Violinist Cancels Recital Over Detroit Strike Tension

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/...icleInline.jpg

Sarah Chang, internationally known violin soloist, meet Detroit, union town.

Ms. Chang waded into a strike at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, agreeing last week to play a recital on Monday presented by the orchestra’s management. But she backed out over the weekend when orchestra members, musicians’ union leaders and players around the country complained.

“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,” she said in a statement on Sunday. She was flying from Detroit to California on Monday for a concert and could not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The incident quickly acquired an ugly tone, further poisoning relations between management and the players, who went on strike on Oct. 4.

Both sides said the issue was exacerbated by social media.

The orchestra’s management cited what it said were harassing words and threats among the denunciations posted over the weekend on Facebook pages set up by Chang fans and by the orchestra, and in e-mail and phone messages sent to Ms. Chang, 29, herself.

“The nature of the e-mails had gotten ugly,” Anne Parsons, the orchestra’s president and chief executive, said in an interview on Monday. “She used the word ‘vicious’ to me. She felt harassed and she felt threatened. I think she felt uncomfortable appearing in public.”

Ms. Parsons said some of the comments amounted to illegal acts, but did not identify them. She did say that someone had posted Ms. Chang’s cellphone number on the Web.

Ms. Parsons said the orchestra did not report the threats to the police because that was not its role. She said that she did not believe that Ms. Chang had made a report.

Ms. Parsons said that while she hoped union members were not behind the worst postings, “nevertheless, the union must take responsibility for the behavior of its members.”

Orchestra members denounced the suggestion that Ms. Chang, a highly respected musician, had been harassed or threatened.

“You have to have something to back it up,” said Haden McKay, a cellist and the spokesman for the players. “You can’t just throw terms around like that.” He said union leaders could not be blamed for random comments tossed onto blogs, Facebook pages or newspaper Web sites.

Another orchestra representative, Karl Pituch, the principal French horn player, said he had seen no confirmation of the reported threats. “I have no idea what she’s trying to stir up,” he said of Ms. Parsons’s statements.

After Ms. Chang’s withdrawal, the Detroit players committee issued its thanks and said that if she had received any message that was “less than polite or could be considered threatening, please accept our sincere apology.”

More than 150 posts on Ms. Chang’s fan page on Facebook urged her not to play the concert, many from musicians. They overwhelmingly used respectful or neutral language, although about a half-dozen tossed out the word “scab.” Several comments also called the recital a “slap in the face” and “despicable.” One poster said that if Ms. Chang crossed the picket line, “I am discarding all of your recordings.”

The musicians of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony Orchestra also weighed in, asking Ms. Chang not to play. After her announcement to withdraw, the comments turned into a tide of praise and thanks.

The fracas came into focus when a publicist released a statement on Friday quoting Ms. Chang as saying that she felt “compelled to honor my commitment to contributing to the musical community” of Detroit by playing the recital, and asked that ticket revenue be donated to the musicians’ pension fund. She sent a Twitter message on Friday making a similar announcement.

Orchestra members said they saw that as an empty gesture because management is required to make contributions to that fund. A flood of requests for her to cancel began appearing on Facebook.

The Detroit players said they were prepared to picket her recital — which they called a “replacement concert” — and wrote Ms. Chang a letter asking her to reconsider. Ray Hair, the president of the American Federation of Musicians, and Bruce Ridge, the chairman of the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians, issued similar pleas.

“Please do not stain your illustrious career by replacing musicians as they seek to serve their community and feed their families,” Mr. Ridge wrote.

Ms. Chang was scheduled to play a concerto in a program with the Detroit Symphony last week. After the strike was called, management asked Ms. Chang to play the recital, and she agreed, Ms. Parsons said. Patrons were told they could exchange their orchestra tickets for the recital.

Ms. Chang, who is not a member of a musicians’ union, was well aware of the labor situation.

“She has crossed other picket lines,” Ms. Parsons said, attributing the information to Ms. Chang’s manager and saying she did not know the specific instances. “I would not call her naïve.”

Ms. Parsons said other important artists had offered to play under the Detroit Symphony’s auspices. But she declined to name them, and said she did not know when an announcement would be made.

The orchestra called a strike after negotiations stalled in September over the magnitude of pay cuts and benefit reductions and management’s desire to change work rules substantially. The symphony’s executives imposed its terms: a 33 percent reduction in the base salary of $104,605 for existing players, and a 42 percent reduction for new hires.

The players had proposed a 22 percent reduction the first year, with raises bringing them to within 8 percent of their current salaries within three years.

Management contends that Detroit’s disastrous economy means that the orchestra cannot survive without the deep cuts. The players said the cuts would destroy the orchestra’s high caliber.

Source: NY Times