Innocents Abroad

The LSO is a freelance, self-governed orchestra. Many of the London orchestras work on this basis and have since their inception. We work by letters of engagement with variable levels of commitment for the string players. I am presently on 50% commitment. We organise the rota amongst ourselves. The LSO works a 48-week season with 4 weeks paid vacation. During this time we aim to fill the diary/calendar with work – we are paid on a freelance per service basis.

Different work pays different amounts…..film sessions being paid the highest. In the 1970s and 80s film sessions were the financial backbone of the orchestra. But now they are increasingly more difficult to find and there is much more pressure on the administration to find well-paying classical work. This inevitably leads to more touring.

We don’t work on a ” services per week” basis. The LSO takes on work as it comes in. There is flexibility to take work off if the work offered is too last-minute or if the work load feels to be too much. But most of the time, players are more than happy to have the work and the pay.

The LSO has recorded much in the past on major labels. We still record for some of them but we concentrate most of our new releases on our own label: LSO Live. The LSO Live format was ground-breaking and is now being used by many orchestras world wide. In the LSO we turn over our upfront fee for a share return as and when the recording becomes profitable. We have had returns on many of the recordings so far.

My job is secure. The player-elected Board deals with any discipline/playing issues. In the 5 years I’ve been with the orchestra I’ve not known of any major issues. The LSO is freelance but players are not randomly hired and fired. Players stay for years, many into retirement.

The LSO is one of the more financially stable London/UK orchestras, but because all of us rely on government subsidy we are affected by changes in funding, especially if this brings knock-on effects from the private sector.

We have quite a few non-nationals. Many are from Europe where workers are free to cross borders. But we also have players from the US, South Africa, North Africa, and Australia.