San Francisco Symphony Musicians Sign New Contract

The two-year agreement retroactively covers November 2022 and will be valid through November 2024

The San Francisco Symphony’s (SFS) Board of Governors and Musicians of the Orchestra have ratified a new two-year collective bargaining agreement — applied retroactively from November 27, 2022, until November 18, 2024. 

In addition to a retroactive lump sum payment, full-time musicians will receive a new weekly base minimum salary of $3,313 ($172,276 annually), which will increase to $3,450 ($179,400) in the 2023/24 contract year. 

They will also receive competitive vacation, sick leave, pension, and healthcare benefits.

Represented by Musicians Union Local 6 of the American Federation of Musicians, SFS musicians had previously been working without a contract for almost a year amidst ongoing negotiations. Restoring salaries to pre-pandemic levels was among the musicians’ top requests.

“We are pleased to share the news that the administration and Musicians of the San Francisco Symphony have reached agreement on a new contract,” said SFS CEO Matthew Spivey in the press release. “This has been a particularly difficult negotiation given the challenging financial pressures on the organization.

“I am deeply grateful to both the staff and musicians who have been involved in the negotiations and have navigated the process with utmost professionalism and commitment while ensuring that the San Francisco Symphony is able to continue sharing the gift of music with our audiences,” Spivey added. 

“The board, staff, and musicians are all equally committed to using this time to strengthen our internal bonds and working together to build support for this extraordinary organization.” 

While no figures for the ratification vote were released, the settlement allegedly fell short of where players’ compensation would have been if not for closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, when pay cuts were imposed, according to the SF Classical Voice. SFS musicians’ pay prior to the new agreement was an annual $170,404.

“We the Musicians of the San Francisco Symphony, like most orchestras and SFS Staff, had our pay severely reduced in 2020,” the group recently posted on Facebook. “Upon reemerging, the administration salaries were restored, and musician pay across the country returned to contractual levels with inflation increases. We remain the exception.

“Unsurprisingly, our negotiation of ten months has been grueling, ending with our Board and management refusing to restore our salaries,” they continued. “This short agreement is designed to allow the organization time for introspection and reflection. Decisions will need to be made by our Board as to whether the San Francisco Symphony will remain a top tier orchestra, or be redesigned to regional orchestra status. 

“We remain focused on continuing to rebuild our orchestra, filling vacancies with the highest caliber musicians. Our partnership with the Board is under duress at this crossroads, and we ask them to consider us not as a cost to be minimized, but as the heart of the organization.

“We believe San Francisco deserves to keep a world-class orchestra, and with the support of our donors, audiences and trustees, and 1/3 of a billion dollars in assets, the San Francisco Symphony has a responsibility to restore us to a position competitive with our peers in the next negotiation. Thank you to our followers for all their support.”

Co-chaired by violist David Gaudry and principal viola Jonathan Vinocour, the SFS negotiating committee included acting associate principal second violin Jessie Fellows, assistant principal viola Katie Kadarauch, bass clarinet Jerome Simas, and acting associate concertmaster Wyatt Underhill. 

Negotiating for the SFS administration were Spivey; senior director of orchestra personnel & education planning Rebecca Blum, CFO Sandy Curry, chief of staff Elizabeth Shribman, and attorney David Durham of McDermott Will & Emery.