“In March, with much fanfare, a new orchestra called the D.C. Philharmonic announced its inaugural concert program, scheduled to take place tonight and tomorrow night,” writes Anne Midgette in Thursday’s (4/9) Washington Post. “Yesterday, it announced that both concerts have been postponed until this fall, scarcely 36 hours before the first was supposed to start. ‘The reality is that our ticket sales were nowhere near where they needed or should have been,’ said John Baltimore, the orchestra’s conductor. (Anyone who did buy tickets can have their money refunded at the Strathmore box office.) The perception of musicians contracted to play in the orchestra—which included players from both the Washington National Opera and the now-defunct Baltimore Opera—was that the orchestra was having difficulty meeting the schedule of payments the union imposes on new organizations. The first 25 percent was due on April 1 but arrived a few days late. The second 25 percent was due yesterday; it was never sent. Instead, an e-mail message went out to the players announcing that the concert had been postponed.”
Posted April 9, 2009
