This just in from Mark and Tris Ozark, long-term subscribers to the Pittsburgh Symphony.

WHY I WALK though I am not a musician.

I’m not related to a musician or employed by any of them.  I’m walking today with the Musicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for many reasons.

♪ As a subscriber, I have become dependent on their exquisite live performances of orchestral music to lift my spirits week after week.  I need them back intact.

♪ I am grateful for the lifetime of effort that each and every one of them has made to attain the level of musicianship that they bring to their concerts.  Hearing those results inspires me to try as hard in my own life.

♪ I want to thank them for the reputation that brings the world’s greatest solo performers to Pittsburgh for me to hear.

♪ I am grateful for their hard work on tours as ambassadors for Pittsburgh.

♪ I want to pay them back for the work they are doing despite the strike.  As musicians, they cannot stop working,  even though they are not being paid.  They must continue to practice every day to maintain the level of artistry that earned them their jobs.

♪ I want to pay them back for their on-strike performances on the street, in other halls, in restaurants and bars, and wherever they can play.  They must continue to work together to maintain the synergy of an orchestra.  So they are performing in ensembles.  They could perform in private.  But they have chosen to keep performing for us, for free.

♪ So I want to thank them for having performing in their blood, and for thriving on the cheers and applause they earn, and not just the money.

♪ I want to thank them for respecting their colleagues enough to want to stay together rather than defect to free agency.

♪ I want to thank them for wanting to stay in the town where I hear them.

♪ It is an honor to share the sidewalk and the effort with such accomplished people.  I think of them as the best team in town.

♪ They are smart, interesting, and nice people to talk with.

Come and walk, attend a performance, join in any way to support this great group.

The board of the Fort Worth Symphony has called off all concerts up to December 31 due to the continuing strike by musicians who are refusing to accept wage cut.

A weekend meeting between the two sides was stonewalled by FWS managers. The musicians and their families have been locked out in the cold for Christmas.

Former Black Dyke resident conductor Michael Antrobus has died in Norway at the age of 73.

A child chorister at Chester Cathedral, he played trumpet in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and conducted Black Dyke for two years from 1978. Then he discovered Norway, where he played a huge role in developing brass band culture.

Obits here and here.

Musicians in the Mexico City Symphony Orchestra have voted for their veteran chief conductor Enrique Batiz to be dismissed after a history of clashes and, they say, money wasting.

Batiz, 74, has told local media he has been suffering for the past five years from Parkinsons Disease.

He has been music director since the orchestra was founded in 1971.

Craig Hassall, CEO of Opera Australia, has been named chief executive of the Royal Albert Hall.

Hassall, who will start work in London next year, has worked here before as managing director of English National Ballet for seven years from 2005, and before that as COO of Raymond Gubbay promotions.