Musicians Petition Ballet Board To Bring Back Live Music To The Nutcracker

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

Members of the Washington Ballet’s orchestra are now appealing directly to the ballet’s board of directors to evaluate the company’s decision to use recorded music for The Nutcracker, reports Musicians Local 161-710 President John Cusick. “Washington merits and needs live music for its ballet. Please restore the commitment to presenting live ballet with live music,” reads a petition the Musicians have launched with the goal of obtaining at least a thousand signatures on emails addressed to board members. Interviewed on “Metro Watch” by WPFW-FM radio host David Rabin this morning, orchestra committee member Patty Hurd made a strong case for a realignment of the Ballet’s financial priorities, pointing out that an orchestra for 26 performances plus rehearsals would cost about $200,000 – not $300,000 as management has claimed – and that the company projects an annual budget of about $8.1 million. “When you’re looking at an expense that would be less than 2 ½ percent of their overall budget, it seems there must be other ways to fund it rather than looking for a donor who’s just going to appear sometime between now and December 2,” Hurd said. “The musicians, some of whom have been in that (orchestra) pit as long as 30 years, would like to see the company find some other way to cut their costs rather than change the quality of the production.” Click here to sign the petition. - photo: musicians at the October 29 demonstration outside the Washington Ballet; photo courtesy thefightback.org