Symphony Falls Short on Payroll

Musicians and salaried administrative staff of the San Diego Symphony received only a third of their expected paychecks last Thursday.

“We’re experiencing a cash shortage between seasons,” said symphony spokesman Les Smith. “We notified the musicians at the end of September that we might be forced to take this step.”

On Oct. 2, opening day of the orchestra’s 1992-93 season, executive director Wesley Brustad announced that the organization was carrying a $900,000 debt from the 1992 fiscal year, which ended September 30. He blamed the deficit on a 13% decrease in private donations over the past year and lower-than-expected revenues from the 1992 SummerPops season.

Smith said Monday that the symphony’s hourly workers, which include ticket office workers, some members of the stage crew and bartenders, were paid in full last week, but management was able to meet only $97,000 of the regular semi-monthly payroll of $180,000. Members of the symphony board, management and the orchestra committee--which represents the musicians--have been meeting since Oct. 2 to forge a strategy to deal with the organization’s financial problems.

Violist Lachlan McBane, spokesman for the orchestra committee, said Monday that the musicians and management had not yet agreed on an appropriate strategy, but they were scheduled to meet again Tuesday to resolve the issues.

Neither side will say what their positions are in the negotiations, although it is rumored that management is proposing a 25% across-the-board reduction of all expenses, including payroll.

“It is our expectation to make our regular payroll at the end of the month and make up the difference from last week’s paychecks,” Smith said.