8 Resign From Camerata, Claim Poor Leadership : Labor dispute: Eight musicians, including the concertmaster, criticize Ami Porat, the ensemble’s music director and founder, and allege late salary payments. Porat denies the allegations and blames personality conflict.

At least eight musicians, including concertmaster Endre Granat, have resigned from the Mozart Camerata chamber orchestra, alleging inept musical leadership from music director Ami Porat, consistently late salary payments and other violations of Musicians’ Union regulations.

Porat, founder of the Camerata, which is one of two Orange County chamber ensembles, strongly denied the allegations. “There have been no late payments. Absolutely not,” Porat said Tuesday. “I’m sure that in the past there were some errors in some calculations, but they were all made good.”

Frank Amoss, president of the Orange County Musicians Assn., Local 7, said Tuesday: “There seems to be a lot of unrest among the musicians, the main point being that they were consistently late getting paid for the concerts. . . . It was a month (before they were paid) last time. The contract calls for 14 days.” Amoss confirmed the union is also looking into other possible contract violations but declined to elaborate.

In response to complaints the union received from 17 Camerata musicians at a meeting on Jan. 14, union officials said that they will require the posting of a bond to cover salaries for rehearsals and the next Camerata concerts, on Feb. 9 at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church of Newport Beach and Feb. 10 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre in Irvine.

Amoss said the union’s executive board will inform the Camerata’s management of the bond requirement at a meeting on Monday.

As for the resignations, Porat said he was aware of only one resignation and that “personnel changes are a natural course of action in a per-service orchestra” such as the Camerata. Seven other members, however, confirmed their resignations in recent interviews with The Times.

Porat also argued that the pay dispute is over the wording of the contract, claiming that the issue is whether the contract specifies 14 calendar days or 14 working days. “It is matter of interpretation of what the contract says,” he said.

Amoss, however, said: “The contract calls for payment within 14 days. When it means working days, it says working days ; 14 days is 14 days. Even if it was (14 working days), it (Porat’s calculation) would be off. The checks were postmarked Jan. 3. . . . The concerts were Dec. 8 and 9.”

As for questions of his artistic leadership, Porat said: “There are some issues raised regarding President Bush’s leadership, too. My work speaks for itself.”

Porat blamed one individual--principal second violinist Alex Horvath--for any defections. (Horvath is co-principal second violinist with the Pacific Symphony and has played for the Camerata for four seasons.)

“It’s a personality conflict between me and Horvath,” Porat said. “Horvath has been disgruntled, and he resigned. He controls a lot of people because he’s a contractor for various organizations. . . . Everybody has the freedom of choice to play or not to play. I have a long list of musicians who have played for me since 1980, and I’m sure the list will increase.”

As to the reason for the conflict, Porat said, “it’s beyond me. If I were unhappy some place, I would simply leave.”

Horvath denies the accusation of a personality conflict and said Monday that while internal dissatisfaction with Porat have been building for years, the turning point occurred after the orchestra broke down in a December performance of Suk’s Serenade in Irvine and had to start the last movement over.

“The most embarrassing moment was when we came to a dead halt,” he said.

“It would be wonderful if we could have a chamber orchestra of the caliber of the players that we had there, with a different conductor,” Horvath added. “Let (Porat’s) board do what the Pacific Symphony did so successfully: Initiate a search for a new director.”

Granat, who also is concertmaster of the Pacific Symphony, joined the Camerata in November of 1989, as substitute concertmaster for the remainder of the 1989-90 season. He replaced Brian Denbow who had resigned because of increasing commitments to the Angeles Quartet.

“Of course I noticed immediately we were being led by someone who was less-than-experienced,” Granat said Monday, adding that he resigned because the situation “was just untenable--musically and otherwise.

“When I resigned, (Porat) asked me not to talk to the press and I promised I wouldn’t if there would be no further (union) violations. The next thing that happened, the checks . . . came a month later. It was totally unjustified. That’s why I’m talking about it.”

Porat denies that charge. “That’s absolutely not true,” he said.

This is not the first internal dispute the Camerata has experienced. In 1988, Porat and board president Leslie S. Cotton had a dispute over Porat’s right to vote as a member of the board of directors and over the renegotiation of Porat’s salary. Cotton resigned in July and was replaced by George Dashiell, who remains president of the board.

The resignations of Granat and Horvath are regarded as particularly crucial to the Camerata, according to one player who asked not to be identified. “When the principals resign, that’s a major thing because that completely changes the orchestra,” she said. “They’re our leaders and set the sound.”

“I don’t have any quarrel with Porat,” said another musician who wished to remain anonymous. “He always respected me and my ability. . . . But I agree with my colleagues. He’s not a conductor. He’s one of those guys that get together a bunch of people, raise money and try to conduct.”

Porat founded the Camerata in 1980 to play in homes and other private venues. He reorganized it in 1985 and began offering concerts at Laguna Beach High School. From there, he moved his programs to Santa Ana High School, Newport Harbor High School and, in 1989, to St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church.

This season, he doubled the number of concerts by repeating the St. Andrew’s programs at the new Irvine Barclay Theatre. His budget has grown to about $150,000 and the number of musicians at concerts ranges from 28 to 44.

Requiring the posting of a bond before a concert is not unprecedented. In February, 1990, the union required the Master Chorale of Orange County to post a $21,000 cashier’s check to cover musicians’ fees before a concert at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.

The chorale assembled its own orchestra after the Pacific Symphony pulled out of the concert because the chorale owed the organization $37,000 for previous concerts. (That debt was eventually paid off.) To forestall further problems, however, the union required the posting of a bond in advance.

But Amoss conceded that union requirement of a bond to guarantee payment is “unusual” and that it “shows a lack of confidence on the part of the musicians to commit to the Camerata. . . . They are that uncertain of their payment.”

Porat said that there is “absolutely no danger” of the group’s February concerts being canceled.