Honeck extends PSO contract; PSO board elects new chairman
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra announced Monday that music director Manfred Honeck has extended his contract two more years, through the 2021-22 season.
Simultaneously, the PSO board of trustees elected Tony Bucci — chairman and CEO of the marketing and communications company MARC USA — as chairman of the orchestra’s board, and also announced that it had unlocked $1.25 million more in challenge grant funding from the Heinz Foundation.
Mr. Honeck’s contract was to expire in 2020. He has been with the orchestra since 2008 and has led the PSO to its first Grammy win since 1992. The contract extension covers the orchestra’s 125th anniversary season (the PSO was founded in 1896) and the 50th anniversary of its tenure in Heinz Hall.
“I have tremendous admiration and respect for the wonderful musicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and a deep affection for Pittsburgh as well,” Mr. Honeck said in a statement.
He will conduct the first subscription concerts of the season this weekend, featuring violinist Pinchas Zukerman and a world premiere by composer Mason Bates.
Mr. Bucci, the new chairman, replaces Devin McGranahan, who stepped down after a three-year tenure. A PSO board member for six years, Mr. Bucci has served as chair of the Pittsburgh Opera board and president of the boards of Pittsburgh Public Theater and Pittsburgh CLO.
“There won’t be any major upheavals, obviously,” Mr. Bucci said in a phone interview. “My hope is
to work to continue to engage the orchestra, the staff and the board to work more closely together and promote the orchestra’s value to the community.
“We need to go out and reinforce and re-educate the community about why this is important, why it’s important to have a world-class orchestra instead of just a good one.”
Regarding the challenge grant funding, more than 6,000 donors have contributed upward of $2.5 million in new or increased gifts since March 2017 to unlock the additional $2.5 million from the Heinz Foundation. The symphony unlocked the first half in January and the second half in August, a year ahead of schedule. The symphony also increased its annual fund by 14 percent over the previous year.
The PSO’s operating budget is roughly $31 million, with more than half going to musician and conductor salaries and benefits and the remainder split between production, administrative salaries and operating costs. Revenues from ticket sales account for less than a third of this amount, with the remainder made up by fundraising, grants and an endowment draw.
This season marks the third year of the five-year musicians’ contract that resulted from the 2016 musicians’ strike. Beginning next season, musician salaries will rise from this year’s base salary of $99,197. They will return to the 2016 base of $107,240 the following year. To meet this obligation as well as other organizational needs, the orchestra has previously pledged to raise $75 million by 2021. It has raised more than $28 million to date.