Toronto Star
   Sunday November 28, 1999

   The Ticket
   From "Spotlight" Column

   Will Play for Food

   The touring National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia was forced to
   play Brahms for alms outside a British fast food restaurant after
   running out of money.

   "We knew we would be on a tight budget from the start of the tour
   but no one imagined things would get this desperate" conductor,
   Boguslaw Dawidow said.

   The orchestra, founded in 1879, managed to make money by busking
   outside a McDonalds' restaurant in the Welsh coastal town of Swansea,
   it was reported last week.  Ticket sales have been slow for the
   ensemble's British tour.  The 86 musicians have been subsisting on
   bread and cheese while sleeping 10 to a room in hostels.

   copyright The Toronto Star, 1999

Linda Rogers
Home Page: http://www3.sympatico.ca/linda.rogers/rogers
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra: http://www.bpo.org/