Comment Archives: stories: Arts and Culture: Country Life
Re: “Nashville Symphony Musicians Issue Statement Ahead of Contract Negotiations”
I read Mrs. Ingram's statement as more a message to the banks and the public at large — as in, "If you're expecting I'll just step in and pay this, rather than you working out an equitable deal with the NSO, think again." This ain't Mrs. Ingram's first rondo with the NSO's finances, and whatever she has (or had) to say to the symphony organization, I doubt she'd deliver it in a public statement.
As for "more engaging entertainment," I'm guessing you haven't attended much.
Re: “Nashville Symphony Musicians Issue Statement Ahead of Contract Negotiations”
The historic reality of living within a capitalistic requires commerical entities to operate profitably. The symphony management and musicians would like you to think that if they owe money and cannot pay it back, then they should be given some sort of "free" deal in the name of art. Perhaps say they don't need to be solvent or pay back their debt. As any business owner will tell you, when30% of your costs are labor, perhaps looking at other- nonunion labor is worthwhile. This is a right to work state and there is no shortage of musicians or profitable music businesses in the city.....................who don't cry for a bail out.
Wouldn't you consider that Mrs. Ingram' conspicuous absence of willingness to add more of her $$ is fairly telling evidence of her position ( as a manager of profitable businesses).
Let someone else buy the beautiful building at foreclosure and bring in more engaging entertainment and better skilled management.
Re: “Flipping Channels: Hannibal Cleans Its Plate”
And you've got me wanting to go catch THE FALL on demand — I haven't heard this kind of groundswell of buzz about a show since the early episodes of THE SHIELD.
Re: “Flipping Channels: Hannibal Cleans Its Plate”
Mr. Pink- I'm added that to my netflix right now.
Re: “The System Works! Fort Houston Receives Variance, Gears Up For Classes”
Wonderful! We're hoping Knoxville puts something like this together, too. It's a fantastic concept!!
Re: “Flipping Channels: Hannibal Cleans Its Plate”
Go back and watch her in Terence Davies' beautiful movie version of THE HOUSE OF MIRTH. She shoulda had the Oscar.
Re: “Nashville Symphony Musicians Issue Statement Ahead of Contract Negotiations”
It's very confusing - the statement is by the "Musicians of the Nashville Symphony" though it was released by the Nashville Musicians Association (AFM 257). This is reflected on the AFM 257 website and also the FB page of the Musicians of the Nashville Symphony.
I agree it was not a helpful statement.
Re: “Flipping Channels: Hannibal Cleans Its Plate”
I've been blown away by Gillian Anderson's turn as Dr. Lecter's psychiatrist. She's playing it so composed & restrained that ice won't melt in her mouth. Between Hannible & The Fall, which I just finished binge-watching this weekend, I'd say Scully is having nice moment.
Re: “Nashville Symphony Musicians Issue Statement Ahead of Contract Negotiations”
Oh, yes the AFM did---and it was a snarky, awful, mean, and ignorant shoot-from-the-hip hatchet job.
Re: “Nashville Symphony Musicians Issue Statement Ahead of Contract Negotiations”
The AFM did not issue a press statement last week, the symphony musicians did and I agree it had some very unfortunate word choices. You will not get musicians of this caliber without a collective bargaining agreement, period. Not in this symphony or any other nationwide. It is not musician cost that has created this situation.
Re: “Nashville Symphony Musicians Issue Statement Ahead of Contract Negotiations”
There are not plenty of musicians for the NSO. They deserve a deal, but the union once again finds a way to piss everyone off by making stupid statements.
The AFM is a joke.
Re: “Nashville Symphony Musicians Issue Statement Ahead of Contract Negotiations”
The stupid musicians' union called all bankers, lawyers, and accountants leeches last week. What a bunch of idiots. Those are the people who fund their salaries.
Re: “Nashville Symphony Musicians Issue Statement Ahead of Contract Negotiations”
Er, so they can make a decent living?
Re: “Nashville Symphony Musicians Issue Statement Ahead of Contract Negotiations”
Maybe if the NSO could find some non-union employees, they would be in better shape. There are plenty of fantastic musicians in this town. Why do they need to hire union members? It only drives up personnel costs.
Re: “Opening Today: Vik Muniz — Garbage Matters at The Frist”
I saw the 99-minute film at the Frist in Nashville, along with the large framed photos of the works produced by Vik Muniz, his staff, and the garbage workers. It was moving because of the humanity of the project, because of getting to "know" some of the garbage workers who helped make the artworks (and, incidentally, who themselves learned what contemporary art can be and do), and because of (my) having to rethink the famous paintings (including the Death of Marat) that the garbage pictures were based on. The film is about the making of the art and is at least as interesting as the art itself. -M. Price, Orlando, FL
Re: “What I'm Reading: Left Behind Edition”
Re-reading Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" on my Kindle, and listening to Stephen King's "Under The Dome" on my one-hour commute. I hope I finish "Dome" before the television series starts!
Re: “Ryman Announces Third Dave Chappelle Show, 10 p.m. June 24”
Hey Jason, I've got tickets! I am psyched. If you read the initial post, I wrote, "At the risk of stating the obvious, this is an extremely rare chance to see one of the most brilliant and enigmatic comedy minds alive. So if you want tickets, better hurry."
I was just noting that two Ryman shows in one night is a big deal, and hoping he doesn't run out of steam. But I'm guessing he'll be just fine.
Re: “Ryman Announces Third Dave Chappelle Show, 10 p.m. June 24”
Sounds a little like some jealousy there Mr. Silverman. Im glad Dave added the shows lots of his fans missed out on tickets for the first two shows.
Re: “Nashville Symphony Musicians Issue Statement Ahead of Contract Negotiations”
Stopping payments seemed unethical. Admittedly, I'm unfamiliar with high finance, especially at a scale of $80-120 million dollars.
I'm a season ticket holder and am no fan of Bank of America. When the Schermerhorn was built, NSO agreed to pay back what they owed. The bank is a business, not a charity.
The flood was unfortunate. I live in a neighborhood that was flooded. My understanding is that FEMA provided some financial relief, but why did they have no flood insurance? I haven't seen a solid figure to quantify the total financial impact of the flood.
At any rate, the Symphony is losing money. Here is a link to their financial statements. You can click the "View Financial Details" link near the bottom of the page, and then look at the 2012 downloadable forms on the subsequent page. This will show a recent 2013 audit.
bit.ly/1abPZ7Z
According to the audit, "The Association owns a viola and cello, with a cost of $1,975,000." That's a large sum, but a small percentage of what they owe. Minimum musician salaries are $60K (http://bit.ly/12K4fDi). It doesn't seem unreasonable to direct 30% of the symphony budget to salaries. Most school districts spend 80% of their budgets on salaries.
NSO has agreements with other bank sponsors, but none to date have stepped in to bail them out of this mess.
I hope they are able to work this out. Whether you are a fan of classical music or not, this could end up being a black eye on the reputation of Nashville.