Four Basel orchestras need more money
The Basel Sinfonietta, Ensemble Phoenix Basel, Basel Chamber Orchestra and La Cetra Barockorchester Basel are fighting with a joint appeal for more public funding. They lack a total of 743,000 francs, which they are unable to generate on the market either through admissions or fundraising.
In 2012, the Basel Government Council formulated the strategic goal of strengthening and raising the profile of Basel as a city of music. A large number of professional orchestras in particular contribute to Basel's musical wealth. However, an analysis commissioned by the Department of Culture revealed that the national and international appeal does not match the existing potential in terms of quality and diversity. An important reason for this in the case of the predominantly privately financed orchestras is that the musicians' fees are far below the salary level of the Basel Symphony Orchestra and the salary recommendations of the Swiss Musicians' Association, which has consequences for the artistic continuity of the orchestras.
Against this backdrop, in 2015 the Grand Council approved the new program and structural funding for orchestras in the Canton of Basel-Stadt and approved a total of CHF 5,576,000 for the years 2016 to 2019. On the recommendation of an independent jury of experts, in 2016 the Government Council awarded a total of CHF 3,960,000 from the program funding for the years 2017 to 2019 to the four orchestras Basel Sinfonietta, Ensemble Phoenix Basel, Kammerorchester Basel and La Cetra Barockorchester.
According to the four orchestras' performance mandate, the Basel concert series of the four orchestras, which complement each other programmatically, will be supported, whereby the musicians' fees should be based on the tariff recommendations of the Swiss Musicians' Association in order to improve the social security of cultural workers in accordance with the Culture Promotion Act. After gaining experience over one and a half seasons, the four orchestras can jointly confirm that the first steps in the right direction have been taken with program funding. However, the intended improvement in social security has not yet been achieved due to persistent underfunding.
The orchestras partially financed through program funding generate a self-financing ratio of 55 to 86 percent. In order to finance their Basel concert series
In order to be able to pay basic fees in accordance with the tariff recommendations of the Swiss Musicians' Association, they lack CHF 743,000 annually, which they cannot generate additionally on the market either through admissions or fundraising.
The four orchestras are therefore jointly requesting that the orchestra program funding be increased by CHF 743,000 annually from CHF 1,320,000 in the period 2017 to 2019 to CHF 2,063,000 annually in the period 2020 to 2022. Measured against "Basel's cultural budget of over CHF 128,000,000, a relatively small increase", this would "remedy an undisputed grievance regarding the social security of musicians and represent a further step towards strengthening and raising the profile of Basel as a city of music", the orchestras continue.
