by Brian Prechtl

This has been a terribly difficult summer for the Baltimore Symphony musicians—frankly, it has been a terribly difficult year. From the moment we arrived back in Baltimore following our triumphant tour to the UK and Ireland in September of 2018, we were caught in the shifting sands of the BSO’s financial uncertainty. First, the management wasn’t ready to negotiate on September 9. They then offered, and we turned down, a four-month extension, and we decided to play and talk. Finally the true intentions of our leadership were revealed in its October 30 proposal to lop 12 weeks off of our 52-week season, and thereby reduce us to a 40-week orchestra, and to reduce our annual salary by 20% as well.

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