This Week's Cancellations Extending Through Nov. 5, Also Affect Three Subscription Concerts with Conductor Mark Wigglesworth and Violinist Thomas Zehetmair

Nov. 1 Cultural Diversity Initiative Fundraising Event Will Proceed as Scheduled

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The Philadelphia Orchestra Association has canceled all Orchestra performances through Nov. 5, as the strike called by the Orchestra musicians now enters its seventh week. The process proposed by the Mayor's office on Friday, Oct. 18, to resolve the strike is proceeding, as both sides continue to meet with David L. Cohen, the Mayor's Chief of Staff. The Association remains hopeful that the process will produce a contract settlement, after which concerts will resume.

The following concerts are affected by this latest cancellation:

• The Halloween Concert -- October 31, at 8 p.m.:
• The Orchestra's third annual holiday extravaganza, featuring Assistant Conductor Andre Raphel Smith and celebrity guest John de Lancie, star of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." The program offered works of Berlioz, Dukas, Humperdinck, Liszt, Musorgsky and Saint-Saens, plus surprise video elements, as part of the Orchestra's video project underwritten by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation's "The Magic of Music" initiative.
• Three subscription concerts --
• Friday, Nov. 1 at 2 p.m.
• Saturday, Nov. 2 at 8 p.m.
• Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 8 p.m.
• British conductor Mark Wigglesworth's second week of subscription concerts, featuring the Philadelphia Orchestra debut of Austrian violinist Thomas Zehetmair in a program of Mozart's Fifth Violin Concerto and Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony.

One event that will take place as originally scheduled is the Cultural Diversity Initiative Advisory Council's fundraising celebration on Nov. 1 at the Philadelphia Clef Club. Entitled "An Evening of Musical Entertainment and Fun," the festivities will begin at 6 p.m. and will feature food and music ranging from jazz to gospel. Performing will be such ensembles and artists as the Lincoln University Jazz Ensemble, pianist Theodore Thomas with a gospel choir, the Adobo Latin Jazz Ensemble, the Papa John DeFrancesco Blues Band and the Clef Club Ensemble. Tickets are $30 and can be ordered by calling 215-875-7670.

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.

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.

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