The symphonic world gets periodic jolts from data collected by industry watchdog Drew McManus, who, among other things, keeps tabs on how orchestras spend their money. His latest report on music director compensation is bound to get heads shaking, tongues wagging and Internet comment sections sizzling.
Folks in our neck of the woods will likely be most drawn to the fact that Marin Alsop is nearing the $1 million mark as music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and that National Symphony music director Christoph Eschenbach heads the list.
Note that this is dated data. The figures in McManus's 2015 report are from the 2012-2013 season -- the process of filing and auditing takes a while. (Every nonprofit group is supposed to file an IRS Form 990; said forms are available to the public upon request.)
McManus also hastens to add that financial forms don't always disclose everything; reported numbers may not reflect all the compensation a music director receives. (UPDATE 6/30: And said forms may not reflect what conductors give back voluntarily. Alsop has donated more than $500,000 to the BSO during her tenure, for example, and has also donated instruments to the BSO's OrchKids program.)
One more caveat: Two high-profile and surely high-paying ensembles, the Boston Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestra, are not included in the 2015 list because of insufficient data. Boston had not yet hired its music director then; Philadelphia was just getting started with its music director.
And now -- drum roll, please -- the list of 10 leading compensation-earners among American orchestras (with percent increase or decrease over previous year):
- Christoph Eschenbach, National Symphony: $2,728,671 (41.02 percent increase)
- Riccardo Muti, Chicago Symphony: $2,504,336 (15.65 percent increase)
- Michael Tilson Thomas, San Francisco Symphony: $2,364,775 (16.64 percent increase)
- Alan Gilbert, New York Philharmonic: $1,717,814 (28 percent increase)
- Jaap van Zweden, Dallas Symphony: $1,505,052 (82.57 percent increase, but previous season compensation was only for partial season)
- Gustavo Dudamel, Los Angeles Philharmonic: $1,447,049 (1.54 percent increase)
- David Robertson, Saint Louis Symphony: $1,012,158 (5.51 percent increase)
- Osmo Vanska, Minnesota Orchestra: $944,098 (20.24 percent decrease)
- Marin Alsop, Baltimore Symphony: $930,914 (5.45 percent increase)
- Franz Welser-Most, Cleveland Orchestra: $907,829 (23.15 percent decrease)
In addition to Eschenbach's first place showing, you can count on some raised eyebrows over Alsop coming in ahead of Welser-Most. As McManus notes, the BSO's annual budget is half that of the Cleveland Orchestra. (UPDATE 6/30: I understand that the figures for Welser-Most are more nuanced than reported. If more data were available, I suspect the comparison between Baltimore and Cleveland music directors would be different.)
Given that Eschenbach-bashing is a favorite sport in some corners, the compensation report will only add fuel to an ugly fire. As for me, I'll just say I've heard this guy conduct quite a few performances that I consider priceless and leave it at that.
As for Alsop, something that ought to be noted right off the bat is that the first woman to break into the big-league men's club appears to be getting parity in salary as well -- amazing when you consider the pay gap between men and women in most businesses.
(UPDATE 6/30 Let me reiterate: This is a good thing, an important thing for the orchestra business. And, above all, it's a positive reflection on Alsop's extraordinary contribution, in so many ways, to the BSO and the community.)
But it's also worth noting that, in my view, the BSO continues to severely underpay its musicians. Base salary is about $75,000, compared to more than $120,000 at the Cleveland Orchestra.
In these days of obscene disparity between the pay of average workers and corporate heads, the situation in Baltimore is far from egregious, but it can't sit well with the people who actually produce all those wonderful sounds onstage week after week.
As you will recall, the BSO players have felt seriously frustrated about lots of things, compensation being one of them. The frustration will not likely dissipate anytime soon.