Face-To-Face Meetings Scheduled In DSO Strike
DETROIT (WWJ) - The summer season for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra is still on schedule despite a musicians strike. And face to face talks are scheduled for this weekend.
The DSO said in a statement late Friday afternoon "conversations with the musician's leadership via phone and email have been robust this entire week." After both sides agreed to terms for further talks, discussions about face-to-face meetings this weekend were expected in hopes of resolving all other remaining issues.
Management says a decision regarding the summer season "is on hold pending the outcome of these meetings."
Musicians have been on strike since last October. But DSO board member Glenda Price told WWJ's Vickie Thomas there will be some resolution and it is close.
"The only question is timing. There definitely will be resolution," Price said. "The time when that will occur, we are all hoping is sooner rather than later. It is close."
Earlier, the DSO had set a deadline for April 1 because it has contractual arrangements with Meadowbrook and Greenfield Village among other venues that need to know whether or not those contractual arrangements are possible for this summer.
Residents are sharing the frustration of the striking musicians and are even calling on local officials to step up and do something.
Charmaine Spicer, a native Detroiter who now lives in Ann Arbor, wants Mayor Dave Bing to intervene. Her letter to him starts out by saying, "Dear Mayor Bing. Please accept my sincere condolences as it appears Detroit is about to lose its beloved DSO."
"What I told the mayor is that I'm a semi-retired educator and I've been seriously considering coming back to Detroit to work in Detroit. I feel a calling to return to my hometown, but I won't live in a city that doesn't have a world-class symphony," Spicer said.
Stay with WWJ Newsradio 950 and CBSDetroit.com for the latest as this story develops.
