Detroit Symphony Orchestra musicians have rejected final contract proposals from the ensemble’s management and authorized their union to call a strike, says the Detroit Free Press.
The financially strapped orchestra, which is expected to lose $9-million this year, has been locked in a battle with musicians over proposals to slash players’ pay. The musicians’ current contract expired over the weekend, but no strike or lockout will occur before September 24, due to a federal labor law that requires parties to file paperwork 30 days in advance of any planned work stoppage or imposition of a new contract.
In other arts news, New York’s Public Theater and Lincoln Center Theater are planning ambitious new Broadway productions for the forthcoming season, thanks to the blockbuster success of their recent revivals of Hair and South Pacific, respectively, The New York Times writes.
Also, the British magnate and art collector Robert Devereux, a former partner in the Virgin corporate empire, is planning to sell much of his store of postwar works to finance a charity supporting artists in Africa, according to the Guardian. The sale of 329 paintings is expected to raise about $6.2-million.
And the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, in Cleveland, is on solid financial ground as it marks its 15th anniversary, thanks to the establishment of a $5-million endowment, says The Plain Dealer.
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