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Most people, even those who aren’t that enthusiastic about classical and pops music, readily acknowledge that the dissolution of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra is a loss to the community. But many don’t grasp the full accounting of what exactly has been lost with the federal Bankruptcy Court approving its liquidation.
Yes, the lack of a symphony means Hawaii residents won’t be able to enjoy the experience of professionally performed, full-scale orchestral works without a trip to a mainland city. But it’s not only the people who rank symphony tickets high on their wish list who will be hurt.
The symphony launched negotiations during Chapter 11 proceedings, while some hope remained that a trimmed-down symphony might still have emerged. Management’s aim was to reduce the number of performances and thus the annual income of musicians, about $30,885. This was a major bone of contention with the unionized orchestra members.
But even in the best of times, symphony musicians had to supplement this part-time salary with side jobs — usually teaching private lessons to Hawaii’s music students. If former symphony members no longer have a base salary to keep them here, many of them will leave the islands, taking an invaluable instructional resource away with them.
The resulting "brain drain" will deal another blow to an arts education that already has been suffering from budgetary cutbacks for years, a situation further degraded by the economic recession.
It seems pointless now to dissect what went wrong here — clearly both sides played a part in the dysfunction. Musicians believed that management gave up prematurely on building a robust organization; the administration countered that musicians failed to comprehend that societal and financial changes nationally altered the landscape and required a new business plan.
But there’s still the possibility, however remote, that the principals have learned lessons and could rebuild something from the orchestra’s ashes. Some of the orchestra leaders have expressed determination to chart a new course for a resuscitated symphonic organization. Surely circumstances have forced them now to consider a path that many have resisted to this point: Start small and plan for the long term. The existence of an endowment fund, untouched by the symphony’s liquidation, may help provide seed money for such a purpose.
In any case, such an effort is worthwhile and deserves support. For 110 years, the Honolulu Symphony served as a linchpin for Hawaii’s performing arts network. Such an institution shouldn’t be allowed to vanish without a fight.
Here’s an adage that surely applies to this sad case: "You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone." Unless someone’s willing to take up that fight, we’re all about to find out.
