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MNuet publisher Matt Peiken talks at length with Dobson West, interim board chair and president of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, about The SPCO’s labor dispute. The probing interview explores management’s vantage of the path leading to the lockout, the conditions that inspire management to ask for steep cuts in compensation to musicians and West’s forecast for what’s ahead.
The musicians have been locked out of the orchestra without pay or benefits since mid-October and management has canceled all concerts through the end of 2012. At the time of this podcast, a wide gulf separated the musicians and the terms set forth by management for any labor agreement going forward.
MNuet devoted a previous episode of “Whole Note” to the voices of musicians from both The SPCO and the Minnesota Orchestra, which is also under a lockout imposed by management. Peiken has an open request with the Minnesota Orchestra to interview its board chair and president, Michael Henson, for an episode of “Whole Note.”
See our News & Reviews section for an aggregation of articles from other media covering the labor disputes.
Pictured: Dobson West
Please read MN Council on Foundations 2012 report :
“• In 2010, funding for five of eight subject areas increased.
• Grant dollars for arts,culture and humanities rose 20percent from
2009.
• Asinpreviousyears,Minnesotagrantmakers,ascomparedto
national grantmakers, gave a proportionally higher share of grant dollars to human services and a lower share to health.”
I am so tired of hearing the same lies over and over again about arts giving in the state of Minnesota.
SPCO staff reductions: In 2002, there were 52 staff members. In 2008, there were 45 staff members, and this number was reduced in 2009 to 35 staff, and up slightly to our current level, 37. We currently have 28 members in our orchestra, and it is supposed to be 34. Is this a good ratio between staff and musicians? Perhaps the staff was too large before 2008.
Is there a transcript somewhere? I’m usually not able to stream entire interviews.
Hello Sarah … Thank you for writing. No, we don’t work up transcripts from our podcasts. We hope people listen to “Whole Note” as they would an NPR interview program such as “Fresh Air.”
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