Labor Relations

An Interesting Turn Of Events In Palm Beach

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Adaptistration Guy Out The Door

It only took one calendar year, but the Palm Beach Symphony (PBS) may be emerging from a season of “living in interesting times” following the public announcement that executive director Michael Finn is leaving his position. The PBS started making headlines in May, 2012 by making waves over an executive decision to bring in current students and recent graduates from The Juilliard School for concert event and in-school services. The result …

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A Breath Of Fresh Air From Nashville

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Amidst all the lowest common denominator labor disputes over the past several years, it feels like a genuine reprieve to watch things unfold at the Nashville Symphony Orchestra (NSO) where the organization is navigating difficult financial issues with lenders while simultaneously entering into a collective bargaining agreement negotiation. If it were just about any other group, those two occurrences would all but assure an ugly Detroit style institutional evisceration. Fortunately, Nashville …

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These Aren’t The Droids You’re Looking For…

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these aren't the droids you're looking for

There’s a terrific article by Janos Gereben in the 3/25/2013 edition of the San Francisco Classical Voice that begins to push past much of the talking point fluff coming from the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) and its musicians. In short, there’s plenty of ambiguous spin and attempted caginess to go around; all of which only makes the entire labor debacle look that much worse. But the part which should catch your …

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Leadership Turnover In Louisville

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The 1/13/2013 edition of the Louisville Courier-Journal published an article by Grace Schneider which reports two key leadership position changes at the Louisville Orchestral. CEO Robert Birman will be leaving his position February 1, 2013 and board president-elect Bill Lamb resigned from his position last week. Birman was at the center of a prolonged and particularly ugly labor dispute distinguished by the first ever attempt by a professional US orchestra to …

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Palm Beach Symphony Is Back In The News Again

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They say there’s no such thing as bad press but the Palm Beach Symphony (PBS) might be testing that adage in the wake of a 12/2/2012 article in the Palm Beach Daily News by Jan Sjostrom that reports the orchestra is once again at the center of a labor controversy. The last time the PBS found itself in the hot seat was toward the end of the 2011-12 season when a …

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