in the pit,” Roth said.

Roth said that the opera hopes to have musicians contracted by Sept. 1 so that they can begin rehearsals by Sept. 13.

For nearly three decades, the Louisville Orchestra has played the instrumental music for the Kentucky Opera.

This week… not so much:

The Kentucky Opera rebuffed an offer by the musicians from the Louisville Orchestra to play for the opera’s upcoming performances of “Carmen” at the Brown Theater, which comes during ongoing dispute between the orchestra’s management and the musicians in negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement.

Musicians have been without a contract since May.

Kim Tichenor, head of the players’ negotiating committee, said she made an offer to the opera’s general director, David Roth, on Monday for the musicians to play for the opera under a group the called Keep Louisville Symphonic.

The musicians organized the non-profit group when the orchestra was in early court proceedings for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

On Tuesday, the opera issued a statement from Roth: “Our primary desire is for an agreement to be reached between the Louisville  Orchestra and the Louisville Orchestra musicians so the Louisville Orchestra can once again perform for Kentucky Opera. It would be presumptuous for Kentucky Opera to negotiate with any other organized group of players while the Louisville Orchestra negotiates with its musicians.”

Heather O’Mara, a spokesperson for the opera and orchestra, said late Tuesday the musicians’ proposal would be difficult to implement.

Taking sides would jeopardize “the relationship between the opera and the orchestra,” she said.

Orchestra CEO Robert Birman said in a statement, “The Louisville Orchestra board and management endorse the Kentucky Opera’s neutral stance with regard to the ongoing labor impasse with orchestra musicians and their union….”

Both arts organizations share many staff members and have consolidated many of their operations over the past five years.

O’Mara also said that the opera will have an orchestra for the performances of “Carmen” scheduled for Sept. 23, 25 and 30.

“We will figure it out. There will be live music in the pit,” she said.

Best of luck with finding musicians to cross the now-inevitable picket line. I wonder why the Opera thinks that’ll be any less “difficult to implement” than having the LO do what they’ve done for decades.

Strike up the band for another chorus of Solidarity Forever – the anthem of arts managers everywhere.

About the author

Robert Levine
Robert Levine

Robert Levine has been the Principal Violist of the Milwaukee Symphony since September 1987. Before coming to Milwaukee Mr. Levine had been a member of the Orford String Quartet, Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Toronto, with whom he toured extensively throughout Canada, the United States, and South America. Prior to joining the Orford Quartet, Mr. Levine had served as Principal Violist of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra for six years. He has also performed with the San Francisco Symphony, the London Symphony of Canada, and the Oklahoma City Symphony, as well as serving as guest principal with the orchestras of Indianapolis and Hong Kong.

He has performed as soloist with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Oklahoma City Symphony, the London Symphony of Canada, the Midsummer Mozart Festival (San Francisco), and numerous community orchestras in Northern California and Minnesota. He has also been featured on American Public Radio's nationally broadcast show "St. Paul Sunday Morning" on several occasions.

Mr. Levine has been an active chamber musician, having performed at the Festival Rolandseck in Germany, the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Palm Beach Festival, the "Strings in the Mountains" Festival in Colorado, and numerous concerts in the Twin Cities and Milwaukee. He has also been active in the field of new music, having commissioned and premiered works for viola and orchestra from Minnesota composers Janika Vandervelde and Libby Larsen.

Mr. Levine was chairman of the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians from 1996 to 2002 and currently serves as President of the Milwaukee Musicians Association, Local 8 of the American Federation of Musicians, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the League of American Orchestras. He has written extensively about issues concerning orchestra musicians for publications of ICSOM, the AFM, the Symphony Orchestra Institute, and the League of American Orchestras.

Mr. Levine attended Stanford University and the Institute for Advanced Musical Studies in Switzerland. His primary teachers were Aaron Sten and Pamela Goldsmith. He also studied with Paul Doctor, Walter Trampler, Bruno Giuranna, and David Abel.

He lives with his wife Emily and his son Sam in Glendale.

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