A quick update: We’ve come to an agreement on our contract for this season, 2023-24. While we continue to be frustrated with recurring one-year agreements, lost wages to inflation and covid, and a lack of commitment to our future in this organization, we are pleased to agree on changes to our dress (read on below!). We will be back at the bargaining table in less than a year and our quest for better wages and working conditions continues. We’ll go into more detail about this in future posts. Please stay in touch to hear more from us throughout the year. Sign up for our newsletter so you don’t miss a post.
If you come to our Masterworks 2 concerts this weekend, you might notice there are no tails! In this new contract, we and our management have agreed to update our dress to be more modern.
Over the last 20 years, orchestras all over the world have been moving away from tailcoats and tuxedos to all black dress.
We think this is great because tails are:
- Uncomfortable and hot on stage
- Dry-clean only
- Expensive
Tailcoats are also impractical for certain instruments.
Neckties get in the way of violins and violas.
Floppy coats interfere with woodwind keys and horn bells.
It is difficult for bassists and cellists to move their arms freely to play.
All black for everyone equalizes our ensemble by having the same dress standard for all.
If you’d like to learn more about the history of tails on stage and how this is changing, here are some articles that go into more detail: