RPO Board Breaks Silence On Remmereit Termination
By: Vanessa Herring
Updated: January 24, 2013
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra's annual meeting played out like a
scene in divorce court at times. Emotions still high after the
termination of musical director Arild Remmereit in November. The messy
split left members with a lot of questions that were finally answered at
the meeting. Board chair Elizabeth Rice says Remmereit's conducting
wasn't the problem, "there's always something going on in your life as a
music director, you have development things that you do, he did those
very well, his community outreach was great," explained Rice, "we loved
it, but there were other things behind the scenes that just didn't work
for us."
Despite the explanation some members and musicians still want to see the conductor reinstated and want to take the board to court to fight for his job, "our legal action has been commenced today, and we're going to be watching that," said Mary Jo Korona, a founding partner of Leclair Korona Giordano Cole LLP, who is representing a group of musicians supporting Remmereit.
Some donors even decided their voices would be heard by the sound of their wallets closing, "this is our last donation to the RPO," said Jennie Oberholtzer, an RPO member who read her statement to board chair Elizabeth Rice at the annual meeting, "please note there are two pennies attached, you now have our two cents."
Rice says all those people are more interested in bringing the maestro back than he is, "he has not responded to any of our requests that he conduct, he is not fighting back, other people are fighting back on his behalf but he is not fighting back himself in terms of, 'I want to get back up on the podium and conduct this orchestra.'"
Through it all one member urged everyone to remember that the RPO is really about the music and member donations are the only thing that will keep it going. Rice says the board has already moved pas the drama and is focused on the new season, "the fundraising is moving ahead we've had really good ticket sales from the nutcracker all the way through the Chris Botti concert, so we're seeing a lot of other people come out and support it despite the naysayers."
Members who donated at least $75 last year were allowed into the meeting and were able to vote for the board of directors. A group of Remmereit supporters asked to have their own slate added to the board of directors ballot but that request was denied per the organizations by-laws.
Despite the explanation some members and musicians still want to see the conductor reinstated and want to take the board to court to fight for his job, "our legal action has been commenced today, and we're going to be watching that," said Mary Jo Korona, a founding partner of Leclair Korona Giordano Cole LLP, who is representing a group of musicians supporting Remmereit.
Some donors even decided their voices would be heard by the sound of their wallets closing, "this is our last donation to the RPO," said Jennie Oberholtzer, an RPO member who read her statement to board chair Elizabeth Rice at the annual meeting, "please note there are two pennies attached, you now have our two cents."
Rice says all those people are more interested in bringing the maestro back than he is, "he has not responded to any of our requests that he conduct, he is not fighting back, other people are fighting back on his behalf but he is not fighting back himself in terms of, 'I want to get back up on the podium and conduct this orchestra.'"
Through it all one member urged everyone to remember that the RPO is really about the music and member donations are the only thing that will keep it going. Rice says the board has already moved pas the drama and is focused on the new season, "the fundraising is moving ahead we've had really good ticket sales from the nutcracker all the way through the Chris Botti concert, so we're seeing a lot of other people come out and support it despite the naysayers."
Members who donated at least $75 last year were allowed into the meeting and were able to vote for the board of directors. A group of Remmereit supporters asked to have their own slate added to the board of directors ballot but that request was denied per the organizations by-laws.
