In Monday’s (10/11) Detroit Free Press, Mark Stryker reports, “Violinist Sarah Chang has canceled her Monday recital at Orchestra Hall after receiving a firestorm of criticism from striking musicians of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and their supporters. … ‘My original intention to bring music to the community has been derailed, and I have been unwillingly drawn into an inner dispute that does not appropriately involve me,’ Chang said in a statement on Sunday. … The Philadelphia-born Chang, 29, a former prodigy and one of the stars of her generation, had scheduled the recital after her concerts with the DSO, which were to have opened the orchestra’s season this weekend, were canceled because of the strike that began on Oct. 4. Chang had asked that revenues from the concert be earmarked for DSO players’ pensions. On Friday, the DSO players wrote a letter to Chang, who is not a member of the union, asking her not to perform, as did other national musician labor leaders. By Sunday, her fan-created Facebook page had been inundated with about 150 messages from across the country not to cross the picket line and perform.”
Posted October 12, 2010
