Merryman to Quit Symphony Post; Solomon Named

M.B. (Det) Merryman said Wednesday that he will step down as president of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra Assn. at least three months before his term expires.

As recently as last month, Merryman had vowed to remain in office until the end of his presidency on Aug. 31. But he said Wednesday that stepping aside would allow a new president to assume the reins of leadership before negotiations with the musicians union begin June 1.

Attorney Herbert J. Solomon, who is the symphony’s volunteer vice president of development, was selected as Merryman’s replacement. He received unanimous approval as president-elect in a symphony board vote Tuesday.

Solomon, a partner in the law firm of Solomon, Ward, Seidenwurm & Smith, will take office no later than June 1. He said he has “no false illusions” about the job that faces him. He also sits on the boards of the San Diego Museum of Art, the United Way, the United Jewish Federation of San Diego County and Brandeis-Bardin Institute.

“The biggest problem facing the symphony is mobilizing the latent support that exists within our community,” Solomon said. He also said one of his highest priorities will be to improve “strained” relations with the orchestra’s 89 contract musicians.

Those relations were aggravated during an emergency fund-raising campaign in late February and March when the symphony said that unless $2 million could be raised, it would file for bankruptcy. The orchestra had begun the year with a $1.8-million debt, which was expected to grow to $2 million by the season’s end.

The drive raised more than $2.5 million in 10 days.

Now symphony officials say the orchestra is in the best financial shape of its 76-year history. However, it could still end the year with an $820,000 operating shortage in its $8-million budget, according to one symphony projection made last month.

Merryman has steadfastly maintained that the emergency funds would wipe out any operating deficit incurred this year so there would be no carry-forward debt for the following season, which begins Oct. 1.

A musicians union official reacted positively to the change in symphony leadership. “We don’t know him, but I was aware that (Solomon) had been a mainstay on the board financially,” said C. Patric Oakley, secretary-treasurer of Local 325 of the American Federation of Musicians.

Oakley also complained of continuing problems with the symphony’s managers. At a rehearsal for this week’s staged operatic performances, Oakley said, musicians objected to management’s arrangement of the players in the orchestra pit in such a way that their fire exits were blocked.

“It’s amazing that we have to constantly be on the alert for that kind of thing,” Oakley said. “We can’t let down one minute. We’ll have to go into negotiations in this kind of atmosphere. It’s too bad.”

Symphony Executive Director Richard Bass would not comment on Oakley’s statement.

Oakley said the musicians had engaged the New York law firm of Liebowitz & Du Brul, which he called the foremost negotiating firm in the country. He said discussions could begin as early as mid-May.

Merryman will become chairman of the symphony board upon the end of his service as president, assisting Solomon with special projects.

Merryman is in his second term as president. He was first elected in 1984 after two years as president of the San Diego Pops.