In Thursday’s (5/19) Detroit News, Lawrence B. Johnson writes, “It’s the smallest of tours, but one that could signal an epochal change. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra commences a campaign this weekend to take the music to the people, with its first ‘neighborhood’ concerts in Franklin and in Southfield. Even before the six-month strike that gutted the current season, ticket sales at Orchestra Hall were in a long downward slide. The moment the strike ended last month, music director Leonard Slatkin made it clear the orchestra under his personal leadership would begin taking the music out to the DSO’s audience—which largely means the metro area—in an effort to reconnect with the public. So Thursday night, the band takes an all-Beethoven program to Shaarey Zedek synagogue in Southfield, then plays a repeat performance Sunday afternoon at Seligman Performing Arts Center in Franklin. On May 27, Slatkin and company will play an all-Tchaikovsky matinee featuring pianist Olga Kern at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center in Dearborn. … Tickets for all neighborhood concerts will be $25, or $50 for ‘preferred seating.’ Students of any age will be admitted for $10.”
Posted May 20, 2011
