Agreement Reached on Makeup of Symphony : Labor: In a compromise, New West will fill 40 of 70 chairs with musicians from two former orchestras, without auditions.

After months of discord and accusations of unfair labor practices, the New West Symphony has finally struck a deal with the local musicians union to fill its 70 open seats.

Under the deal signed Wednesday, the newly formed symphony will fill 40 chairs by Friday with musicians from the former Conejo and Ventura County symphonies--which dissolved in the spring to form the new orchestra--without requiring them to audition.

The symphony then will audition any remaining Conejo and Ventura County players before opening up the seats to all musicians.

The accord--reached three weeks before the symphony’s first concert--also requires the American Federation of Musicians to take New West off its “unfair” list, a designation that had banned all members from auditioning or playing with the orchestra.

Local union President Michael Smith said the deal is a compromise between musicians, who believed the newly formed symphony should fill all of its seats with former Ventura and Conejo players without auditions, and New West officials, who wanted all musicians to try out for the seats.

“It’s a good situation,” Smith said. “By taking in those 40, it’s going to maintain the character of the two previous symphonies. It’s a tribute to the excellence of those musicians.”

At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, both union and symphony officials were visibly relieved as they sat side by side in a room at the Civic Arts Plaza in Thousand Oaks, where New West will hold its debut concert Oct. 6.

“This gives us a chance to achieve our goal, which is to build toward a world class symphony in this area, which is what we wanted from the beginning,” said Lawrence Blonquist, president of New West’s board of directors.

Union officials said New West players would earn about 20% more than they did in the Ventura County and Conejo symphonies.

Under the agreement, the 40 core members will be chosen this week by a committee made up of three musicians who don’t plan to perform with New West and Conductor Boris Brott. Both the union and New West approved members of the selection committee formed Wednesday but would not release their names.

Acknowledging that the symphony does not have enough time to audition for the remaining seats before its Oct. 6 concert, Blonquist said the symphony would ask about 30 additional Conejo and Ventura County players to fill the seats temporarily and join rehearsals immediately.

After the opening concert, New West will open blind auditions to Conejo and Ventura County players who are not part of the core group. Any remaining seats would be open to all musicians.

As part of the agreement, New West officials also have agreed to begin collective bargaining with the local union by Dec. 1.

Musicians with the Ventura County Symphony spent months in 1994 hammering out a tentative union contract with management, only to see their orchestra dissolve before the contract had expired.

When the new symphony was formed, union members argued they should not have to audition for their seats. New West managers said the new orchestra was not bound by the contract.

When negotiations fell through in July, national union officials placed the symphony on an “unfair” list. New West countered by filing a claim with the National Labor Relations Board seeking removal from the list.

Negotiations also were marred by threats, nasty letters and insulting cartoons.

Smith said he notified musicians Wednesday of the agreement, which was hammered out at American Federation headquarters in New York after negotiations reached an impasse earlier this summer.

Bill Benson, who was second chair in the Conejo Symphony’s string bass section, was pleased that New West recognized the two former symphonies.

“The thing now to do is to show them that they weren’t dealing with garage musicians. They were dealing with good musicians,” he said. “There’s a lot of bitterness now. That’s something we have to get over.”

Board members, too, said they were glad to see an end to the disharmony and the beginning of the concert season.

“I think it gives the core group an opportunity to attain the very best they can be,” said board member Tracy Susman. “This will give musicians time to test their mettle and prove what they can do.”