“The Springfield Symphony Orchestra is planning to start a 2022-2023 season in the fall and to do it with its unionized musicians on the Symphony Hall stage,” writes Jim Kinney in Monday’s (5/16) Republican (Springfield, MA). “The union … and … SSO management have been without a contract since August 2020. At a concert on Friday evening, [Interim Executive Director Paul] Lambert said the SSO was close to announcing a full season of concerts. It was the second of two shows the symphony played with the unionized musicians under a settlement both sides reached with the National Labor Relations Board back in January…. The two concerts were the first time the SSO had taken the Symphony Hall stage in more than two years. Lambert said Monday he is looking forward to a positive outcome with the union, but he cannot discuss details. Likewise, musician Beth Welty said the union cannot comment…. Welty is also chair of MOSSO, the Musicians of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, a union-backed ensemble that’s been hosting its own concerts. MOSSO will perform its Salute to Sondheim on June 23, and longtime SSO music director Kevin Rhodes is returning to Springfield to conduct a benefit concert July 21.”
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