The L.A. Phil and its top earners are doing very well, thank you

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The arts are a reflection of the world we live in, a biography of the human spirit, a legacy of the best our species has done and thought, and all that other lofty stuff.

The arts are also a means of earning a living.

Under the U.S. system, charities are required to state their highest-paid employees’ earnings in annual public tax returns. That gives a window on the going wages for top creative and executive talent working in the nonprofit arts -– and on each organization’s overall fiscal health.

Read The Times’ article about the 2009-10 results for one of the most financially successful American arts organization of the 2000s, the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The numbers show a complete rebound from the recession, putting a positive capper on a decade that brought a transformation of the Phil’s fiscal fortunes.

And click through these photo galleries to see how the remuneration of the orchestra’s two top employees -– music director Gustavo Dudamel and president and chief executive Deborah Borda -– compare with other leading conductors and arts executives.

PHOTOS: Arts executives’ pay for 2009

PHOTOS: Conductors’ earnings: Nothing to shake a stick at

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-- Mike Boehm