Tag: 06.29.06

Orchestras in Great Britain won’t have to pay a potentially disastrous health insurance bill that could have pushed several of them into bankruptcy. “Many orchestras are formed of self-employed musicians and have not paid national insurance on the income paid to them, as they would have had to for permanent staff… Revenue and Customs has advised the chancellor that the orchestras do not have to pay the contributions, thus averting not only the back tax bill of £33m but an annual future bill of £6m.”

Dressed up in tuxedos and hard hats, the Nashville Symphony gathered this week to pay tribute to those without whom their glittering new concert hall would never have been built. No, not the high-rolling donors, or the architect, or even the politicians who approved the funding plan. The audience for this private concert was made up entirely of the construction workers whose part in the success of such venues is frequently overlooked.

Valencia’s impressive new opera house, known as Palau de les Arts, designed by architect Santiago Calatrava, was hailed as an unqualified success at its opening last year. But controversy has sprung up over the high salary and expenses run up by the hall’s superintendent. Helga Schmidt earns over €180,000 a year, far more than her counterparts at other Spanish opera houses; and in the last two years, she has reportedly racked up nearly €300,000 in travel, hotel, and car service costs. Whether such costs are actually out of line is up for debate.