In an Associated Press story published Friday (5/11) on Huffington Post, Jeff Karoub writes, “This time last year, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra was about a month removed from a contentious musicians’ strike that worsened its already strained finances. Now, the rebounding organization aims to raise the roof—and hopefully $1 million—with help from a hometown musician known more for rock, rap and country than classical. The orchestra will collaborate with Kid Rock on Saturday in a benefit concert at the Fox Theatre, down the street from the ensemble’s Orchestra Hall home. Tickets start at $100, though VIP tickets fetch as much as $1,500 and include an afterparty with the genre-jumping artist who still lives in suburban Detroit. Rock, who was born Robert Ritchie and grew up in Macomb County, Mich., is volunteering his services. So are Detroit Symphony Music Director Leonard Slatkin and orchestra members. Proceeds will help pay symphony musicians for community outreach and education efforts. … ‘We still have an enormous amount of work to do,’ [Executive Vice President Paul] Hogle said. ‘But the business of performing and attracting talent here is in fact returning and vibrant.’ ”
Posted May 11, 2012
