ASO Musicians Accuse CEO Of Mendacity | September 9, 2014 Drew McManus
The musicians claim that ASO leadership broke a 2012 promise to avoid returning for a second round of reductions. They produced a quote they said Romanstein made at full orchestra meeting on Dec. 18, 2012, alleging that he responded to a question with: “My comment to the (Woodruff) and the ASO boards was, 'If we have to make a one-time adjustment to prevent ourselves from going out of business, then we can try this once, but not year after year. Nobody wants that.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, Romanstein vehemently denied those charges claiming the only assurances made were that the Woodruff Arts Center (WAC), the ASO’s parent organization, would engage in fundraising and additional administrative budget cuts. Romanstein adamantly denied the comment on Sunday. “I don’t know where that came from. We made them no promises. I would love to have a guarantee for what’s going to happen in two years or three years or four years. But there are not guarantees and we didn’t offer them any." |