Keep Louisville Symphonic Offers to Play With Opera, Director Says Talks Would Be "Presumptuous"

A group of Louisville Orchestra musicians has offered to accompany the Kentucky Opera's performance of Carmen next month, but opera officials say any negotiations would be improper.The opera typically performs with orchestra musicians, but performances are in question due to the ongoing labor dispute between orchestra management and players. There is no contract in place and orchestra concerts for the next two months have been canceled.The musicians union has barred members from performing with the orchestra, but no similar ban is in place for the opera. General Director David Roth has promised to have live musicians for Carmen, but no deal has yet been worked out. Today, the group Keep Louisville Symphonic–which is made up of orchestra players–offered to perform with the opera."Our primary desire is for an agreement to be reached between the Louisville Orchestra and the Louisville Orchestra musicians so the Louisville Orchestra can once again perform for Kentucky Opera," says Roth. "It would be presumptuous for Kentucky Opera to negotiate with any other organized group of players while the Louisville Orchestra negotiates with its musicians."Orchestral rehearsals for Carmen were previously scheduled to begin September 13th.Keep Louisville Symphonic has held several fundraising concerts outside of official orchestra performances.