WARNING: South Florida Symphony is behind AGAIN in paying wages to musicians. Musicians have informed us that they are still owed wages from the Symphony's January performance. We urge caution if you are approached to perform for the South Florida Symphony. The Symphony has a history of financial difficulty and several times in the past it has taken as long as two years for musicians to be paid. Our advice is to avoid performing for them until they get their financial house in order (again).
We had a long and productive meeting with Palm Beach Opera to discuss the grievance we filed over the hiring of subs for principal positions. President Reskin, Secretary-Treasurer Apana, and all of the members of the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra Committee met with PBO General Director Daniel Biaggi, operations director Scott Guzielek, and PBO's attorney Jeff Pheterson for nearly two hours to explain the harm done by arbitrarily refusing to promote section musicians to substitute for absent principal players. We are hopeful that we effectively communicated our points to the Opera and expect to hear back from them regarding settlement of this grievance soon. As a result of this meeting, PBO did agree to notify us as soon as musicians are engaged, as required by our contract. This information will enable us to be more proactive about hiring issues going forward.