Among the Programs Affected by This Week's Cancellations, Extending Through October 23, are 4 Subscription Concerts, a Free Concert for Philadelphia Fifth-Graders, a Washington D.C. Concert, 3 Recording Sessions and a Chamber Music Series Concert

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The Philadelphia Orchestra Association has canceled all Orchestra performances and events through Oct. 23. The strike, which was called on Sept. 16 by the Philadelphia Orchestra musicians, members of Local 77 of the American Federation of Musicians, is about to enter its second month. A federal mediator directed that there be no talks this past weekend so that both sides could review their respective positions. This is now the fifth week of concerts which the Association has been forced to cancel.

A variety of concerts and events are affected by this latest cancellation:

-- The Coca-Cola/Philadelphia Orchestra School Concert for the School District of Philadelphia - Wednesday, Oct. 16, 10:30 a.m.: An annual free concert for fifth-graders, sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company. The program was to have been conducted by Conductor in Residence Luis Biava and featured violinist Hanna Hyo Bin Jin, a winner of the Philadelphia Orchestra Albert M. Greenfield Student Competition, and Principal Trumpet David Bilger. The program would have also featured the use of closed-circuit video, as part of the second year of the Orchestra's Video Enhancement Project;

Four subscription concerts:

Music Director Wolfgang Sawallisch's final conducting engagement of the fall, featuring pianist Andre Watts in a program of Haydn's Symphony No. 55, Liszt's Les Preludes, and Brahms' Second Piano Concerto. This program was particularly noteworthy:

• It would have opened the Orchestra's season-long focus on the music of Brahms;
• It would have celebrated the fortieth anniversary of Mr. Watts' first appearance with an orchestra, when he performed with The Philadelphia Orchestra as winner of its Student Competition.

Two events related to this subscription program have also been canceled:

• A Donor Open Rehearsal on Oct. 17 at 10:30 am;
• A Post-concert Conversation on Oct. 19 at 10 p.m.;
• A Chamber Music Concert - Sunday, Oct. 20, 3 p.m. The first program of the Orchestra's Chamber Music Series, held in the Academy of Music Ballroom, with a program of works by Arnold, Loeffler and Brahms.
• A Washington, D.C. concert at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, - Monday, Oct. 2l, 7:00 p.m. A repeat of the subscription program conducted by Maestro Sawallisch and featuring Mr. Watts, presented by the Washington Performing Arts Society.
• The Education Department's first colloquium for school teachers - Monday, Oct. 21, 4-6 p.m. Co-presented by the University of the Arts, these colloquia prepare teachers for upcoming Concerts for Students; the first is scheduled for November 8.

Three recording sessions, scheduled by EMI Classics for Oct. 19 and Oct. 23, will also no longer be able to take place. The Orchestra was to have recorded an all-Richard Strauss disc that included the "Dance of the Seven Veils," from Salome; the Violin Concerto in D minor, featuring First Concertmaster Erez Ofer; the Josephs-Legende symphonic fragment; and the Munich Waltz. Performances of all this repertoire were scheduled for these opening weeks of the season, but had to be canceled because of the strike. EMI Classics has not decided whether, if the repertoire can be performed at later concerts, they would be willing to reschedule the recording sessions. This was to be the final recording in EMI Classics' contract with the Orchestra.

Canceled performances will not be rescheduled. The options available to ticket holders remain the same as when the strike began on Sept. 16:

• return their tickets to the Orchestra Association as a donation;
• exchange their tickets for another concert this season;
• receive a ticket certificate good for the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons;
• request a refund for the amount of the ticket purchase.

Those holding passes to the Donor Open Rehearsal should call the Development Department at 215-893-1984 for more information. Ticket holders for the Oct. 21 Washington concert will be contacted by the Washington Performing Arts Society. For more information, call 202-833-9800.

All subscribers and single ticket buyers have been sent a letter outlining these options, along with a Ticket Request Form. Subscribers should hold onto tickets for any canceled concert until the strike is over. Single ticket buyers who choose any of the above options other than a refund should hold onto their tickets until the strike has ended.

If the musicians choose to return to work later this week while the negotiations continue, the Association will reinstate any of this week's concerts as long as there is sufficient time to rehearse the program and notify ticket holders.

For more information, ticket holders may call a special telephone hotline set up by the Patron Services Department at 215-893-1880.

CO: Philadelphia Orchestra

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