Columnist Scott Dickensheets: The symphony squabble X-posed, round by round

Scott Dickensheets

Friday, June 26, 1998 | 10:05 a.m.

UNLESS YOU'RE married to a classical bassoonist or hold an office in the Nevada Symphony Orchestra, it's hard for a thinking person to choose sides in the intramural grudge match between the orchestra and its disgruntled union musicians.

The latest episode of this ongoing rivalry involves the symphony's recently canceled summer Picnic Pops series. It fell victim as both sides proved unable to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement, or even an interim one. There are many points of contention: the symphony's use of out-of-town musicians, the union's insistence on last-minute strike capability, more than $100,000 in back wages still owed the musicians.

Each side has its reasonable arguments, its seemingly logical blame-laying, its insistence that it's ready to cooperate. Both sides prevail upon you to see it their way, prefacing each round of accusations with, "Does it make any sense to you ..."

Make sense? The only way I can make sense of the situation -- or, at the very least, have fun with it -- is to think of the symphony and the Musicians Union Local 369 as contestants in a sort of Cultural X Games, where extreme culturatti go head to head in gruelling tests of finger-pointing, press-releasing and public posturing. Let's tune in!

Round 1: Positioning is crucial in this contest, so we'll begin with the Extreme Press-Releasing competition, always a crowd-pleaser. The union got out to a strong start with a June 11 fax blasting the orchestra's bargaining stance. "Clearly," it says, "the intent was to rid the orchestra of many of the Las Vegas area musicians" in favor of imported L.A. players.

A solid effort, with just the right edge of righteous indignation; that'll be tough to beat. The symphony responded with a faxed harrumph of its own. "The NSO made every effort to negotiate in good faith and was being forced, at a late hour, to accept unreasonable terms. ..."

The NSO gets additional style points for the sneaky asides in its release -- it quotes the unnamed head of an unnamed arts agency as worrying that "the union was trying to destroy the NSO." An anonymously sourced press release -- now, there's an original move, bound to score high with the judges.

Even better: NSO's assertion that the union is largely to blame for the absence of live music in local showrooms, having demanded too many concessions from casinos in its 1989 strike. It's a statement that curiously excuses the resorts (possible targets of future symphony fund-raising?) from their due complicity. Symphony President Janice Tanno refused to elaborate -- that'll cost her some points!

Round 2: Next we have the Extreme Downhill, in which each side slaloms its competing arguments through the issue of importing musicians.

"Ninety percent of the orchestra is local," Tanno claims. Impressive! But wait -- union rep Rick Soule (an NSO flutist) puts the figure at a lower 70 percent. Time for some nifty spin moves: "(Bringing in musicians) is pretty much standard in the industry," Tanno says. Plenty of orchestras do it. She insists NSO only imports players when a qualified local musician isn't available to fill a vacancy.

Soule rejoinders quickly. Importing musicians, he says, "is morally wrong, and bad for the community. It's the Nevada Symphony Orchestra, not the Cal-Neva Orchestra."

Whew! The judges will have a hard time scoring that round!

Round 3: Time now for Extreme Stunt Riding, as each side pirouettes through its complaints about the other's contract-negotiating tactics. At issue: an interim agreement that would have held things together long enough to mount the pops series. The union's version contained language allowing the musicians to walk out with a day's notice. It's the reason the symphony canceled the pops series.

Says Tanno, "If you were going to spend $50,000-$60,000 to put an orchestra on stage, knowing they could strike (at the last minute), would you do it?"

Soule says the 24-hour strike clause was meant to add a little muscle to the interim agreement, the fear of a strike forcing management to bargain quickly for a permanent deal. "It's just a way to enforce the interim agreement."

Round 4: Although there are many areas of conflict yet to explore, let's skip to the finish line, where each contestant tries to stick a landing on the question, What effect will this squabble have on the orchestra's future?

None, says Tanno, provided a permanent agreement is reached. "I think once we have a collective bargaining agreement, it will be clear we have become quite stable," Tanno says.

None, says Soule, provided a permanent agreement is reached. "Until we get to the table and work something out, there is no future." Both predict a settlement will be reached (a July meeting with a federal mediator is planned).

Whoa, double wipeout! Neither spokesperson seemed concerned about the most troubling implication, namely that the symphony's internal strife has overrun its music in the public mind. Regardless of any agreement, we're left with the lingering, uneasy feeling that the symphony is an organization perpetually in conflict.

Perhaps that's why attendance for the Cultural X Games was disappointing -- only a sparse crowd seems to care anymore. Do you know anyone truly chagrined by the canceled pops shows, any symphony hooligans clutching their voided pops schedule and spoiling for trouble? Neither do I.

For those who do care, however, there may indeed be someone to root for: the new Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra, which -- aiming to fill the hole left by NSO -- debuts with a July 4 picnic pops concert in Summerlin's Hills Park.