Mercury rising in Columbus

It didn't take long for the Columbus Symphony musicians to react publicly to the the Board's plan to save the orchestra by destroying it. Doug Fisher, a bassoonist in the CSO and president of the AFM Local in Columbus, writes:

This weekend we protested the announcement with two actions. Last night we had been invited to a reception hosted by the Board Chair at his law firm in honor of our Concertmaster Charles Wetherbee who brilliantly performed the Korngold Concerto. All of us, including the Concertmaster, refused to attend and we instead organized our own reception in his honor at the Hyatt Hotel next door.

Second, today we performed a demonstration during the intermission of our concert. Ten minutes before the end of intermission the entire orchestra minus 22 violinists took the stage as a group and sat silently in front of the audience. Five minutes before the intermission ended, the missing musicians took the stage as a group and the rest of us applauded them as they took their seats. Although these were small acts of protest, we hope they sent a message. (quoted with permission of the author).

Good for them. The board needs to know what things are going to be like if they proceed along the course they've announced.

Drew McManus has more.

Comments

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