Despite a global economy that is making jobs, paychecks and savings vanish into thin air, musicians in the Dallas and Montreal Symphony Orchestras still have paychecks for the foreseeable future. According to a report in the Dallas Observer, a new two-year contract for the members of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, who receive a $90,000-per-year base salary, stipulates a wage freeze for the 2011-12 season and a pay increase of less than one percent in 2012-13. The musicians of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, who have been playing without a contract for the last year, have agreed to a new contract offering them a 10.5 percent wage increase over the next four years and other pension perks and compensation for Web broadcasts, according to the Montreal Gazette. These benefits transcend the musicians' $72,000 (CAN) annual base pay, and they come just as the Montreal Symphony Orchestra celebrates the opening yesterday of its new concert hall, La Maison Symphonique de Montréal, which received a so-so review from Montreal Gazette music critic Arthur Kaptainis. Read more:
- As dallas Sympohony "Struggles" to Balance Art and Economy, Musicians get a New Deal (DO)
- Â MSO hammers out 4-year deal with musicians (MG)
- Â Orchestra Symphonique de Montreal's new concert hall has room to grow (MG)
