SYMPHONY CENTER—Citing stress and long hours, the musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra are contemplating a strike due to their unsustainable schedule of gigging in the same city every week. “Last spring, we were striking in regards to the proposed pension changes in our contracts,” said concertmaster Simon Dergen, 67. “Now, we once more are struggling with management to reach a compromise for another pressing issue: having to stay in the same city year-round and play music in our own concert hall all the time.”
Founded in 1891, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is highly regarded around the world, hosting many internationally famous conductors and guest artists on its stage. Once invited to join the CSO, many members stay for the rest of their careers. “I want to go to Des Moines,” said second trumpet Sarah Peirsen, 44. “I want to go to the Blank Park Zoo and see the giraffes. But instead I have to stay in Chicago with my husband and perform the works of Sibelius.” The majority of musicians in the group expressed similar sentiments, with many articulating the challenges of living a life where home is always in the same place.
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“Hotel rooms bleeding together. The smell of a gas station urinal. The road stretching out before you like a grey arrow pointing to nowhere as you spend hours on a tour bus, wondering if this is what success feels like. This is the kind of stuff we’re missing out on!” Dergen wrote in the CSO’s ‘Musician Zone’ GroupMe. “Blondie gets to ride in a tour bus with a bathroom in it, and we’re trapped in one place like the Man in the Iron Mask. Where’s the justice in that?”
Over half of the orchestra has signed a petition urging the board of directors to allow a weeklong tour throughout the midwest during spring break. “Our demands are entirely reasonable,” stated Dergen, hitting golf balls into an upturned trash can with his Stradivarius between rehearsals. “We’ll all be out for break, so it’s not like we’d be ruining any of the already-scheduled programming. We all just really want to get the experience of living out of a suitcase and listening to podcasts for a little while.”
Though no response from management has been issued, the musicians are optimistic about their chances. “It’s Des Moines or bust,” said Peirson, emptying her trumpet’s spit valve onto a map of Chicago’s Symphony Center. “As musicians, the kind of stability we’re experiencing right now is fundamentally unsustainable.”
