Class Struggle at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Classical musicians aren’t normally associated with picket lines, but the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is now on strike. We spoke to three strikers about their grueling work, recent attacks on orchestra members’ pensions and salaries, and the intersection of classical music and the labor movement.
Pianist Marcus Roberts, drummer Jason Marsalis and bassist Roland Guerin perform George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to a packed house at Symphony Center, December 9, 2005.Jordan Fischer / Wikimedia
On March 10, after months of bargaining, the contract for the musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra expired. Picket lines aren’t usually associated with some of the world’s most elite musicians, but the CSO members of the American Federation of Musicians Local 10-208 decided to strike. The symphony orchestra members are now a fixture outside the Symphony Center in the heart of downtown Chicago.
Isaac Silver interviewed three striking musicians, who represent the wide generational range within the CSO, about the strike and their thoughts on the intersection of classical music and the labor movement. John Bruce Yeh has played clarinet for forty-two years in the CSO and is Assistant Principal Clarinet and Solo E-flat Clarinet. He was the Acting Principal Clarinet from 2008 to 2011 for the CSO. Youming Chen plays viola in the CSO, which she joined in 2015. Clara Takarabe also plays viola and has been a regular substitute for twenty years.
Isaac Silver
How did you decide on becoming a professional symphony orchestra musician as a career?
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