In Sunday’s (11/22) Sarasota Herald Tribune (Florida), Jay Handelman writes, “It has been distressing for anyone who loves good music and the arts to read about the long-running contract dispute between musicians and management of the Sarasota Orchestra. But there is good news to take from all the tension—this community loves the Sarasota Orchestra. You can see it in the high volume of letters to the editor and hear it in conversations almost everywhere you go. Whatever side they take, people ARE talking about the orchestra, mostly with care and concern about its future. … Labor disputes are never good things. Too much stress isn’t good for anyone. But it can lead to positives in the long-run if neither side is destroyed in the process of reaching a new contract. … The community reactions during negotiations suggest that the orchestra is going to have to do a better job of selling itself to the public. But it will be starting from a strong base of support, if the letters are an indication. The Herald-Tribune may have printed only a sampling of what has been submitted, but each one represents the views of many more people who didn’t take the time to write.”
Posted November 25, 2009
