Furloughs for staff members, musicians

Executive director cites ‘uncertainty of our future’ in move

Hartford Symphony Orchestra will furlough its 86 musicians effective Sept. 28, “due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic and the extension of related governmental executive orders limiting large-scale events,” the orchestra announced on Wednesday.

Also, on Sept. 1, three staff members were furloughed, one staff position was eliminated and all remaining staff members took “significant” pay cuts, the HSO news release states.

“The only constant throughout this period of crisis has been the uncertainty of our future on a global, national and local scale,” HSO Executive Director Steve Collins said in the statement.

In a phone interview Wednesday, Collins said 86 part-time musicians were furloughed. People holding the positions of box office representative, a part-time job, and marketing coordinator and production manager, full-time jobs, were also furloughed.

The position of capital campaign manager has been eliminated and development associate, which was vacant, will be left unfilled, Collins said.

Collins said on average the musicians worked an average of six hours a week for HSO.

“Most of them also do other things. They perform elsewhere. Some of the teach, some have careers outside of music,” he said.

The remaining 12 non-musician employees took 20% to 50% pay cuts, he said. Collins said the cuts were “for the most part” on a sliding scale, with lower-paid employees taking smaller cuts and higher-earning taking larger cuts.

Collins said from March 11, when the musicians last rehearsed, until Aug. 31, the musicians were paid their full salaries, with one exception: the week whenthe HSOwaswaiting to get confirmation that it would get the PPP loan it applied for, when they all took 20% pay cuts.

When that confirmation arrived, they were restored to full pay, he said.

“We were able to carry that through the summer. We had a six-week run of outdoor concerts, but in the fall and winter, with the cold weather, we can’t perform outside,” he said. “The state regulations on gathering make indoor concerts impossible. The indoor event limit is 25 people, including performers and stagehands.”

Collins said the online offerings begun in the spring will continue in the fall, with musical performances recorded and posted on the HSO website.

“We will engage individual musicians on a piecemeal basis, then return them to furlough status,” he said.