In the wake of canceled concerts and postponed tours, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra on Thursday announced a series of financial cutbacks to help sustain the organization through the pandemic.

The 87 musicians have agreed to a 25% reduction in base salary. Additionally, 75% of the staff has been affected with 30% of full-time staff taking a combination of reduction of hours, furloughs, layoffs and position elimination through attrition. All part-time workers have been furloughed.

Music director Manfred Honeck will have a compensation reduction of 30%, as will PSO president and CEO Melia Tourangeau.

Since the shutdown began in March, the symphony had to cancel 115 concerts in 2020, resulting in a $5.6 million loss in earned revenue.

“It’s been pretty bad,” said Tourangeau. “I’m not going to lie. And things were compounded by the fact that we had a tough financial time five years ago and we were working our way out of that to celebrate our 125th anniversary.”

That celebration of the nation’s sixth oldest major orchestra has been pushed to an event planned for Feb. 27, the actual date the orchestra began.

The PSO had been scheduled for a European Festivals tour beginning in August. The 12-concert, 11-city, five-country visit that was supposed to last through September. It was to be the only U.S. orchestra performing in Austria’s Salzburg Festival in August and was scheduled to perform Sunday at opening weekend of Beethovenfest in Bonn, Germany.

The cancellation of the international tour “has been pretty devastating,” Tourangeau said. “Like any crisis you have to live through it and fight one day at a time.”

PSO Board Chair Anthony L. Bucci said the symphony “is in the center of any conversation about what gives our region great energy and vitality. … Though these are deeply challenging times, we are unabated in our commitment to the vision of our founders 125 years ago that Pittsburgh deserves a world-class orchestra now and for generations to come.”

Courtesy of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra announced cost-saving measures on Sept. 3 including reductions in salary for its musicians.  

Susanne Park, the violinist who is chair of the Orchestra Committee, said that “the musicians remain united in their commitment to bringing the transformative power of music to our community.”

The orchestra plans to continue its digital series, with another one starting in October which will include ensembles of the orchestra and incorporate community artists and partners.

Filming will be begin in the next weeks after musicians are tested for covid-19.

“They really want to get back to work,” Tourangeau said. “They are an ensemble, a team and they feed off playing in the same space. It’s all about chemistry. And there is nothing that can replace live music.”

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, today we announce a reinvented 2020-21 season with newly created digital programming that will be free to the public, as previously scheduled concerts through December 2020 have been cancelled.

Learn more → https://t.co/wSo389ePOl pic.twitter.com/qj3BO3K7fP

— Pittsburgh Symphony (@pghsymphony) August 11, 2020

Since March, more than 100 videos, including concerts, have been produced and posted on the orchestra’s digital platforms, with a reach of more than 2 million impressions, and more than 500,000 views.

“We know we will get through this and be strong on the other side and bring great music back to the city,” said Tourangeau. “Whether it’s digital or with a full house in Heinz Hall, we won’t miss a beat.”

The added challenge is that the symphony owns Heinz Hall, Tourangeau said, and is responsible for its care and maintenance. And there are many other employees people might know about in addition to the musicians, she said.

“The arts bring a community together,” she said. “They uplift the spirits and the arts have experienced huge economic blow through this pandemic. We are part of the infrastructure and ecosystem of Downtown.”

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