Ft. Worth Symphony Orchestra receives newspaper "Turkey" award

The musicians of the FWSO and their supporters want “growth, not cuts.” Photo by Lee Chastain

This turkey isn’t for the musicians of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra but rather their leaders. In 2010, the orchestra’s several dozen performers took a 13 percent pay cut to shore up losses related to the recession. Six years later, the North Texas economy is thriving, ticket sales are up, and musicians are now being asked to take another round of pay cuts. Under FWSO president and CEO Amy Adkins, development directors have come and gone like summer breezes. Instead of pushing back against rental rate hikes at Bass Performance Hall, Adkins simply added them to the list of woes now confronting her and her fellow staffers.

We’ve also saved a serving of bird for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. In a September piece ominously entitled, “Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, R.I.P.,” the pro-business, pro-establishment editorial board described the proposal put forth by Adkins and company as “reasonable,” failing to mention that the pay for Adkins and her staff would not change. Every musician in town and their supporters cried fowl, arguing that Star-T publisher Gary Wortel also serves on FWSO’s board of directors and works closely with Adkins.

Here at the little ol’ Weekly, we will choose to remain optimistic about our world-class orchestra’s future. No one’s asking for a shakeup at the top of the FWSO, but any proposed pay cuts should probably start there.