New Hampshire Music Festival
Personnel Policy
The New Hampshire Music Festival is committed to redefining its vision and mission. In order to realize its vision, the role of musicians in the orchestra is changing: the Festival will create a collaborative process in preparing for concert performances, introduce the concept of curators, and introduce distinguished students into the Festival for mentoring by the Festival musicians.
In order to successfully realize this change, the Festival adopts the following policy that has been developed with the participation of the Orchestra committee.
Selection of Musicians for the 2010 Season
A list of Musicians eligible for re-invitation (hereafter referred to as the “Eligible List” and musicians on that Eligible List hereafter referred as “Incumbent Musicians”) for the 2010 season is attached. Attached as well is a second list of Musicians who may be asked to substitute from time to time (hereafter referred to as the “Substitute List”)
In the 2010 Season, the Festival will offer employment to forty-five (45) Incumbent Musicians to be chosen from the list referenced in (1) above as follows:
a. A six-week season in 2010 to twenty (20) Incumbent Musicians.
b. A choice, up to four (4) weeks of employment in the 2010 season, to an additional twenty-five (25) Incumbent Musicians.
c. If any Incumbent Musician opts out, the Festival will continue to offer positions to Musicians on the Eligible List until all forty-five positions are filled with Incumbent Musicians or until that list is exhausted.
The Artistic Director of the Festival will offer six weeks of employment in the 2010 season to twenty (20) professional Musicians who are not incumbents so that there are twenty non-Incumbent Musicians employed in each week of the Festival. The Artistic Director will determine the Musicians to whom this offer will be extended. These musicians will be selected based on their experience in the new model and will assist Incumbent Musicians in transitioning to the new model.
The Festival will determine the number of students who will be invited to join the Orchestra in the 2010 season, currently anticipated to be between five (5) and eight (8).
Offers of employment described in Paragraphs (1) through (4) will be dependent on funding. In the event insufficient funding is raised to employ the number of Incumbent Musicians referenced above and the twenty (20) non-Incumbent Musicians, the complement of musicians will be reduced proportionately among Incumbent and non-Incumbent musicians. Both the Festival and Incumbent Musicians agree to support the efforts to meet these funding requirements.
The Festival will send to all Incumbent Musicians by September 30, 2009 an invitation for employment in the 2010 season consistent with paragraphs (1) through (3). Incumbent Musicians must respond to the Festival and the Festival must be in receipt of this response no later than October 30, 2009. This response must indicate:
Whether (s)he accepts or declines the offer of employment.
How many weeks of employment (s)he prefers.
Where fewer than six weeks is chosen, which weeks (s)he selects for the 2010 season, and a second preference. At his/her option, the musician may submit a third preference. The Musician may select consecutive weeks or non-consecutive weeks during the season.
An Incumbent Musician who fails to submit his/her selection to the Festival by October 30 will be considered to have opted out of employment for the 2010 season. Further, any Incumbent Musician who opts out for reengagement for the 2010 Season or fails to timely submit his/her selection will no longer be considered for future employment with the Festival. However, in recognition of the past practice of the Festival, if, during this open period from September 4 to October 5, 2009, a Musician chooses to decline the invitation for employment, but not opt out of the Festival, in order to pursue other career opportunities or because his/her personal situation makes participation in the Festival impractical, (s)he can submit documentation to the Festival in support of the request for reconsideration and will be considered for future reengagement with the Festival, as appropriate. Any Incumbent Musician who opts in to the Festival but does not receive an offer of employment for the 2010 Season will remain on the Substitute List.
The Artistic Director of the Festival will determine the seating of non-Incumbent Musicians.
In the event of an oversubscription of Incumbent Musicians in a Section, the Principals of the 2009 Festival Orchestra (hereinafter “Section Leaders”) will, in consultation among themselves, determine which incumbent Musicians to place in each Section.
The Artistic Director will seat the 2010 Orchestra, coordinating the selections for the 2010 season submitted by Incumbent Musicians, the instrumentation requirements for the 2010 Season and the requirements for placement of the non-incumbent Musicians in the families of instruments. The Artistic Director will consult with the Section Leaders in making these selections (including coordinating the process described in paragraph (8). The objective will be to maximize the preferences of Incumbent Musicians where possible. The Artistic Director will use his discretion to employ programming as a tool, consistent with the thematic choices for that Season, to adjust instrumentation to accommodate as many Incumbent Musicians’ preferences as possible.
Evaluation of Musicians during the 2010 Season
All Musicians who are employed for the summer 2010 season will be subject to a comprehensive review of their playing proficiency, mentoring skills and ability to work collaboratively in the new model.
Musicians will be evaluated by the Artistic Director on an ongoing basis throughout the season. The Artistic Director will consult with Section Leaders and other Musicians.
Musicians will receive real time feedback continuously from the Artistic Director and Section Leaders to enable them to address any issues regarding their performance. Prior to any employment decision regarding renewal of any Musician for the 2011 Season, the Artistic Director will consult with the Peer Review Committee selected by the Orchestra. The decision for renewal of Musicians for the 2011 Season will be solely within the discretion of the Artistic Director. The Artistic Director will consider, among other factors, the recommendations of the Peer Review Committee. The Artistic Director’s decision will be final.
Relationship with Musicians
The Festival management remains committed to continuing a collaborative relationship with its Musicians. Toward that end, the dialogue with Musicians will continue in order to facilitate the realization of the new collaborative model. This dialogue will include subjects such as, among others:
Hours of work
Coordinating work with Curators
Student mentoring
How to achieve Musician commitment to the new approach to making music.
Compensation
For Musicians employed by the Festival for the 2010 season, basic weekly compensation for Musicians will be increased by 25% above the 2009 basic weekly compensation levels.
September 23, 2009
In developing and implementing Personnel policies and decisions of the New Hampshire Music Festival, the Festival management is committed to consultation with the Orchestra Committee to provide opportunities for discussion and input. Personnel policies and decisions are the prerogative of the management (including the Artistic Director of the Festival). This Policy replaces all previously published Personnel Policies issued by the Festival.