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/