DSO Cancels More Concerts
A three month strike is forcing the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to cancel more shows.
The DSO Friday announced that the pops concerts An Evening of Rodgers & Hammerstein scheduled for January 13th thru 16th have been cancelled. Other January concerts remain scheduled, but could be cancelled if there is no new agreement reached with musicians who went on strike October 4th. No new talks are planned, according to a statement from the orchestra.
The DSO Board of Directors will be evaluating "the merit of suspending the remainder of the 2010-11 season, as well as indefinitely deferring the announcement of the 2011-12 season, until a settlement can be achieved" at their Executive Committee meeting later this month.
The D-S-O claims musicians rejected their last offer of 133-thousand dollars for average player compensation and refuse to go back to the bargaining table, something musicians' spokesman Hayden McKay says is not true. He also says their offer included salary, healthcare, pension, and other benefits. He says the average salary would really be in the low 70-thousand dollar range.
McKay, who's been with the orchestra for 27 years, says, "Unfortunately, more concerts are cancelled. That's perhaps the most painful part of this whole experience is that the music lovers of Detroit are being deprived of the orchestra when not on the stage of Orchestra Hall. Unfortunately, at the same time they cancelled the concerts, management put out a lot of misinformation about where the negotiations stand."
McKay says they are willing to negotiate…that they'd like to talk about the Granholm-Levin proposal….a compromise management rejected.
The cancellations allow thousands of ticket holders to exchange tickets or request refunds. People needing information on concerts can call the DSO hotline at (313) 576-5123 or the Box Office at (313) 576-5111.
Meantime, musicians of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra have scheduled two concerts this month highlighting Rodgers & Hammerstein.
The first concert is scheduled for Saturday, January 15th at 8:30 pm, at St. Patrick Catholic Church next to Orchestra Hall. The second concert, Beethoven, is scheduled for January 22nd at 8:30 pm, at Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Grosse Pointe.
Tickets are $20 for general admission, $35 for preferred seating, and $50 for premium seating.
