Life in the Pit

All of the panelists have eloquently described numerous challenges of playing in a pit orchestra. Several people have commented that sound levels are often dangerously high, due to the confined space in the pit. The San Francisco Opera Association has agreed to provide custom-made earplugs to all members of the orchestra, free of charge. They contracted a non-profit foundations, HEAR (“Hearing Awareness for Rockers,” brainchild of Pete Townsend of the Who), to come to the opera house, test our hearing, and fit us for the earplugs. Of course, even these custom earplugs have drawbacks – they compromise one’s ability to hear oneself and others at the level required to be a sensitive ensemble player. And they diminish one’s ability to hear the singers, which is a crucial aspect of the job.

Presently, management is testing different kinds of sound shields. Sound shields are far preferable to earplugs, but would not work where I sit, for instance, in front of the flute section, because they interfere with sightlines.

I also play in the SF Ballet Orchestra. During one set, I was positioned directly next to the piano. I noticed that my ears were ringing after every performance, so one day, I brought in a portable sound level meter. After the show was over, I discovered that the levels were in excess of 126DB. I complained to the Personnel Manager, who arranged for a hefty sound shield to be positioned between the piano and myself. We have found that brass players in general do not like to play into sound shields, so both the Opera and Ballet are trying to develop “personal” models, which are affixed to the back of the chair.

The Opera has begun to experiment with different seating configurations, in an attempt to spread the pain around, so that no one will have to spend his or her entire career sitting in front of the same loud instruments. While this may help some members some of the time, this does not really solve the problem in the long term. Fortunately, we are able to have ongoing discussions with management about various Health and Safety issues.

The issue of adequate lighting is also an ongoing challenge. Until 1993, the Opera and Ballet used stands dating back to the opening of the house in 1932. The Opera CBA once specified that each stand would have one 20 watt bulb, and one 40 watt bulb (i.e., uneven, dim lighting). In 1993, the musicians helped design a new stand that uses slightly brighter lights (equal on both sides). Still, musicians find the lighting inadequate for reading complicated scores that are many pages long. In 2003, management agreed to regular lumen-measuring, and also agreed to replace the bulbs more often. During my 25 years at the Opera, my prescription has doubled in one eye, and quadrupled in the other. Advancing age is probably a contributing factor, but so is the dim light, I am sure.

The Opera is also testing several different kinds of pit chairs. In 1993, we musicians helped develop an adjustable chair that comes in both swivel and non-swivel versions.

In our recent round of Collective Bargaining, management agreed to purchase a new set of chairs. We are in the midst of the testing process. The chair is an essential part of the job, particularly in an opera orchestra, where one frequently experiences performances that last 4 hours or more. When European conductors come to San Francisco, they are often shocked to learn that the same players play all the performances – even for the Ring, where performances can be 5 and 6 hours long.

Due to the fact that the SF Opera and Ballet share the same hall, the seasons are compressed. When I first joined the Opera in 1982, we used to mount 12 operas in the space of 15 weeks. There were many 12-service weeks, and we often worked 35- 40 hours per week. In the middle of the Fall Season, we experienced the “stack of 6,” when we were performing 3 different operas, while rehearsing 3 other operas at the same time. During these years, we had no contractual time off, and no personal leave. Titled players were not rotated off of reduced operas, and had to play everything.

Over several contracts, we were able to negotiate operas off, rotation for reduced operas which included titled players, relief leave, and personal leave. Also, in recent years, the number of Fall productions has gradually been reduced to 7 (although there are 8 operas scheduled for the 2007 Fall Season). We gave up our contractual operas off in 2003, but only in seasons that contain fewer than 8 operas in the Fall. Our average workload is now a more manageable 21-24 hours per week, although we still have 4.5 hour staging rehearsals for every production.

Due to hall availability, the SF Ballet has to present the annual Nutcracker production in the space of three weeks in December. We do 30-40 performances during those three weeks. Some years, we played two performances per day, every day, for three weeks, except Christmas Day, which was our only day off. In recent years, the number of performances has been reduced slightly, so that we often have one or two days off during the run. Playing the same piece so many times in a row can be debilitating to one’s spirit, but at least it is only for three weeks, and at least the music is a great work. Unfortunately, the Company reduces the size of the pit during Nutcracker, in order to cram in an extra row of patrons. They do this while adding players to the complement, so that pit conditions are more cramped than during the repertory season.

Other panelists have mentioned projectiles coming into the pit. Once, during a performance of Don Giovanni, someone threw a gun into the pit. It hit the back of my chair. The most unpleasant projectile to ever hit me was a piece of cake, complete with icing, that a singer spit out of his mouth. It flew into the pit, and landed on my shoe. I was so grossed out, that I left it on my shoe until intermission, when I was able to get a paper towel to wipe it off. I didn’t want to touch it with my bare hands!