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After Strike, SF Symphony and Chorus Members Reach Tentative Agreement

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The San Francisco Symphony with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus at Davies Symphony Hall. (Brandon Patoc/San Francisco Symphony)

After a widely publicized strike, the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) members of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus have reached a tentative two-year agreement with the board of the San Francisco Symphony.

The collective bargaining agreement, applied retroactively to August, would maintain current pay rates for the 32 paid AGMA choristers for the next two years. It would also maintain the total number of professional choristers, as well as a minimum number of rehearsals and performances and funds for meals, parking and other expenses.

The negotiations were hasted by a $4 million gift from an anonymous donor. At the donor’s request, the $4 million will be split evenly between operations over the next two years and a special dedicated endowment for the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, from which the Chorus may draw approximately $100,000 each season.

“All of us at the San Francisco Symphony are deeply grateful to the donor for their remarkable generosity and belief in our mission to bring powerful musical experiences to our community,” said Matthew Spivey, the Symphony’s Chief Executive Officer, in a statement.

Only 32 of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus’ 152 singers currently receive compensation. The agreement would set a minimum compensation of $22,053 for up to 26 choral performances and 53 rehearsals each season.

Members of the San Francisco Symphony chorus and orchestra picket outside Davis Symphony Hall on Sept. 19, 2024. The Symphony canceled three performances of Verdi’s ‘Requiem’ on just two hours’ notice Thursday after the Chorus went on strike. (Gabe Meline/KQED)

The agreement comes at the end of a tumultuous year for the Symphony. In March, shortly after Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen announced his departure from the organization, the Symphony outlined its troubling financial outlook in a four-page document.

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The chorus singers’ union contract expired on July 31. At one point in negotiations, San Francisco Symphony management had proposed to cut their compensation by 65%, and to reduce choral programs by nearly half, from 8-11 per year to just five per year.

In September, the Symphony canceled its season opener of Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem just two hours before opening night after union members of the Symphony Chorus announced a last-minute strike. At the time, union representatives they were still dissatisfied with management’s proposal of a 10% pay cut for the 2025-26 season, and chorus members marched outside Davies Symphony Hall. Choristers and supporters also handed out flyers outside concerts for weeks afterward to raise awareness of their position.

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