L.A. Chamber Orchestra, Union Sign New Contract

After several years of what Musicians Union president Bernie Fleischer characterized as “very stormy sailing” in relations between Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Local No. 47, the orchestra management, negotiating with orchestra players and union leadership, has recently signed a three-year agreement with which both sides claim to be satisfied.

Fleischer says he attributes the success of the negotiations to three elements: “The fact that the union, confronted with a previously adversarial relationship, showed that it would not give up or back down. The professional and sincere way the Chamber Orchestra management entered into the negotiations. And the fact that the ensemble itself, through its players committee, became fully involved in the process.”

Deborah Rutter, executive director of the orchestra, told The Times last week that “the willingness of the players to deal in small increments of increase (in wages), spread out over time,” contributed to the relative “ease with which our settlement was reached,” and that that “reflects both the stability of the orchestra and the positive relationship that exists” between all parties.

Small increments the increases may be, but they move consistently upward. From a base scale of $64.40 per rehearsal and $83 per concert (plus an extra 15% for “staff players,” i.e. regular orchestra members) in 1988-89, the scale slides up to $66.33, $85.49 and 18% in 1989-90. From there, it ascends to an eventual $70.71, $91.13 and 22% in the final year of the contract (1991-92). Principals of the orchestra receive double-scale without the percentage bonus.

As before, there are no guarantees to the musicians for numbers of concerts, though the management does give the players its proposed concert schedule for the season, which begins in October, during the previous spring.

In addition, the new contract deals with issues such as auditions, working conditions and--for the first time--dismissal procedures. The playing personnel of the orchestra remains at 41 members, 16 of whom are principals.

ON TOUR: For the 23rd consecutive year, Western Opera Theater (WOT), touring arm of San Francisco Opera, has gone on the road, this time with a production of Bizet’s “Carmen,” staged by Dutch director Hans Nieuwenhuis and conducted by David Abell.

WOT left the Bay City Wednesday and will be on tour in its first segment of the 1989-90 season through Nov. 18. States to be visited in this fall portion include Alabama, California, Florida, Ohio, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, North and South Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin.

The spring portion of the tour begins Jan. 19, when the company returns to places in California, Idaho and Washington, and adds Colorado, Montana, Utah and New Mexico to its itinerary.

Three Carmens alternate in the title role. They are Stephanie Vlahos, Wendy Hoffman and Barbara Leifer. Their Don Joses will be Dennis McNeil, Stephen Plummer and John Swenson. Micaela will be sung alternately by Karen Park, Cherie Caluda, Angela Randell and Mary Mills, while Escamillo will be Kenn Woodward, Hector Vasquez and Eric Frachey.

The tour reaches Southern California in late January, when it touches down in Victorville (Jan. 23), Visalia (Jan. 31), Norris Theatre in Palos Verdes (Feb. 1 and 2), San Bernardino (Feb. 3), Santa Clarita (Feb. 4), the Claremont Colleges (Feb. 8) and Bakersfield (Feb. 9 and 11).

IN DANCE: David McNaughton, a long-time principal at San Francisco Ballet, is represented both as composer and choreographer in the expanded version of his “Gypsy,” being performed by Oakland Ballet this week. McNaughton received a grant from the Meet the Composer Foundation in order to write the score back in 1983; originally a 10-minute duet, “Gypsy” has since been enlarged to include nine dancers and several more movements. Also on the program, to be performed Friday through Sunday at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland: a new, untitled work by Ron Thiele, associate artistic director of the Oakland company, and revivals of works by Betsy Erickson and artistic director Ronn Guidi . . . Eurythmeum Stuttgart, the 16-member eurythmic troupe from West Germany, will give two performances in Wadsworth Theater in Westwood, Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 8. Under the direction of Else Klink, the troupe--with accompanying musicians--will perform dramatic scenes from Henrik Ibsen’s “Peer Gynt,” with choreography by Klink and the music of Grieg. Actress Mala Powers appears as special guest speaker of the text.