“The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra announced on Monday that it will delay the opening of its 70th anniversary season … starting with Thursday night’s concert featuring pianist Jeremy Denk, through November 8,” writes Jenny Jarvie in Monday’s (9/22) Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “With the musicians locked out of Symphony Hall after failing to reach an agreement on the terms of a new collective bargaining agreement, ASO president and CEO Stanley Romanstein said management made the decision with a great deal of reluctance.… Management has now formally requested that both sides meet with a federal mediator, Allison Beck, a deputy director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, who recently negotiated for the New York Metropolitan Opera. The musicians have agreed to meet with Beck to discuss the possibility of mediation…. The locked out musicians will perform an independent concert, including chamber orchestra works by Bach, Handel and Puccini with guest conductor Mary Hoffman, at Terminal West in West Midtown tonight.” The article also notes that former ASO board member Ron Antinori stepped down from his position last week, saying he “could do more to resolve the current standoff as an adviser for the musicians.”
Posted September 23, 2014
