Violinist Cancels Over Broadcast

Violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg has canceled her Wednesday and Thursday appearances with the Pacific Symphony at the Orange County Performing Arts Center because she didn’t want her Thursday performance to be broadcast on KUSC (91.5 FM) and its affiliates, according to an orchestra spokesperson.

Mark Kaplan, who appeared with the orchestra in 1992, will replace her, playing the Sibelius Violin Concerto she was scheduled to perform. In addition to his orchestral appearances, Kaplan is part of the Golub-Kaplan-Carr Trio, with pianist David Golub and cellist Colin Carr.

“We’re disappointed that she will not appear with the orchestra, but we are committed to presenting live broadcasts of the second performance,” executive director Louis G. Spisto said Friday. “That was very clear to Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg’s management from the moment she was contracted because the contract included a rider which detailed the broadcast requirements completely.”

The Thursday concerts have been broadcast for four years.

“In July, her management alerted us that there may be a problem with [the broadcast],” said Spisto. “We have been in discussions with them since that time, but obviously we were unable to resolve this issue. So we agreed to release her from her contract.”

Mary Lou Falcone, Salerno-Sonnenberg’s New York representative, said Friday that the violinist had signed a contract in July to perform for the two dates, but did not sign the rider, “which is a separate issue and had to be signed separately.”

Pianist Horacio Gutierrez was the only other artist to have declined to play during the Pacific’s live broadcasts, but contracts with him had not been signed, according to Spisto. Gutierrez, Spisto said Friday, will appear during a future Pacific season.

Salerno-Sonnenberg, 35, was scheduled to make her debut with the orchestra under the direction of Carl St.Clair. The season-opening program also lists the Overture to Wagner’s “Tannhausser” and Strauss’ “Don Juan,” both of which will be played.

A native of Rome and now a United States citizen, Salerno-Sonnenberg began her studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia at the age of 8 and subsequently studied with renowned pedagogue Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School in New York. She won the prestigious Walter W. Naumberg International Violin Competition in 1981 and since then has appeared with major orchestras in the United States and Europe.

Pacific Symphony does not offer refunds when there is a change in artists, according to Spisto.