Reader Response: Insufficient Communication

A frequent reader sent an email pointing out an ambiguity from last Thursday’s article entitled The Downside Of Insufficient Communication.  They pointed out that I failed to mention that the Charleston Symphony orchestra musicians recently accepted a nearly 20% pay cut in order to help keep the orchestra’s finances stable.

Although I did refer to the musician pay cuts by mentioning that the Charleston Symphony Orchestra had to institute large cuts in artistic and staff expenses, I can certainly see where that is a vague statement.  I tend to forget sometimes that not everyone realizes an orchestra’s single largest artistic expense is musician’s salaries. 

But in the end, there is no misunderstanding that the only way the CSO was able to avoid financial collapse was due to the musicians accepting the nearly 20% pay cut.  On a side note, it would have been better for the organization if both the Music Director and Executive Director accepted an equal percentage cut in their pay as well.  But that’s a topic for another day