An orchestra “Black Friday” has recently spread throughout parts of the nation. The Fort Worth Symphony began striking at the beginning of September. The esteemed Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra also walked out on its opening day gala (Midgette). Now, right at home, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, or PSO, is currently on strike. A disagreement with management, which controls and negotiates various symphony affairs, including pay, over wage cuts and orchestra size reductions began on September 29. With its highly esteemed past and pertinent presence in the greater Pittsburgh area, these cuts by management are highly unfair and disrespectful to the musicians. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra management should meet the demands of its musicians because these artists promote the arts within Pittsburgh, a reduction of orchestra size decreases overall prestige of the ensemble, and the economic crisis presented by management is not nearly as bleak as stated.

PSO musicians’ salaries allow them to expand and promote the musical arts throughout Pittsburgh. As artists, these musicians provide countless performances throughout the greater Pittsburgh area. These include full orchestral performances, as well as smaller chamber and solo recitals. Through these, the musicians spread classical music in a wide variety of venues, such as concert halls, schools, and hospitals ("About"). Without proper symphony pay, these artists are rendered unable to pursue further performances; this hinders artistic expansion in Pittsburgh. Additionally, symphony musicians promote artistic growth through a large spectrum of instruction. Foremost of these are private instrumental music lessons for youth. Furthermore, many of these  musicians teach to college level students at esteemed music schools throughout Pittsburgh. For instance, violists Marylene Gingras-Roy and Meng Wang, assistant principal cellist Adam Liu, and associate concertmaster Mark Huggins all teach as professors at Duquesne University's Mary Pappert School of Music. Additionally, principal bassist Jeffrey Turner leads the Duquesne University Symphony Orchestra (“Faculty”). They also give regular music workshops and masterclasses at universities, as exemplified by the annual Carnegie Mellon String Workshop. Without symphony pay, however, musicians cannot continue passing on these arts. Detrimentally, this situation will lead to the downfall of artistic growth, especially in the youth. PSO musicians provide so much of the musical teaching present in Pittsburgh; they are the musical glue that connects passes on classical music to the next generation. If this strike continues, Pittsburgh's musical artistry will fall behind, and the youth will lack critical musical guidance.

Not only does PSO management want to cut musicians’ salaries, it wishes to reduce the size of the ensemble by several members. By failing to meet the musicians’ request to maintain the current orchestra size, the overall renown of the ensemble will be severely hindered. The PSO is internationally recognized as a top tier orchestra. As aforementioned, the PSO performs at an extremely high artistic level at its home in Heinz Hall on a regular basis during the symphony season. If the management decreases the orchestra size, the ensemble will be unable to maintain this high level of artistry; such a degradation would cause the orchestra to recede in shame. Also, the Pittsburgh Symphony regularly performs on both national and international tours. To supplant its creative output, the ensemble creates numerous acclaimed recordings of a variety of orchestral works, as exemplified by its recent award winning recording of Beethoven’s Fifth and Seventh Symphonies ("About"). With more funding, the musicians are able to produce higher quality musical performances and productions. Additionally, this lockout has already begun to hurt the orchestra. Several musicians have already left the ensemble or are auditioning with other orchestras, including the principal flautist. These departures decrease the symphony’s standing as a “destination orchestra,” where musicians seek to spend their entire careers (Bloom). With these pay reductions, the symphony will be unable to attract the high level musicians that make it the top tier orchestra that it is. 
In addition to the management’s unjustified demands of orchestra reduction, the economic crisis presented by management is not nearly as bleak as presented. Management proposed immediate 15% wage cuts due to an increasing budget deficit (Bloom). However, these are negated by several revenue generating events. First, the PSO had experienced a record breaking fundraising year in the past season (Bloom). As one of the primary sources of revenue, this helps tremendously to counteract past deficits. Additionally, individual donations have increased by 10%, and the number of donors has increased by 8% since 2013 (Bloom). These pledges contribute to alleviate the debt. Furthermore, special event revenue has doubled over the past five years (Bloom). All of these financial contributions can greatly offset the debt mentioned by management, which has been claimed to exceed $11 million (Bloom). As a result, management's argument for decrease of musicians’ wages, which calls for as much as a 25% salary cutback, is in reality far less legitimate (Bloom).

Despite these clear arguments for the musicians’ salaries and benefits, PSO management  states that a $1.5 million deficit still exists on the $32 million budget last year (Bloom). This would seemingly warrant a justifiable pay cut from musicians. However, the deficit is actually mitigated by several events. First, the earned revenue for the fiscal year, which ended on August 31, 2016, actually exceeds the budget by 4% (Bloom). Furthermore, ticket subscription sales for the 2016-2017 season have increased and exceed last year’s sales (Bloom). Equally important, some have argued that these musicians are expendable and can be easily replaced by music students from the University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University, or Carnegie Mellon University. This is simply not true. PSO musicians possess a skillset more advanced than most professional athletes; they spend tens of thousands on a complete musical education, and sometimes even more on a fine instrument. To support their families along with these costs, their salaries from the PSO are critical. To take away this pay would be detrimental to many of the musicians’ careers. Moreover, these cuts compromise symphony musicians’ families’ ability to survive financially.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s has been striking for nearly a month and half, and every minute of it has been justified. Cuts to musicians’ pay severely hinder their ability to spread classical music throughout Pittsburgh, both through public performances and music pedagogy. Furthermore, the management’s desire to reduce the orchestra size would be a death knell to the eminence of a world class symphony orchestra right here at home in Pittsburgh. Moreover, the management’s argument for pay cuts and orchestra diminishment are actually inaccurately portrayed; the economic situation facing the orchestra is not nearly as dire as presented, and current debts can be and are offset by increases in revenue through ticket sales, as well as donations. To aid these deserving musicians in their fight for their rights, write to the PSO management at 600 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. Tell them how much the symphony means represents to you and the city of Pittsburgh. Additionally, consider donating directly to the musicians of the symphony. Together, Pittsburgh can show PSO management just how deserving these musicians are of every cent of their salaries.