Silence Decends
October 9, 2008
Concert halls and opera houses across Germany may fall silent because thousands of the country's top musicians have gone on strike for a pay rise. So far more than 4,000 musicians have put their instruments back in their cases.
According to Reuters news agency, the stoppage is spreading and more than 70 orchestras may have to cancel rehearsals and performances, the German Orchestra Association (DOV) said on Wednesday, Oct. 8.
DOV president Gerald Mathers said members of his organization are angry over the decision by federal and state theaters to give a substantial pay rise at the beginning of the year.
"The 13,600 members of the DOV are the only ones who didn't. We just won't let this go unnoticed," he added.
The musicians have contracts with the Deutscher Buehnenverein, an employers' group representing some 430 operas, theaters and concert halls around the country.