PEORIA -- A group of Peoria Symphony goers will greet audience members entering the Peoria Civic Center for the Feb. 14 concert, and ask them to sign petitions calling for the PSO's music director, David Commanday, to receive another contract for next year.
A news conference on Feb. 1 (see brief video on WEEK-TV site) that lasted nearly 90 minutes brought out a dozen of Commanday's fans to set the record straight about his ouster and announce the petition drive. Here's the Peoria Journal Star's story on the event, with links to Commanday's latest statement and other information.
Full disclosure: I helped plan the news conference. The group's leaders are Sara and Gary James. Both spoke about Commanday's situation and presented research showing what has occurred in other cities that began to experiment with different symphony structures similar to those proposed by the board.
One of the most moving comments came from PSO chief bassonist Michael Dicker, who is also a music professor at Illinois State University. He told of playing with notable conductors including Michael Tilson Thomas and Aaron Copeland, and said Commanday was in their league.
"I've rarely played under a conductor as skilled as David Commanday," he said. "I have never heard him raise his voice. This man is a great leader. He takes chances and the orchestra responds. He's an amazing person."
Others at the news conference expressed fears for the future of the PSO if Commanday is not reinstated. "I'm afraid the word is going to get out that Peoria is a difficult community to be artistic in," said long time PSO volunteer Donna Haerr.
She called for better education of not-for-profit board members. "If we don't do something about board education, we won't have anybody apply for this job. We have a board problem here," she said.
"If it wasn't broken why fix it?" asked arts supporter Esther Cohen. She suggested that the PSO could meet the fate of the Peoria Opera, which dissolved after board problems.
She blamed the opera's demise on a few board members who decided to take over and misled other board members.
The symphony's board next meets at noon on Feb.19 at Lakeview Museum.
-- Elaine Hopkins
Here is the news release issued at the event:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A group of citizens concerned about the future of the Peoria Symphony Orchestra is launching a petition drive calling on the Peoria Symphony Board of Directors to retain music director David Commanday and issue him a 3-year contract, the standard in the industry, under his current pay and working conditions.
We will be asking symphony audience members to sign the petition as they enter and exit the Peoria Civic Center for the Feb. 14 symphony program.
Here are the facts about Commanday and the symphony:
• The dispute surfaced between Commanday and a few symphony board members who violated his music director’s authority and his contract by interfering in artistic decisions. This is a year long struggle surrounding longstanding PSO music policy, music directorship responsibility/authority and contract violations.
• Mr. Commanday was locked out or told not to attend board meetings and not given a voice to address all the board member to present his position and the harm such a precedent will cause. Other members of the board desired and repeatedly requested the Executive Board to hear from Commanday and were refused or ignored. Commanday repeatedly asked to be allowed to speak to the entire board and was refused. The letter he sent was his only avenue to being heard.
• Commanday does not want to leave Peoria. This has been his family’s home for a decade.
• The youth symphony job in New Jersey is only part time, and is no substitute for Commanday’s position in Peoria.
• The Board has been inconsistent about its reasons for dismissing Commanday. The proposed “need for change” in direction was a surprise to many board members. Analysis of their statements and the recent job posting indicates a plan for the Concert Performance Committee to have the authority to set the music program with the music director only to assist.
• The Peoria Symphony cannot function fully without an experienced, full time music director/conductor in residence in Peoria.
• The Peoria Symphony is a public trust and has received thousands in taxpayer grants from the Illinois Arts Council. Its board should not be treating the symphony as its private, secret operation. (Bankers who took taxpayer loans have been grilled in public by Congress!)
• The musicians have voted to support Commanday and some likely will resign if he is ousted.
• Season ticket holders have said they will not renew their season tickets and donations to the symphony if Commanday is ousted.
• They have tried to blame Commanday for a 30 percent drop in season tickets over eight years, even though this is a national trend. They have not supplied total audience numbers to back up their claim that support for the symphony has declined under his leadership.
• The board leadership did not communicate with transparency nor with other board members regarding the vote to renew Commanday’s contract. Board members never heard from Commanday to be fully informed.
• For the good of the symphony, the entire board needs to step back and reexamine its actions with full disclosure with a view point of reconciliation and restoration to reinstate Commanday.
• Commanday must be given the opportunity to fully speak his point of view and hear directly from all the board about the areas which need to be addressed. Also, the players must be heard from regarding their position and treatment by the board.
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