Phoenix Symphony money woes remain a mystery

After the Phoenix Symphony announced last week that it was suspending its season just as it was starting, a flurry of questions erupted.

Since then, the Symphony board has posted updates on its website and spokespeople for its 66 musicians have posted on social media, sent a press release and given interviews to news outlets.

At this point, however, it’s still unclear whether or when the season might restart, or whether it’ll perform for Ballet Arizona’s “The Nutcracker” this season. The musicians have openly called for more transparency. They want to see all the financial data that isn’t publicly available, details on why the announcement was so sudden and unexpected and more.

Bridget Pasker, associate principal cello for the Phoenix Symphony, says, “Those are some of the questions that we still have for them: What is their fundraising plan? What’s the timeline for bringing the orchestra back? What happened to the funds raised already?”

In a statement, the board said, “We hope to have a plan soon that we can reveal once it’s complete.”

Layoffs loom; contract about to expire

As we reported previously, the symphony has had ongoing debts and said it needs a $10 million infusion to reopen. The board hasn’t revealed how much it’s raised so far in its $60 million Crescendo campaign, much of which can’t cover operating expenses, anyway.

The symphony’s update as of Oct. 20 read, “Years of operating deficits and accumulated financial obligations have created an immediate cash shortage.”

In plain language, imagine spending more than you earn month after month, but managing to make the rent and car payment through creativity (skipping that dentist appointment) and luck (you got an unexpected refund check), only to find at the end of the year that you’re tapped out. That’s sort of the situation they’re in.

The board’s update added that it hadn’t raised the $7 million in donations it expected, which “created a risk that it could not meet payroll.”

The musicians knew the symphony was struggling financially, but says the announcement caught them off guard. They learned on Oct. 20 that they’d be laid off on Nov. 2. (Pasker sits on the board but says she isn’t always privy to financial discussions because of a conflict-of-interest clause.)

The news was particularly shocking because the symphony had recently hired a new music director, Paolo Bortolameolli; principal pops conductor, Stuart Chafetz; and vice president of development, Naquana Borrero, along with new musicians.

Incidentally, the musicians’ contract expires Oct. 31, and they’d begun negotiating a new one.

The first proposal, on Sept. 30, called for deep cuts to musician salaries, Pasker says. On Oct. 6, the musicians submitted a counterproposal that she says included “just under 50 percent of those cuts.”

At the third meeting on Oct. 20, Pasker says the musicians went in expecting a contract-negotiating meeting and instead received notice that the symphony was suspending the season.

In a statement to Phoenix New Times, the symphony board wrote, “The members of the Symphony board have been working day and night to put the symphony back on a sustainable path so the music can return.

“The board understands that the musicians are upset. The members of the board are upset too. The Board is doing all it can to make sure the Symphony performs again as soon as possible.”

Salaries are ‘fairly reasonable‘

So where exactly did the budget go awry? The symphony’s updates on its websites provide statements, but Pasker says, “There’s a lot of words without saying a whole lot.”

Operating expenses are about $9.5 million annually, she explains. That includes musician salaries, Symphony Hall rent, production costs, chorus and library expenses, and artistic costs, such as guest artists’ pay, travel and lodging.

Full-time Symphony musicians’ salaries range from about $47,000 to $64,000 a year for 35 weeks; they also get year-round benefits, and many have side gigs outside the symphony season.

However, while the musicians understand the financial stress the symphony is under, she added, “there’s only so much salary cut you can take and still be able to live.”

The administrative and executive staff compensation is in line with average salaries for orchestras of their budget size, Pasker says. In fact, she explains, they’ve been short-staffed for about six months, partly due to budget cuts and because people have left and haven’t been replaced.

Also, CEO Peter Kjome’s $305,000 salary is “fairly reasonable for an orchestra of our size,” Pasker says.

She has praise for Kjome, saying, “He has been incredibly supportive of the musicians the entire time he’s been here. We see him all the time — at rehearsals, at concerts.”

Pasker adds that since Kjome was hired, “We’ve had increased ticket sales; we’ve had increased contributed revenue. He’s spent the last three-and-a-half years really trying to grow this organization, and has done so, frankly.”

The musicians knew when Kjome was hired that he was CEO of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 2019, when it locked out its musicians for 16 weeks during a labor dispute, Pasker says. She adds, “We believe that this is coming from the board and not from Peter.”

Pasker also says the orchestra regularly goes into the community to perform at homeless shelters, hospice and memory care centers, and schools, and that, as far as the musicians know, all of that will be suspended.

The music stops for now

Meanwhile, the city of Phoenix also just spent $7 million updating Symphony Hall, which it owns and rents to the orchestra and others. Pasker says the musicians haven’t heard from the city.

“For us, that is a fairly notable silence right now,” Pasker says. “We hope the city also values its arts organizations and will be doing whatever it can to help the Phoenix Symphony stay in the city.”

Even if the city offered free rent, or the staff or musicians worked for free for a year, however, it wouldn’t patch the budget shortfall. 

Still, Pasker says the musicians don’t think the board’s decision to stop the music was wise, since it cuts off ticket revenue and could alienate donors, both small and large, rather than kickstart them into action.

“Something that we asked them in the (Oct. 20) meeting is: How are you going to fundraise now? There’s no product,” Pasker says. “They didn’t have an answer.”