“The San Francisco Symphony announced on Monday that it had canceled a pair of April concerts in North Carolina to protest the new state law curbing anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people,” writes Michael Cooper in Monday’s (12/12) New York Times. “The orchestra joins a growing list of luminaries who have shunned the state: rockers such as Bruce Springsteen and Ringo Starr … and other classical musicians, like the violinist Itzhak Perlman. The symphony’s move shows that the fallout over the law, commonly known as House Bill 2, is continuing to resonate.… The action affects concerts on April 5 and 6 in Chapel Hill, where the symphony had planned to play music by John Cage, Bartok and Mahler.… The orchestra said that it was inspired in part by the mayor of San Francisco, Edwin M. Lee, who decided to bar city employees in publicly funded positions from traveling to North Carolina on business. … [Orchestra] officials said that they wanted to honor their role as cultural ambassadors who uphold the values of their city…. Brent Assink, the executive director of the San Francisco Symphony, said … deadlines for booking travel required a decision now.”
Posted December 13, 2016
