ASO Lockout Impacts KSU Students

By: Katherine Ellsworth

KENNESAW, Ga. - Kennesaw State University students rally in support
of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra musicians after they were locked out of
their facilities in September.
The news of the ASO lockout created a lot of anxiety among many of
the students, especially those in the KSU school of music who hope in the
future to have jobs like playing for professional orchestras someday.
On Sept. 7, 2014, the contracts for members of the orchestra needed
to be renewed and once again the ASO musicians
were asked to sacrifice on their pay and hours. In
2012, the ASO and its management dealt with a
similar issue. Budget cuts were necessary to be made
and the musicians of the Grammy award winning
orchestra were asked to take the decreases.
The ASO musicians are now standing in picket
lines outside of their music hall, the Woodruf
Performing Arts Center, and hoping that people will
notice their battle and bring enough awareness to

KSU students Catherine

Flinchum, Matthew
Richards and Brittany
Thayer stand at the picket
line Tuesday, Sept. 23,
2014, in Atlanta.

the issue.
About 25 miles to the north of Atlanta is Kennesaw State University,
and its students have definitely felt the impact of the lockout. KSUs program
for music students has grown exponentially in the past few years and most

recently came into an educational partnership with the ASO this past
February.
The partnership allows for ASO concerts to be held at the university as
well as classroom experiences with the world-class musicians of the ASO. The
news of the lockout came as shock to the students at KSU leading to quick
reactions.
A lot of students are incredibly pissed of about the situation, says
Brittany Thayer, a senior violin performance major at KSU. Students are
taking time they could be practicing to stand with the musicians in Atlanta
and protest.
Thayer, like many of her peers, feels that it is a serious issue that
needs attention from not only from musicians but also from the general
public. Justin Rowan, alumnus of KSU, fully supports the ASO musicians and
says that the lockout has impacted the morale of the students.
These people are being told, Go home you cant to this job
anymore, says Rowan. How is that supposed to encourage us to keep
trying to get those kind of jobs?
Its a question that many students at KSU seem to be asking
themselves at the moment. Many of the students hope to one day be able to
play for these type of ensembles and now it seems like the future is bleak for
those type of opportunities.
The big question that many students and community members are
asking is whether the academic partnership between the ASO and KSU would

be afected because of the lockout. Dr. Michael Alexander, interim director at

the school of music and director of orchestras at KSU, is optimistic that it will
not.
My hope is that theyll resolve the dispute as soon as possible, says
Alexander.
On Friday, Sept. 26, 2014, the ASO held two free concerts at KSU to
raise funds. They hope to continue to raise money in order to have more
concerts as the negotiations continue.
The ASO musicians as well as the students and faculty at KSU want to
motivate people to get involved and to raise awareness about this issue.
They are encouraging the public to share information about the problem on
social media and through word of mouth, making people aware of the
situation that is happening in Atlanta.
The most important thing that students can do is to show how
important it is to them as future citizens and leaders of this community that
they want to have a strong, robust symphony orchestra where they reside,
says Alexander.
On Monday Stanley Romenstein, the CEO of the ASO resigned from his
position and Terry Neal, a former Coca-Cola executive, was appointed as
interim director. The ASO musicians announced that they are willing to return
to the negotiations using a federal mediator. The 2014-2015 season for the
ASO has been cancelled until Nov. 8, 2014, updates will be made as
negotiations proceed.

Sources:
Brittany Thayer- 678.333.4713, bmthayer@gmail.com
Justin Rowan- 404.452.4862, Jrowan009@gmail.com
Dr. Michael Alexander- 470. 578.2141, malexa19@kennesaw.edu
Websites Consulted:
https://web.kennesaw.edu/news/stories/atlanta-symphony-orchestra-partnerkennesaw-state-university
http://www.npr.org/2014/09/28/351810425/the-atlanta-symphony-lockoutcontinues-musicians-picket-on-peachtree-street
http://artsculture.blog.ajc.com/2014/09/28/two-sides-in-atlanta-symphonydispute-dispute-whether-theyre-heading-into-arbitration/
http://artsculture.blog.ajc.com/2014/09/29/atlanta-syphony-ceo-romansteinresigns-retired-coke-exec-to-serve-as-interim-leader/