On The Honolulu Symphony: an insider’s thoughts

My post but not my writing.   A friend with close ties to the Symphony was sharing with me his views about the Symphony’s current situation & he made so much sense that I asked him to write it all down for me & let me post it on this blog.   The pictures were added by me for aesthetics.   Please feel free to discuss in the comments, but be warned that I will nazi any abuse or abject stupidity.   There’s enough of that out there already.

First off, I’d like to apologize. This is going to be a fairly long post. I have a lot of things to say about the recent demise of the Honolulu Symphony. Much of this is background information before actually getting into the question of what should we do in Honolulu.

After 110 years, the Honolulu Symphony has finally come to an end. For those of you who did not know of the problem, the Honolulu Symphony filed for Ch. 11 bankruptcy protection about a year ago due to mounting debt. The other day, the federal courts approved a request from the Honolulu Symphony to transition from a Ch. 11 to Ch 7 liquidation.

I’ve read numerous articles over the past two or three years about the financial health and viability ofthe Honolulu Symphony, and taken the time to go through comments from time to time. Everyone seems to have an opinion and it seems that seems that a lot of people think the problem has clear cut and simple answers. Like everything else in life, there are many other factors at play that make the situation much more complicated. It’s not just as simple as saying management was bad, the business model was outdated, or something like, “if it can’t support itself then we don’t need it.” I’m not saying that I have the answers, but I’d like people to think a little more before making a snap decision or comments.

There are pieces of truth that have been printed in each story that I have read over the years, but I believe that most stories have been biased either toward the musician’s or toward the administration. I just wish that people would think about these articles instead of taking them at face value. I’ll admit it…I’m an arts lover, and this response is colored by my opinion.  A city the size of Honolulu should have a professional orchestra. Being born and raised here, though, I also understand that that a symphony is not a priority to a vast part of the population, and that most people just do not relate to classical music or even more contemporary pops music.

Arts and music lovers argue that it’s just a matter of educating the public. I disagree with this. You can’t just educate someone to like something that has no relevance to them. They may come to appreciate or value it, but in and of itself, this will not cause someone who is basically indifferent, to support a cause they are not passionate about. Personally, I believe that the value of a professional orchestra in Hawaii is in what it offers to our community beyond traditional concerts at the Blaisdell Concert Hall. Its importance to Hawaii is through outreach programs such as youth programs that expose our children to something that is oftentimes completely new to them; in providing music to those who might otherwise be unable to attend by offering community concerts as well as concerts at retirement facilities, hospice facilities, and even hospitals. In my mind, that is an organization that would be valued by the community it professes to serve. The difficulty in creating such an entity is that everything that would be valued by those who have no direct emotional or psychological tie is non-revenue generating. The question then becomes how to fund such an organization.

Most people do not realize the enormous costs that are associated with having a professional orchestra in Hawaii. Unlike many other business endeavors, due to its very nature, a symphony is going to have abnormally high fixed personnel costs. This cost exists for each rehearsal and performance. There really isn’t a way to reduce it, lest we move into the realm of sequenced fills for certain parts, but at that point, is it really live music? The amazing part of experiencing a live orchestral work is watching over 60 individual musicians and a conductor working together to weave a single tapestry of sound.

The situation in Hawaii, while not unlike what is being seen across the nation, is still unique in many ways. The economic downturn and shift in concertgoers’ preferences from season subscriptions to single concert purchases, have forced many orchestras to follow a per-service pay scale. It’s exactlywhat it sounds like. Musicians are paid for the performances they play. I’m fairly certain that there are a number of guaranteed concerts in a season for those who have something akin to tenure. I believe that the major difference versus Hawaii is that in any given area, there are more musicians. Additionally, there are many more jobs for instrumentalists on the mainland. They are not bound by geography and have the opportunity to find jobs in neighboring cities for a day, weekend, or even longer.

Our musicians faced a different challenge. After passing a blind audition, they had to decide whether they wanted to move to paradise to pursue their craft. They knew full well what the challenges would be…higher cost of living, lack of regular secondary performance opportunities, etc. The trade off was that Honolulu offered a guaranteed 32 week contract. Weekly pay was guaranteed from September through May and encompassed performances with the Symphony, Ballet, and Opera.

There has been a lot of discussion about musicians in Hawaii not making a living wage. I believe that the number quoted in the numerous articles was somewhere between $26,000 to $30,000 for a 1st year musician coming to Hawaii. I don’t know how many editorials and comments I have read where people have stated that it was criminal to paying such a small amount for the talent we had in Hawaii, and that this was nowhere near a living wage. I’d like to put this into perspective before I get the same comment here and so people don’t make snap judgments. There were fewer than a handful of musicians who were actually at the base pay except for those who had just won their appointments. The contract is based on around 20 hours per week. I’m not making a judgment one way or another on this one. I just want people to know the facts before they start making comments.

Declines in subscription sales as well as annual contributions coupled with an incremental increase inlosses after each concert finally created a situation where the organization had to be shut down. For those that are thinking, “Just increase the ticket prices to what they should cost,” please realize that in order to do this, ticket prices would have to have been in excess of $300 a ticket for all tickets. Ticket prices can only be increased to the point that the market will bear. Here in Honolulu, that translates to roughly $100 a ticket. The balance of costs had to be met through aggressive fundraising. Maybe not the best plan, but that’s just the way it was. Again, I’m not trying to defend anyone, but I am trying to provide realistic information.

In the case of the current situation, I do not believe either side is blameless. The shortcomings and errors made by all stake holders were compounded through the years. In the end, both the administration and orchestra took sides that were polar opposites of each other while professing it was the only solution. Stalemate led to an unfortunate end.

Where does that leave us? Sadly, it leaves us in a state of limbo. We had an incredible amount of talent here in Honolulu. The individual members of our orchestra were every bit as good if not better than those you would see on the mainland, and it may be a long time before we are able to ever assemble a group with as much collective talent as we have had in the past five to ten years. However tragic the current situation, there is an incredible opportunity to reinvent a cultural icon.

My personal belief is that given the similar levels of funding and ticket sales, Hawaii just cannot support a full-time professional orchestra with a season as long as it has traditionally offered. The market is just too small to be able to offer 14 pairs of classical concerts and 7 pairs of pops concerts in 7 months. Also, it needs to seek support from a larger population that sadly couldn’t care less if we had orchestral presentations in Hawaii. I think the key here is relevance. Start from the bottom up. Start with programming that is valued by the community. I have friends that work over 60 to 70 hours a week to make sure they can support their families. Going to see a Symphony concert isn’t even on their radar, but they have mentioned when Symphony musicians have been at their children’s schools or when their kids have gone to watch a concert at the concert hall. The opportunity is what holds value for them.

Maybe the rebirth of the Honolulu Symphony begins small: with a concert 4 to 5 times a year, with an active community outreach program. The basic costs of each is known up front. Determine if it can be funded. If not, scale back a concert or a portion of outreach before launching the program. Don’t expand unless you know what your funding sources are. The dream should be big, but let it begin with a seed that grows. Let the community nurture the organization and help it to grow and we will once again have a symphony in Hawaii, but this time, one that is fully supported by the community and is healthy and whole.

Advertisement