ssomusicians.org: Current Issues

Despite making progress financially and artistically, our rate of pay has lost ground to inflation for many years. Even with our years of training and hard work, our base Salary this season is only $30,048.15 – which is far below any artistically comparable orchestra. We have also faced a steadily increasing share of our Health Care costs, and now pay 25% of the total premium. This additional cost lowers the salary of a musician with family health care coverage to $27,999.75.

Currently, our Pension will pay 14.6% of our salary when we reach retirement age. As a result, we must save the bulk of our retirement income from what remains after our health care costs are deducted.

We are currently engaged in negotiations to determine our compensation for the next few years. Our goals include a compensation package that keeps pace with inflation and an improved pension.

These modest goals will never allow us to catch up with other comparable orchestras, but they will be a small step in realizing a NEW ERA for the Symphony based on the solid financial footing we’ve all worked so hard to put the Symphony on.

New Media Agreement

We have signed on to a new, national media agreement that allows orchestras to make recordings at a greatly reduced initial cost. Previously, a commercial recording could cost well over $100,000, and with this new agreement we have agreed to work with the symphony on projects which will be mutually beneficial. We hope that the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra will use this opportunity to bring the fantastic work of our musicians to a wider audience!

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