Hard times for orchestras (con't.)

Grim news keeps coming from orchestras, trying to cope with the economic downturn.

The Philadelphia Orchestra, already without a music director, loses its president and CEO, James Undercofler, six months earlier than expected. His interim replacement, retired financier Frank P. Slattery Jr., working without pay, faces what one board member calls a "chaotic" administrative climate, Peter Dobrin reports in the Philadelphia Inquirer:

www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20090115_Orchestra_leadership_in_flux__financial_picture_gloomy.html

Meanwhile, the Baltimore Symphony lays off administrative staffers in an effort to cut $500,000 from its budget, the Baltimore Sun's Tim Smith reports:

www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bal-li.clefnotes15jan15,0,1348943.story