Photo credit: Scott Jarvie

In this issue of Senza Sordino, you’ll read about the recent and ongoing attempts to radically reshape downtown Salt Lake City, including the potential destruction of my own orchestra’s home, Abravanel Hall.

This story echoes a broader reality: a community at the mercy of a billionaire’s ambitions and political leaders who lack the insight, strength, and skills to navigate the issue effectively.

There was no clear path forward when news first broke about Abravanel Hall’s uncertain fate. Questions far outweighed answers. The anxiety among musicians and staff was palpable.

Orchestras inevitably find themselves in disputes with management. These conflicts range from minor disagreements to full-blown labor crises. However, the best responses to such challenges involve organizing—either internally or externally, depending on the situation.

Internally, musicians already know how to organize through orchestra or negotiating committees. Internal organizing is great for addressing workplace disputes but can also tackle broader workplace issues, including sexual misconduct, bullying, and discrimination. By working together, musicians can improve their workplace environment. 

External organizing presents a more complex challenge, requiring broader community engagement. It is most effective in response to major labor disputes, such as strikes, or in the face of significant crises, like natural disasters, financial distress, or other external threats. The first and most critical step in external organizing is sustained outreach beyond regular performances. This work must happen years in advance of any crisis. Without it, success is left to chance. Even with it, success isn’t guaranteed—but it becomes much more achievable. You might ask, “How can we plan for an unknown challenge years in advance?” The answer is “You can’t.” But you must do the work anyway so that the foundation is already in place when the need arises. 

For the Utah Symphony, our long-standing tradition of performing for every schoolchild in the state on a three-year cycle has ensured that we’ve engaged with nearly every resident for generations. This institutional effort has built meaningful relationships with the public—but not all orchestras have such deep community ties. Our orchestras must become too important to fail in the eyes of our communities, ensuring their support when we need it most. If your orchestra isn’t engaged in this work or seeing results, the musicians themselves must take the lead. Many orchestras have successfully built strong community connections—previous editions of Senza Sordino offer plenty of inspiring examples.

I cannot overstate how crucial this groundwork was to our campaign to protect our jobs. Every politician we spoke to had some connection to us: some loved our concerts, others remembered seeing us as children, and many shared memories of attending performances with parents and grandparents. When faced with this crisis, our community turned out in force, providing hours of testimony at public hearings. Had we not already cultivated such deep connections, organizing that level of support in real time would have been nearly impossible.

As you read in this issue, the battle over Abravanel Hall has been filled with twists and turns and remains ongoing. There are, of course, many other technical details to crafting an effective organizing campaign, many of which can be found online or through various training programs. ICSOM provided basic organizing training at this past summer’s conference to help delegates develop these skills and bring them back to their orchestra’s musicians.

In today’s political climate, organizing may be our most effective strategy. We cannot rely on government institutions to protect us in a labor dispute or other workplace issue—we must relearn how to protect ourselves. Speaking with one voice and standing up for each other is our best hope for surviving our nation’s turmoil. This will require time and effort, which means making sacrifices in other areas. But ICSOM cannot do this work for you—each orchestra must commit to the effort themselves. If you are motivated to do this kind of work, please speak to your ICSOM delegate—we’re here to support you however we can.