And the Band Played On

Syracuse Symphony returns for a pair of post-bankruptcy performances

Before the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra played a single note on April 27 at the West Genesee High School Auditorium, the entire audience, filling most of the 1,050 seats, gave a standing ovation. The moment was more than bittersweet.

After the blame games that have seen fingers pointed at management, musicians, board members, community, government and whoever else could be laid with guilt, the concert was a refreshing yet saddening reminder of what Syracuse has given up: a world-class orchestra that once drew incredibly talented and well-educated musicians from across the country and around the world.

But those musicians and even Daniel Hege, conductor and Music Director of the former SSO, remain shockingly optimistic. The symphony will mobilize twice more this week for performances aimed to keep their cause, and their hopes of some kind of survival, in the public eye.

On Sunday, May 8, 8 p.m., the SSO will perform at Hamilton College, 198 College Hill Road, Clinton, thanks to orchestra director Heather Buchman, who suggested the idea and received money from the college’s endowment fund to support the show. On Monday, May 9, 7:30 p.m., the SSO will perform at the Mulroy Civic Center’s Crouse- Hinds Concert Theater, 411 Montgomery St. Both concerts will be conducted by Buchman and both will be free with a suggested donation of $25 for adults and $10 for students at the door.

As the symphony played a mixed program at West Genesee High School, with selections that ranged from Leonard Bernstein’s “Overture to Candide” to the ever-popular “An American in Paris” composed by George Gershwin, the swelling sounds of trembling strings and powerful horns struck a heavy chord with an emotional audience and orchestra. Reality was suddenly much more real.

“Suspension was viewed as temporary,” Hege said, regarding the SSO board’s initial decision in late March to scrub the remainder of the 2010-2011 season, which included the cancellation of a sold-out show with acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma. “We knew that staff and musicians would be laid off, but there was still a glimmer of hope. So when bankruptcy came swiftly, that was a surprise, a shock to us all. And when you file Chapter 7 {on April 5}, that’s a very permanent step.”

But how could something that involves millions of dollars come as a sudden shock? And if hundreds of residents are giving standing ovations before a single note is heard, how is it that there isn’t enough “public support”? The answers and finances are complicated and the problems formed a “perfect storm,” in Hege’s words. When the stock market crashed in October 2008, the Syracuse Symphony Foundation’s endowment fund was essentially shut off, making it impossible for the SSO to collect from it. State and national funding offered no relief, while local job losses also nicked the symphony attendance figures.

The SSO isn’t the only musical group that is suffering; orchestras throughout the country are struggling and going under, such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in April.

“It’s appalling to me,” said Hege regarding the Philly troupe. “That’s not only a top-five orchestra and not only one of the great institutions of this country, but also the world. That orchestra has gone everywhere and it’s their recordings that have been carved into the brains of so many people.”

When Buchman saw this situation culminating in Syracuse, she was reminded of her own experience as a trombonist with the San Diego Symphony in 1996 when they declared bankruptcy. “I saw it happening here and just thought, ‘No, I’m not going to take this lying down,’” she said.

She didn’t. Buchman, who also performed with the SSO on April 27, hopes the shows planned at Hamilton College and the Civic Center will help reinforce to the public everything that the orchestra represents: potential for a civilized, vibrant society that adds so much to the community.

“We miss that when we talk about budget and money,” Buchman said. “The symphony is not a frill. It’s a necessity, especially for a city of this size. It’s so important for people to get out and experience the energy. It brings people, the community, together. And these concerts will keep the issue in front of people.”

Musicians, including 37-season percussion player and orchestra committee secretary Ernie Muzquiz, agree that it is essential to keep the orchestra moving and to continue raising money for the SSO’s Musicians Relief Fund. “We don’t write ourselves gifts,” Muzquiz said. “The fund is to help musicians through hardships and to help with the legal bills that come with bankruptcy.” Although Muzquiz is nearing retirement, less than three years away, it’s his colleagues he feels for, more than himself.

Principal trombone player John Sipher echoed those sentiments. Sipher, who graduated with a master’s degree in trombone performance from Yale, left a three-year contract with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach and headed to the SSO. With him came two other musicians, bassist Chris Hamlen and violinist Melissa Chung, and the romantically linked couple also scored the ultimate jackpot: two seats in the same orchestra at the same time. That’s a nearly impossible feat in the symphony world, especially considering how hard it is to find simultaneous openings and for both individuals to make it through the grueling audition process.

The couple got engaged a few months ago and planned on getting married this summer—until they lost their SSO jobs at the same time. And as Sipher noted, there are similarly heartbreaking and frustrating stories for every orchestra member.

“That’s the thing that’s been so frustrating about reading all these user comments {on The Post-Standard’s Syracuse.com website,” he said. “People are taking glee in the orchestra going under. With management that’s 81 people’s lives and families that are just up in the air now. It’s a shame. There’s a lot of good people in the orchestra.”

Even after musicians took a 15 percent pay cut last summer, totaling $580,000 in concessions, and more than 2,000 individuals in the community donated to their cause, the efforts still failed to be enough. “I think the SSO has been dealt a blow that’s going to take a long time to recover from,” Sipher concluded.

Regardless, the musicians are working to make that happen and hoping the community believes just as much and is willing to show that in attendance at the two upcoming concerts.

“People complain about the brain drain from Central New York when students are educated here and then leave because they feel there’s not enough here,” Hege said. “The SSO is the largest cultural anchor of Central New York, doing different projects every week, with the level of players we have and the fact that they are ambassadors all over the state of New York. It’s difficult to quantify the riches they give back to the community. But I know it and I know many people know it’s there.”

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Syracuse Symphony Orchestra conductor Daniel Hege: “When bankruptcy came swiftly, that was a surprise, a shock to us all.”