On Thursday, the 21 singers of the Toulon opera choir learned that they were all going to be laid off for economic reasons in June.
The 21 singers of the Toulon opera choir (Var) learned on Thursday that they were all going to be laid off for economic reasons in June, the CGT union delegate for artists announced to AFP on Friday, confirming information from Var Matin .
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At the end of the institution’s board of directors on Thursday, “the director spoke and announced the dismissal of the choir”, reported Richard Garnier, one of the bass singers, also staff representative on the board of directors. administration and the Economic and Social Council (CSE) of the Var opera.
All opera singers will lose their jobs at the end of June, the end of the cultural season, the elected staff members then learned.
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“Overnight people learn that in five months they will be fired”
If the management of the opera cites economic reasons, for Richard Garnier this decision comes mainly from a desire to “make the Toulon opera house a welcoming theater”, that is to say a place without a permanent choir, using only intermittent workers in order to reduce costs.
-Contacted by AFP, the Toulon Provence Méditerranée metropolis, which manages the establishment, did not want to comment. The opera director was not available.
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“There were many signs which said that the choir was not going well, from the month of November we questioned the management about its sustainability, but they did not answer us”, explained Richard Garnier, scandalized by the brutality of the announcement: “Overnight people learn that in five months they will be fired, we don’t give them time to turn around.”
A choir which participated in around fifty “curtain raisings”
He indicated that the elected staff members intended to go to court to challenge this decision. Richard Garnier was delighted to have received significant support from other French choirs, who should, in the days to come, organize performances in support of their colleagues in Toulon, according to him.
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This choir participated in around fifty “curtain raisings” during the 2023-2024 season, at the Toulon opera house but also outside its walls.
This ensemble is regularly invited to other national or international stages such as the Opéra Comique, the Vichy Opera, the Baalbeck Festival in Lebanon and, very regularly, to the Chorégies d’Orange, according to the institution’s website. .
