Boston Symphony Orchestra
Breaking Down The Elizabeth Rowe Complaint
Fri, Jul 7, 2018
by Drew McManus
Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) principal flute Elizabeth Rowe is suing her employer “to recover over $200,000 in unpaid wages unequal to the pay of a comparable male musician.” We’re going to examine the bulk of her complaint on a point by point basis. It would be surprising to see the suit go to trial but
Time To Tame The Wild West Of Equal Pay
Tue, Jul 7, 2018
by Drew McManus
I had the pleasure of being an on-air guest for a segment of KPCC 89.3’s AirTalk; lively and in-depth discussions of city news, politics, science, entertainment, the arts, and more, hosted by Larry Mantle. We talked about Elizabeth Rowe’s lawsuit and took a deeper dive into how individual agreements work along with some of the
Equal Work, Equal Pay Lawsuit Could Change The Entire Landscape Of Musician Individual Agreements
Fri, Jul 7, 2018
by Drew McManus
For far too long, orchestras have relied on a combination of hierarchical tradition and path of least resistance to arrive at terms for musician individual agreements. Unfortunately, this is exactly the sort of environment that leads to cronyism, discrimination, and resentment. I like to call it the garbage in, garbage out method of negotiating individual
There’s A Reason Why You Pay Musicians
Fri, Jun 6, 2018
by Drew McManus
The 6/27/2018 edition of the Boston Globe published an article by Malcom Gay that reports on what appears to be a sizeable purge of the all-volunteer Tanglewood Festival Chorus. Orchestra chorus’ have always occupied a peculiar stakeholder position inside the larger orchestra field. In many orchestras, chorus musicians are unpaid volunteers, which stands in stark
Boston Symphony Pushes Back Against Allegations Of Sex-Based Pay Discrimination