A four-way split: the schedule, bill

Scheduling for the four concertmasters is a critical issue. For the coming season, Emmanuelle Boisvert will be in Seattle for four weeks, Ani Kavafian for three, Frank Almond for six and Maria Larionoff for eight weeks. The season has 21 "Masterwork" (core classical subscription) weeks, a figure that does not include such series as pops, holiday, popular culture and other special programming.

Kavafian had the concertmaster seat for the season opener during the week of Sept. 10. Here's the remaining schedule for the out-of-town concertmasters, and the program:

• Week of Oct. 1: Boisvert, Masterworks

• Week of Oct. 29: Almond, Masterworks

• Week of Nov. 12: Almond, Masterworks

• Week of Dec. 10: Almond, Messiah

• Week of Dec. 24: Boisvert, Beethoven's Ninth — New Year's Eve

• Week of Jan. 28: Almond, Masterworks

• Week of Feb. 11: Boisvert, Masterworks

• Week of March 17: Kavafian, Masterworks

• Week of April 14: Kavafian, Masterworks

• Week of April 21: Almond, Masterworks & Discover Music

• Week of June 2: Boisvert, Masterworks

• Week of June 23: Almond, Masterworks

Weeks not listed will be Larionoff, or if she is unavailable, the orchestra's assistant concertmaster, John Weller, or second assistant, Simon James.

Will four concertmasters be more expensive than one? Symphony executive director Thomas Philion says no: "The costs associated with this four-way arrangement are in line with what was expected or budgeted for concertmaster; in other words, it presents no extraordinary expense."

According to the Seattle Symphony's most recent IRS Form 990 "Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax," for the year 2006, the annual salary of acting concertmaster Maria Larionoff was $141,546.

Melinda Bargreen, Seattle Times music critic