Buzzing Reed- Classical Music & Clarinet Culture

WHO IS THE PROBLEM?

Columbus is the fastest growing region in Ohio. It is also one of the richest.

Arts business produces over $330 million in economic activity in the Columbus area. That’s 11,000 jobs.

The musicians of the Columbus Symphony play at a world class level. Other orchestras at this level are paid much higher salaries.

Yet, Robert “Buzz” Trafford, president of the Columbus Symphony Board, and a lawyer with Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, thinks the musicians are overpaid and are causing the problem. He has hardly ever attended the Symphony. He also uses Google to figure out how to run a symphony orchestra. He’s not interested in the professional and experienced opinions of anyone, unless they agree with his.

Tony Beadle, Executive Director of the Columbus Symphony, and supposedly a leader of the arts, called the orchestra a “dinosaur”. He mocked a passionate grassroots support base which was formed to help with the current crisis. Since he came here, the Symphony has taken a nose dive. He is incapable of doing his job effectively.

Tony Beadle and management overspent their own budget by $6.5 million in the past 4 years. That’s over $1.6 million community dollars wasted each year. None of this went to pay the musicians.

The musician’s expenses in the budget went down by $0.9 million in the past 4 years. Yet, the musicians are willing to immediately take a 7% salary cut to save the orchestra.

Buzz Trafford said he would think about accepting a thrid party mediator 3 weeks ago. He still hasn’t accepted it. What’s he afraid of? He also insists that the musicians pay for half the mediator’s fee, something which is unheard of in any musician negotiation. Management pays the fee, because management stands to benefit from the advice of the mediator. The musicians continued to do their jobs of playing music at world class levels. Management needs professional advice to solve the problems they caused and they should pay for it.

Who do you think is the problem?

When a baseball team is losing, who gets fired, the players or the manager?

My friend Jan Ryan keeps the heat on Robert “Buzz” Trafford. Her questions need to be asked, or perhaps demanded, of the entire Board of Trustees.

I’ve heard more people say to me, “How embarrassing for Columbus that this board couldn’t get their act together!”

To: Robert Trafford
Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur

Dear Mr. Trafford:

I have enclosed a letter I wrote to the president of National City Bank.

On several occasions you have been quoted as saying that the corporations of Columbus are tired of donating money to an organization that is not solvent.

I believe you have an onus to tell the public just which corporations you have contacted before the demise of the Symphony.

Anticipating your prompt reply,

Sincerely,
Jan Ryan

To: Peter Raskind
President National City Bank

Dear Mr. Raskind:

As a resident of Columbus, Ohio for over 40 years, I have been impressed with the many donations National City Bank has made to the Arts.

However, I am puzzled that you have not come forward, as far as I know, to assist the Columbus Symphony Orchestra at a time when its very survival is a stake.

The musicians and the board are at odds over why the symphony is in this difficult position. The former have asked for a mediator but nothing has been forth coming from the board. The board has stated that all decisions will be made by June 16, 2008.

Any assistance you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Yours truly,
Jan Ryan
CC: Buzz Trafford

Jay, who is Symphony violinist Joyce Fishman’s husband, is the Executive and Artistic Director of the Minnesota Sinfonia. He has extensive experience in running an orchestra, especially in developing its support base and outreach.

In response to the Dispatch article, Symphony musicians propose salary cut;

I suspect that I am not the only person who sees the irony in Columbus Symphony Orchestra Board Chair Buzz Trafford’s questioning the credentials and knowledge of Daniel R. LaMacchia. When Mr. Trafford states,

Mr. LaMacchia is a stockbroker and I’m not sure how much he knows about the operations of a symphony orchestra,

he is simply engaging in the time-honored practice of a smear campaign. Mr. Trafford, who is a managing partner in the law firm of Porter, Wright, Morris and Arthur, knows full well that Mr. LaMacchia is in fact a financial planner with a degree from the Wharton School of Business, but by lumping him with a professional group that is held in very low public esteem, he is trying to shape public perception with guilt by association.

It is interesting to point out that Mr. Trafford (who is a member of a profession that also is held in very low public esteem) does not question Mr. LaMacchia’s numbers, or the specifics asserting that the Symphony is (over) spending far too much money on non-artistic items.

And Mr. Trafford shows his own ignorance about running a non-profit organization, when he criticizes Mr. LaMacchia’s insistence that in-kind (donated) services be included when talking about overall budget size.

Definition: In-kind services are those goods and or services that are donated to non-profit organizations (and for the most part are tax deductible) that have specific monetary value, and in most cases would have to be purchased or hired by the organization if they were not donated.

Certainly, with Mr. Trafford’s experience of being the board chair for the past two years (let’s put aside his leadership qualifications – given that there has been a multi-million dollar deficit during his tenure), he is fully aware that most funding organizations to non-profits require statements of in-kind goods and services and their monetary values. They require this information because these donations not only save the organization real money, but also demonstrate community support. Given that Columbus Symphony in-kind services amount to a very impressive $1.600,000, can we speculate that Mr. Trafford is really trying to gloss over the true nature of the orchestra’s community support?

While we are speculating, shouldn’t we all wonder why the payments to CAPA (which manages the Ohio theater and rents office space to the Symphony) have increased from $468,641 in 2005 to $1,080,235 this past year, even though the Symphony has the same amount of office space, and plays fewer concerts in the Theater?

And while we are questioning, why, if Mr. Trafford and the Board insist that the Symphony budget be cut by 20%, would they not simply suggest a 20% cut across the board, including the musicians’ salaries? Instead they insist on draconian cuts of 40% for the musicians alone, only 10% cuts for management, and one can only imagine what kind of future increases for payments to CAPA?

There are many questions that Mr. Trafford and his associates need to answer before they can start questioning others.

Jay Fishman