Columbus Symphony Orchestra

Infobox musical artist
Name = Columbus Symphony Orchestra

---

Img_capt = Ohio Theater, Home of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra
Landscape = yes
Background = classical_ensemble
Alias = CSO
Origin = flagicon|USA Columbus, Ohio, United States
Genre = Classical
Occupation = Symphony orchestra
Years_active = 1951-"present"
Label =
Associated_acts = Columbus Symphony Chorus
URL =
Current_members = Music Director
Junichi Hirokami
Resident Staff Conductor
Albert-George Schram
Associate Conductor
Peter Stafford Wilson
Chorus Director
Ronald J. Jenkins
Past_members =
Notable_instruments =

The Columbus Symphony Orchestra is a symphony orchestra of the United States, based in Columbus, Ohio. Its Music Director is Junichi Hirokami.

History

The orchestra was founded in 1951 as the Columbus Little Symphony following the demise of the city's previous professional symphony, the Columbus Philharmonic Orchestra. Its first full season of concerts took place at Central High School (now COSI Columbus) in 1952. From 1956 to 1970 the orchestra performed concerts at Veterans Memorial Auditorium. The historic Ohio Theatre has been the orchestra's home since 1970. The CSO has its offices, rehearses and presents the majority of its concerts at the Ohio.

As of the 2007-08 season The Columbus Symphony consisted of 52 full-time musicians and additional musicians employed as needed for individual performances. [ [http://www.symphonymusicians.com www.symphonymusicians.com] ] The CSO presented a series of 12 pairs of classical concerts, a series of 6 pairs of pops concerts, and a Summer outdoor pops series presented on the lawn of the Chemical Abstracts Service. In addition, the CSO presented annual special events, concerts for children and students,and serves as the orchestra for Opera Columbus and BalletMet.

The first music director of the orchestra was the flutist and conductor Claude Monteux. The longest-serving music director was Evan Whallon, who led the orchestra for 26 seasons. Following Whallon were music directors Christian Badea and Alessandro Siciliani who presided over the CSO's growth into a prominent full-time ensemble. Gunther Herbig is the principal guest conductor of the orchestra, and was its music adviser after the tenure of Siciliani, during the recent search for a music director [ [http://www.columbusdispatch.com/features-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/12/31/20061231-F7-01.html Barbara Zuck, "Symphony sets sail after choosing Hirokami for helm". The Columbus Dispatch, 31 December 2006.] ] . Following that search, Junichi Hirokami was named Music Director starting June 1, 2006. His initial contract is for 3 years.

The executive director of the orchestra is Tony Beadle, who was named to the post in April 2006. [ [http://www.columbusdispatch.com/features-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/04/19/20060419-B4-01.html Barbara Zuck, "Symphony fills management post". The Columbus Dispatch, 19 April 2006.] ] Recent financial problems for the orchestra have included deficits of $300,000 (USD) in the 2004-2005 season [ [http://www.cd.columbus.oh.us/features-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/12/31/20061231-F1-00.html Barbara Zuck (contributor), "2006 Year-End Updates" - "Orchestra deficit : Needing a miracle". "The Columbus Dispatch", 31 December 2006.] ] and of $825,000 (USD) from the 2005-2006 season, as well as concerns about declining audience attendance.

2008 Financial crisis and labor dispute

In 2008 the Columbus Symphony Orchestra reached a serious financial crisis which threatens the future of the organization. To balance the budget, a plan was established to reduce the number of paid positions in the CSO from 53 full time positions to 31 and reduce the number of players' paid weeks from 46 to 34. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/12/arts/music/12symp.html?scp=3&sq=columbus%20symphony&st=cse James R. Oestreich, "Symphony Plays Through Its Troubles." "The New York Times", April 12, 2008.] ] Sponsors are reportedly unwilling to continue contributions under the current unstable conditions and currently no agreement has been reached between the CSO's board and its musicians. Proposals have been made and declined on both sides. Spokesmen for the board assert that drastic cuts are necessary to ensure the Symphony's survival. CSO musicians maintain such cuts will essentially destroy the superior artistic quality of the present orchestra. No middle ground has yet been found.

The orchestra officially suspended operations on June 1, 2008, canceling its summer pops season and ceasing payment to members of the orchestra. On July 4, 2008 talks with neutral mediators were arranged. [ [http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/07/04/SYMPHONY_OUTDOORS.ART_ART_07-04-08_B3_6HALLVT.html?sid=101 Jeffrey Shaban, "Musicians to hold own version of summer pops". "The Columbus Dispatch", Friday, July 4, 2008 3:08 AM.] ] The CSO board's offer of a higher salary rate than in the previous offer in exchange for the dismissal of music director Junichi Hirokami who had spoken out on behalf of the musicians. This was unanimously rejected by the musicians. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/17/arts/17arts-MUSICIANSINC_BRF.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=columbus%20symphony&st=cse&oref=slogin Daniel J. Wakin, "Musicians in Columbus Reject a Salary Deal". "The New York Times", July 17, 2008.] ] On July 24, 2008, the CSO announced both the cancellation of the first two months of the 2008-09 concert season and that talks between the sides had stalled. No further talks were scheduled as of that date. [ [http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/07/21/daily32.html Maria Gallucci, "Symphony to fall silent in October, November". "Columbus Business First", July 24, 2008.] ] At the same time the musicians' union, the Central Ohio Federation of Musicians, filed an unfair-labor-practice charge against the CSO for locking out the musicians and failing to bargain in good faith. [ [http://www.theotherpaper.com/articles/2008/07/31/arts/doc4890d18e6abcc536136719.txt Richard Ades, "ARTCETERA: Hirokami, TBDBITL back CSO musicians". "The Other Paper", July 31, 2008.] ] [ [http://www.symphonymusicians.com/index.htm SymphonyMusicians.com Copy of labor practice charges.] ]

During the absence of the CSO's traditional summer pops concerts, the musicians of the Columbus Symphony arranged an independent series of summer performances at various locations throughout Central Ohio. Among the conductors were CSO music director Hirokami and former music director Alessandro Siciliani. [ [http://www.theotherpaper.com/articles/2008/07/24/arts/doc4888ed451e949909531594.txt Richard Ades, "Siciliani: Save CSO to protect my legacy". "The Other Paper", July 24, 2008.] ] [ [http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/weekender/stories/2008/07/24/9A_MD24.ART_ART_07-24-08_T24_N7AQFKB.html?sid=101 Gary Budzak, "Maestro to lead concert as gift to community". "The Columbus Dispatch", July 24, 2008.] ] Also appearing in support of the musicians was the famed Ohio State University Marching Band. [ [http://www.theotherpaper.com/articles/2008/07/31/arts/doc4890d18e6abcc536136719.txt Richard Ades, "ARTCETERA: Hirokami, TBDBITL back CSO musicians". "The Other Paper", July 31, 2008.] ] [ [http://www.symphonycolumbus.com/ Symphony Columbus.com] ]

Meanwhile, support for the orchestra's survival was expressed by musicians and music lovers throughout Ohio and beyond. Wide interest in the CSO's situation was reflected in articles appearing in "The Cleveland Plain Dealer", "The Cincinnati Enquirer", "The New York Times", "The Wall Street Journal", and other publications. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/10/arts/music/10colu.html Daniel J. Wakin, "Columbus Orchestra May Suspend Activities". "The New York Times", May 10, 2008] ] [ [http://www.cleveland.com/musicdance/index.ssf/2008/07/columbus_symphony_fights_on.html Donald Rosenberg, "Columbus Symphony fights on". "The Cleveland Plain Dealer", July 8, 2008] ] [ [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121383086628186513.html Janelle Gelfand, "Goodbye, Columbus Symphony?". "The Wall Street Journal", June 19, 2008.] ] [ [http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2008/07/columbus_symphony_must_live.html Donald Rosenberg, "Columbus Symphony is on the brink: Can Central Ohio save the music?". "The Cleveland Plain Dealer", July 28, 2008] ]

On September 22, 2008 it was announced that a new contract had been ratified by the board and the musicians of the CSO allowing a truncated 2008-2009 concert season to proceed. The new contract preserved the orchestra's 53 full time positions but reduced salaries by about 27 percent. Further cuts in management expense reduced the annual budget by a total of 2.7 million dollars for a new annual budget of 9.5 million. The difficult concessions were made, according to news reports, in the interest of preserving the orchestra. Maestro Hirokami's return to the podium for the first regular concerts of the season in January 2009 was also announced. [ [http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/09/22/ENCORE.html?sid=101 Jeffrey Shaban, "Symphony salvages season". "The Columbus Dispatch", September 22, 2008.] ]

Music Directors

*Claude Monteux (1953-1956)
*Evan Whallon (1956-1982)
*Christian Badea (1983-1991)
*Alessandro Siciliani (1991 - 2003)
*Gunther Herbig (2003-2005, artistic adviser)
*Junichi Hirokami (2006-present)

Notable Events

*1951 - Columbus Little Symphony, conducted by violinist George Hardesty, debuts at the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Museum.
*1960 - Columbus Symphony Chorus is organized as an auditioned all-volunteer ensemble of more than 100 voices.
*1970 - The Columbus Symphony moves its concerts to a new home, the Ohio Theatre, which was preserved in part to provide an acoustically superior hall for the orchestra.
*1974 - A grant from the National Endowment for the Arts enables the Columbus Symphony to produce "The Barber of Seville", making the CSO one of only a handful of U.S. orchestras producing opera. The CSO continued to produce staged operas each season until the establishment of the independent OperaColumbus company in 1980.
*1978 - A grant from Battelle Foundation enables the Columbus Symphony to hire additional first full-time musicians, giving the institution a core of 13 professional players and helping it to achieve a higher quality of performance.
*1999 - The Columbus Symphony performs with Luciano Pavarotti for a sold-out crowd at the Schottenstein Center.
*2001 - As part of its year-long, 50th anniversary celebration, the Columbus Symphony and Chorus travel to New York City, where they perform in Carnegie Hall.
*2008 - The Columbus Symphony is in financial crisis and its future uncertain. The summer "Picnic with the Pops" series is canceled. A new labor contract which would sharply reduce the number of paid musicians in the orchestra and eliminate eight weeks of the 2008-2009 concert season is rejected by the musicians. Following cancellation of the Autumn concert season a new contract preserving the orchestra's 53 full time players but with deep salary cuts is ratified. [ [http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/09/22/ENCORE.html?sid=101 Jeffrey Shaban, "Symphony salvages season". "The Columbus Dispatch", September 22, 2008.] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.symphonymusicians.com Symphonymusicians.com, The CSO musicians' web site]
* [http://www.columbussymphony.com The official Columbus Symphony Orchestra web site.]
* [http://www.symphonycolumbus.com Symphony Columbus, A grass roots campaign to preserve the CSO]
* [http://www.mcsconcerts.org The Musicians of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra Concerts]
* [http://www.symphonymusicians.com/photographs photos of the orchestra]