The Chicago Symphony Orchestra went on strike Saturday evening less than two hours before their first Saturday evening concert of the 2012-13 season was scheduled to begin, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians' contracts had expired last Sunday. The strike came after negotiations for new contracts broke down Saturday, and on the eve of the orchestra's October tour to Carnegie Hall and Mexico. Some patrons of the orchestra were reportedly irate about the last-minute walk-out, expressing frustration at arriving at Chicago's Symphony Center Saturday evening only to be locked out, and conveying thoughts of "reconsidering" their financial support of the orchestra. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra's strike comes on the heels of walk-outs by other major American orchestras during the last two years. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra endured a six-month strike in 2010-11, and the musicians of Cleveland Orchestra walked out briefly in January 2010. Read more: Â
- Chicago Symphony Orchestra Musicians on Strike (CST)
- CSO Strike Also Has National Overtone (CT)
- DSO Strike officialoly Over As Musicians Ratify Pay-Cut Contract (Detroit Free Press)
- American Orchestras: Yes, It's a Crisis (Part IV) Â (Tony's Blog - The blog of Tony Woodcock, president of New England Conservatory of Music)
