Impassioned letter to Symphony Board.

From CSO violinist, David Edge:

Dear Mr. Trafford, and other Board Members of the Columbus Symphony,

I am the tall bearded musician who sat across the table from you making fundraising calls for the CSO during one of our phone-athons a year ago.

I am writing to you to express my dismay over the ongoing negotiation process between the Musicians of the Columbus Symphony and the Board of Directors, and specifically the information we found out in today's ratification meeting where the Board's final offer was explained and discussed.

Although I entered the meeting in a positive frame of mind, thinking that the mediation process had at least brought some degree of movement towards an appropriate compromise (after all, compromise is what negotiations are about), my mind set was quickly changed to anger and disbelief when it was explained that the somewhat higher salary that was being offered came with the condition that the Musician's Union, hence the musicians themselves, cooperate and support the termination of Junichi Hirokami's current contract. This is a most outrageous and unreasonable request, tantamount to saying to a group of prisoners, "We'll let you all go if you let us kill your leader."

Music is the outpouring of human and divine emotions and values through ensemble, harmony, and a sense of unity of expression. The idea that musicians would sanction offering up their Music Director as a sacrifice so they can make more money is as insulting to them as it is a commentary to your own stature as a moral, ethical human being. It is scary indeed to realize that the Columbus Symphony Orchestra has fallen into the hands of people who demonstrate such primitive understanding of right and wrong, let alone what it means to lead an organization whose mission is the uplifting of the community through the performance of great music.

Based on the actions of the Board over the past months, it is hard for me to believe that the Board wants anything less than the full destruction of the orchestra as we and the Symphony lovers of Columbus know it. At every step of the way, when compromise and reason could be exercised, a kink has been thrown in the works that makes it impossible to proceed.

Any informed and intelligent board member must know that the musicians would not accept the firing of close to half of their colleagues, take a 40% cut in pay, or betray their music director. I can only conclude that the Board does not really want a settlement, but instead wants to use the musicians as scapegoats as the Symphony sinks into oblivion.

There are compromises out there and reasonable ways to work towards agreement on those compromises. Scare tactics and demands of betrayal are not the way. I only hope that people with the insight, power, and positive intent to find those compromises decide to exercise that insight and power before it is too late.

Sincerely, David Edge CSO Violinist