Could the Montreal Symphony Orchestra cash in on the recent turn of events in New York? Arthur Kaptainis, of the Montreal Gazette, is certainly seeing the upside to the cancellation of the New York Philharmonic’s planned trip to Cuba. In case you missed it, Alan Gilbert and the NY Phil (and more specifically the 150 patrons who “donated” their way onto the guest list), cancelled their tour of the US-boycotted country after they were denied their travel permits by the US Treasury Department. Get the full story here

Kaptainis has done all but purchase plane tickets for the MSO to pick up where New York left off. In his article titled “Just picture it: The MSO in sunny Cuba”, he goes into more detail about an idea which he already presented in March of 2008. It seems all too perfect that the Canadian based orchestra is primarily government funded, has an American music director in Kent Nagano, and let’s not forget the fact that in regards to trade relations with Cuba, Canada is second only to the Netherlands.

Did I mention the fact that Canada sends more tourists to Cuba than any other country in the world?

With a three week hold in their schedule mid-winter, it is believable that the MSO could pick up the pieces of a broken puzzle from New York. For the original article, click the link to the Gazette’s online archive.

“Just picture it: The MSO in sunny Cuba”

Posted on October 12th, 2009 at 3:12 pm | Filed under General |