“The musicians of the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra have voted to strike Friday night’s season-opening concert if they cannot come to terms with management on key points of a new contract before the performance,” writes Rich Copley in Tuesday’s (9/17) Lexington Herald-Leader (Kentucky). “In the same balloting, cast Thursday, the musicians also expressed a vote of no-confidence in music director Scott Terrell. The musicians are seeking retention of a peer-review system for demotion and dismissal, and a guaranteed number of performances for musicians.… Philharmonic management rejected the musicians’ demands Tuesday…. Management also defended Terrell’s performance as music director, a post he has held since 2009…. Philharmonic musicians and management renegotiate a contract every four years; talks concerning the new contract have gone on since April 2012.… Another primary complaint from musicians has been that the orchestra has performed fewer large-scale orchestra concerts since Terrell took the podium…. Musicians contend that this has cut down on their performance opportunities and the cohesion of the orchestra as a whole…. The season-opening concert, titled ‘Revolution!,’ is scheduled to feature violin soloist Caroline Goulding and a piece called American Symphony by composer-in-residence Adam Schoenberg, who is writing a new work the Philharmonic scheduled to premiere early next year.”
Posted September 18, 2013
Photo of Lexington Philharmonic by Rich Copley / Lexington Herald-Leader
