Can Portland afford the Oregon Symphony as it currently exists?
There – that’s the elephant in the room. The question that is probably on everyone’s lips who has a real stake in keeping the Oregon Symphony a vital and powerful force in the cultural scene of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. Is it a moot point that, regardless of the generally horrible state of the economy right now, the symphony as it is composed right now is unsustainable? And Portland is all about sustainability, right?
Should the symphony only play symphonic concerts? Should we play opera and ballet, too? Would that make our operations more sustainable (if less ethical)? Or should we go to a multi-tier contract, with a small core of full-time players, expanded to part timers for larger repertoire pieces? Or should we cut weeks, and play only when audiences want to come inside rather than enjoy that nice spring weekend evening?
The thing is, I know that Portland wants a full-time symphony orchestra with the best players that it can attract (because if a multi-tier orchestra were made, all those part time players would leave in a heartbeat), that plays at a world-class standard, and doesn’t predate on the work of our union brothers and sisters. But the question remains.