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The Seattle Symphony Orchestra's ambition to become one of the country's great orchestras has entered a tumultuous phase.
Next week a survey of SSO musicians, described by one trustee as "explosive," is expected to be released, expressing their unhappiness with music director Gerard Schwarz.
Trustees said the survey showed a high level of dissatisfaction over Schwarz's artistic leadership and his three-year contract extension, announced in early May, as well as board leadership in ignoring the opinions of the musicians regarding Schwarz's new contract.
In an unexpected move, Paul Meecham, executive director since 2004, announced his resignation Monday.
"I am leaving for personal reasons," Meecham said, "and I am asking people to respect that." His contract expires in December.
The executive committee of the board asked the musicians to delay making public the results of the survey until after the end of the fiscal year on Friday because it could potentially harm fundraising efforts, said Scott Wilson, chairman of the Seattle Symphony and Opera Players Committee.
However, Ronald Woodard, board chairman, denies that such a request ever was made. Neither the full board nor musicians have been given the results of the survey.
In a meeting between the musicians' artistic advisory committee, which conducted the survey, and the board's executive committee, the musicians, sources said, were handed a letter by Woodard that threatened them with "insubordination" if they released the survey's results.
Wilson said, "I am aware of threats of intimidation."
The letter was subsequently turned over to Seattle lawyer Bruce Heller, who represents the musicians. He refused comment.
"I made no threat to the musicians," Woodard said. "The letter was an opinion given to me by outside counsel that if the results of the survey were released, there could be remedies under the contract."
"The survey is the result of the musicians who feel their voice has not been clearly heard by the symphony leadership," said one trustee. "They are so frustrated they feel the only way to make themselves heard is to go public."
Schwarz said he had seen the survey, commenting, "My relations with the musicians remain excellent. We have new challenges and new hurdles."
The most divisive issue for the musicians, some trustees and musicians agreed, was the extension of Schwarz's five-year contract, due to expire at the end of the 2007-08 season.
Trustees familiar with the negotiations between the board and Schwarz said the agreement stipulated that the contract would be Schwarz's last with the symphony, of which he has been music director since 1985. However, the provision was not made public because the music director objected on the grounds he would be regarded as a lame duck.
Schwarz, at Newark Airport on his way to the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, N.C., where he is principal guest conductor, denied the existence of such a stipulation: "It is completely untrue. In three years' time, we will all decide whether I have overstayed my welcome."
"There is no such provision in the contract," Woodard said.
Five years ago, there was impetus in trustee circles to begin looking for Schwarz's successor. However, the landscape has been altered. Many people who advocated such a change either left the board or their influence was minimized.
When the board considered hiring Meecham three years ago, his appointment was vigorously fought by Schwarz and Schwarz's allies because he was regarded as a potential threat to the conductor's authority. That rocky beginning colored their subsequent relationship, but the two men disagreed Monday with that widely held perception.
"I know there will be speculation," said Meecham, who also left town Monday, "that Jerry's contract extension was an impetus to my leaving. I would like to say that we worked well together and that my leaving has nothing to do with Jerry."
Shortly after the extension of Schwarz's contract was announced, SSO second trumpet Geoffrey Bergler, a widely admired musician, wrote a letter to The Seattle Weekly, the first SSO musician to speak openly about its terms.
He wrote: "The vast majority of Seattle Symphony musicians are shell-shocked and dismayed: They recognize the need for change. The issue is not Maestro Schwarz personally. If anything, I'm biased in his favor. He's a friend, was my teacher at Juilliard (School in New York), and he hired me for this job. He has brought a lot to the organization and is enormously popular with our major donors. However, it is time for fresh artistic leadership for the symphony."
Less than two weeks later, the day after Schwarz's return to Seattle from conducting his final performances with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in England, Bergler said he was given notice by principal trumpet David Gordon, on direction from Schwarz, that his playing was no longer adequate.
Bergler equates the warning with "retaliation."
Schwarz refused to talk about Bergler.
Most of those interviewed requested anonymity.
As Schwarz has his allies on the board, he has allies in the orchestra who are fervent in their support of the maestro. Each side calls the other a minority voice. What the survey should establish is which side is the majority in the orchestra.
Another musician, considered an ally of Schwarz, said: "A lot of people are tired of Jerry. He has been here a long time and has angered many, a danger of any long tenure. There is a lot of frustration that has been pent up, but I am not sure releasing the results of the survey is a good idea. It does not help sell tickets."
One of the reasons why Schwarz's contract was extended, said a number of trustees, is his ability to raise money. For some, one trustee said, his staying is a question of money over music. For others, "He is a superstar, a supreme schmoozer, very engaging and interesting and very smart." Many on the board, said another trustee, are simply afraid of change.
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