Symphony Leaflets

As a member of the former San Diego Symphony, I feel I must apologize to the people of San Diego, particularly those who attended the concert given by the Chicago Symphony Feb. 5 in Symphony Hall, for the reprehensible actions taken prior to the performance by some of my colleagues.

I refer to the leaflets that were passed out to the audience upon entrance to the hall by San Diego Symphony musicians stating, among other things, that “San Diego has become the Auschwitz of the symphonic world and the symphony management’s actions are the symphonic equivalent of genocide.” I find this outrageous statement to be so offensive as to be completely beyond belief.

While it is certainly true that we have been among the lowest paid of the country’s major orchestras and have too often been asked to make unreasonable sacrifices, even the disbanding of the orchestra is insufficient reason for such behavior. This is not the first occasion upon which a small, reckless group of individuals has wrongly purported to represent the entire orchestra with actions which many of us find repugnant.

ELEANOR ROTH

San Diego