Is St. Louis A Canary In The Coal Mine?

The work stoppage at the St. Louis Symphony may be indicative of a larger systemic problem that no one in the industry wants to face: orchestras are very, very expensive, and the majority of cities may simply no longer be able to afford them as they now exist. “Intense and often divisive contract negotiations consumed three of the nation’s top orchestras last fall: Chicago, Cleveland and Philadelphia… [and] close to 90% of the country’s orchestras ran a budget deficit last year.”