A Moment of Impasse

Jonathan Pegis

Well, the CSO strike is over and while it lasted about 48 hours we only missed one concert. Our committee had met all day with the management/trustee team on Saturday and had hoped to reach a resolution, but it was not to be so we did not play the concert. However, on Monday they met again and after some very intense negotiations an agreement was reached. For those readers who are not familiar with the collective bargaining process, we have an elected committee of 9 musicians who represent us to management, and of these 9 there were 5 on our negotiating team. Typically a contract is 3 or 4 years long, with this new one being a three-year deal. So we go through these anxious times every few years. This was only the second strike I have seen here. In 1991 we were on strike for two and a half weeks after the negotiations broke down over health care costs, an issue that is still prevalent today. And both strikes were resolved by compromise where an agreement is reached that everyone can live with. In our new contract our health care costs will go up, but we will also get a slight pay increase.

Maestro Muti made an interesting comment at the first rehearsal after the new contract was ratified. He said this strike was unsettling to him because in Italy when the musicians go on strike they are going against the government. In our case the strike was essentially under one roof. He thanked us for coming to a quick resolution, saying that “the world needs you.” And I certainly agree with him!

This process has made me aware that as musicians we need to do a better job of communicating to our board just what we do and what our role in the community is. Board members do a great deal for a symphony orchestra but they do not always understand how difficult our jobs are. Similarly we don’t always understand how hard it is in our current economy to raise money for an orchestra. No symphony that I know of funds itself 100% through ticket sales. Rather, it is a combination of tickets, annual giving, corporate sponsorship, and endowment that keeps an orchestra going. I am not criticizing our board or the musicians, only saying that with better communication we will have smoother negotiations in the future.

And now it’s time to get back to doing what we do best: making great music!

Subjects: Artistic Vision, Orchestra

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AUTHOR

Jonathan Pegis

Jonathan Pegis joined the Chicago Symphony in the fall of 1986; prior to that he was a member of the Rochester Philharmonic for 2 years. Since his arrival in Chicago Mr. Pegis has performed frequently in chamber music and is active in the Chicago Symphony chamber music series. He is a regular participant in the Northwestern University Winter Chamber Music Festival and has performed with such artists as Lynn Harrell and Pinchas Zukerman. He has also appeared as soloist with the Highland Park Strings, the Texas Chamber Orchestra, and the Signature Symphony in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1993 Mr. Pegis joined the faculty at Northwestern where he taught Cello Orchestral Studies for 19 years.

Originally from Rochester, New York, Jonathan Pegis began his studies at the Eastman School of Music Preparatory Department. His first teacher was Alan Harris; he has also studied with Lee Fiser, Paul Katz, and Lynn Harrell. He completed his undergraduate studies at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. While there, he joined the LaSalle Quartet and violist Donald McInnes on chamber music tours of the US and Germany. Their 1982 recording of Schoenberg’s “Verklaerte Nacht” received Japan’s Tokyo Record Academy prize. Mr. Pegis returned to Rochester in 1984 to become a member of the Rochester Philharmonic and to attend Eastman, where he earned a Master’s degree and a Performer’s Certificate.

Jonathan Pegis lives in Skokie, Illinois with his wife soprano Dawn Pegis. When not performing music their hobbies include sailing, crafts, and endless home improvement projects.

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