Big Fish Eats Little Fish, Symphony Eats Opera

On predatory practices.

In the global corporate world, a big fish eating a little fish is a common, acceptable practice. Most large corporations have entire departments dedicated to mergers and acquisitions.

In the world of the Arts however this strategy can produce mixed results. Merging a symphony orchestra with an opera or dance company for example, can produce unwanted side effects and long-lasting resentments.

Two blogs provide good points arguing against this practice. In Mixed Nuts: A Case Against Mergers, consultant Drew McManus writes:

During a time when some communities are experiencing economic troubles, we all need to be on guard against the lure of false security that typically rests at the heart of most merger discussions. As an alternative, directing those same efforts toward refining internal efficiency and focusing on core mission goals.

Rovert Levine has posted an article written by Bruce Ridge — Another Local Officer’s Perspective — which discusses in depth the topic of wedge issues, and how predatory practices in our field can lead to the ugly business of pitting musicians against musicians. Player’s conferences seem particularly susceptible to this scenario — ROPA vs. ICSOM, for example.

But we are still seeing the seething anger in south Florida, brought on by the predatory behavior of the Cleveland Orchestra. As with the AFM overall, a way was found to pit musician against musician in the pursuit of scarce revenues. This time, though, it was

full-time musician vs. full-time musician.

So the issue is emphatically not one of full-time vs. part-time. It is the willingness of m

usicians and their representatives to indulge in the toxic practice of wedge politics in pursuit of declining revenues and political power. By attempting to argue that the division is one between full-timers and part-timers, the advocates for this idea perpetuate the real problem and attempt to paper over their own destructive role in it.

Desperate times and desperate measures. And as Mr. Ridge points out this is not a tactic exclusive to managements. Sometimes the musician’s representative unions are complicit — or even willing — participants.

In Arizona, many of our arts organizations are in a gasping-for-air-desperation-survival mode. Both orchestras in Phoenix and Tucson for instance, are facing very serious issues.

It has occurred to me — more than once — that the Arizona Opera Orchestra must be looking like a very tempting and delicious target.