Money, money, money

According to an orchestra management blog, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's Steven Monder earned the fourth highest salary among orchestra executive directors in the country in the 2004-05 season.

Drew McManus, administrator of the "Adaptistration" blog at artsjournal.com has examined more than 40 American orchestra's nonprofit reports to the IRS to compile his list. The top five:

The Los Angeles Philharmonic's Deborah Borda earned $1,325,542
The New York Philharmonic's Zarin Mehta earned $767,807
The Cleveland Orchestra's Gary Hanson earned $559,227
The Cincinnati Symphony's Steven Monder earned $530,383
The Boston Symphony's Mark Volpe earned $476,122

But Monder's reported compensation was inflated due to a one-time pension payout, that year, the orchestra says. His actual salary was $303,490. That puts him in a league down the list with the Detroit Symphony ($331,673) and the Baltimore Symphony ($324,467).

One has to read the fine print to get the full story on that whopping $1.3 million salary in LA. McManus notes that Borda's salary is a fluke due to a lump sum payment because of changes in a life insurance policy, hidden in the back of the orchestra's 990 Form to the IRS.

Still, with that payment subtracted, she remains the top paid exec, with $894,390, he reports.

McManus, on the other hand, cautions that these numbers may actually under-report the total compensation picture, leaving out such perks as bonuses and incentive pay, or travel and expense accounts.

Monder, 62, is the longest-tenured chief executive of a major orchestra in the U.S. The nation's fifth-oldest orchestra is ranked among the top 10 orchestras by budget (about $35 million), artistic quality and breadth of operations.

Photo: CETconnect
To watch a clip of Steven Monder talking about his job as president, visit this link at Cetconnect.