Columbus Symphony shutting down

The Columbus (OH) Symphony will stop paying its musicians and lay off its administrative staff at the end of May. The orchestra has canceled its summer pops concerts and "most likely its 2008-09 season, scheduled to begin in October," The Columbus Dispatch reports:

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/05/08/picnic.html

The 57-year-old orchestra had been running high deficits in recent years – a $1.4 million shortfall on a $12.5 million operating budget this year – and had reached an impasse with its musicians over a plan to reduce the roster of full-time players and shorten the season.