SAN FRANCISCO — Musicians, choir members and visitors looked forward to the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra’s performances of Verdi’s Requiem, which began Thursday.
Instead, the three-day shows, which were to have been the first of music director Esa-Pekka Salonen’s final season in San Francisco, were canceled when members of the Symphony Chorus went on strike and demonstrated outside Davies Symphony Hall to demand better pay.
The paying choir members are represented by the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA).
“Whenever something like a budget cut has to happen, we are always the lowest hanging fruit. We are always the poor cousins who get left behind,” said Chung-Wai Soong, a bass singer on the chorus.
Soong, who has been with the choir for more than 30 years, says he is disappointed with the way the symphony orchestra handled the contract negotiations.
“We never sit down at the table. We’re given leftovers — if we’re given leftovers — and even then we’re told that’s acceptable or that’s enough,” he said.
The symphony said it has proposed a one-year contract freeze, setting current salaries. The organization said it pays more than $22,000 annually for 26 performances, 53 rehearsals and 26 warm-up sessions.
Currently there are 32 paid choir members out of 150 choir members. The rest are volunteers.
“The first offer they made us was an 80 percent salary cut, combined with a 45 percent cut in programming for the choir,” Elliott Encarnación, a tenor with the choir, told CBS News Bay Area.
Encarnación, who has been with the choir for 11 years, says negotiations have been going on since May. Their contract expired in July and no agreement has been reached.
“Everybody is suffering. Our administration doesn’t seem to be suffering and they’re not telling us how these kinds of cuts are going to be distributed across the company,” he said. “We believe we’re being used as a stick. Our budget is not significant to the overall budget, but they need to make a statement, in my opinion, that they’re going to make major cuts to the rest of the organization going forward and that’s what’s happening.”
Symphony performances featuring the choir are planned for this season, but their performance is still uncertain.
“Our orchestra’s contract expires in November before we start rehearsing again and we expect management to focus on them,” Encarnación said. He hopes the symphony will come together and discuss better ways to move forward with wages.
The San Francisco Symphony released a statement:
“Our latest contract offer to the SF Symphony’s AGMA members is fair, equitable, and competitive. Our offer to maintain current wage levels reflects our commitment to the chorus, especially in light of the challenging financial pressures this organization currently faces. We have been transparent about our financial challenges — similar to many other arts organizations since the pandemic — and have worked with our union partners to attempt to collectively address those realities.”
“Our choir and each of its members are an essential part of the Symphony. We have been engaged in good faith negotiations for a new contract and are deeply disappointed that AGMA has rejected the administration’s contract proposal and has instead decided to declare a strike. We are saddened that we have been forced to cancel this week’s performances of Verdi’s Requiem and deeply regret the inconvenience caused to our patrons and the many other musicians, guest artists and staff who have worked diligently to prepare for those performances. We are committed to continuing to work with AGMA and are committed to reaching an agreement as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, many of these choir members sing multiple times in different states to make ends meet.
Soong said he filed 14 W2s and 1099s for all of his jobs last year.
“To be constantly… undervalued, underappreciated and insulted like this is absolutely heartbreaking,” Soong said.
“It is a passion, but it is also a job. It is a difficult job, it is hard to maintain and you have to appreciate it,” Encarnación said.
The symphony said that people who bought tickets for the performances of Verdi’s Requiem on September 19, 20 or 21 can exchange them for a performance in the 2024-2025 season. They can also exchange the tickets for a gift certificate or donate the ticket for a tax deduction or refund.
Meanwhile, the symphony orchestra announced that no concerts are being cancelled at this time.
