Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Announces Layoffs Due to COVID-19
By Dejan Vukosavljevic(Credit: Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Facebook Page)
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has announced additional furloughs and layoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new measures also include salary reductions for musicians, and for 30 percent of the company’s full-time administrative staff.
“Our guiding principles must continue to be threefold: to ensure the safety and health of our staff, musicians and audience; to continue to deliver our mission of great music in every life; and to preserve the financial survivability of the orchestra,” said Melia Tourangeau, the orchestra’s president and CEO in a statement.
The PSO musicians have agreed to amend their contracts in order to reflect the policy by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s management. The amendments will incorporate a 25 percent cut in base salary in the 2020-21 season and a 50 percent cut in overscale pay.
Thirty percent of the PSO’s full-time administrative staff will change its status through a reduction of hours, furloughs, layoffs, and position elimination. Staff that is currently furloughed will remain so until the resumption of concerts.
“This modification to our trade agreement will give our organization some breathing room as we navigate these difficult times together, so that we can provide, through classical music, the joyful sense of community we all need more than ever,” said Susanne Park, violinist and chair of the Orchestra Committee, in a statement.
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has canceled all live concerts until at least the end of 2020.
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