A Strike Cancels NYC Mozart Concerts

NEW YORK (Lincoln Center Official Website) - Twenty concerts in Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts' acclaimed Mostly Mozart summer festival were canceled Monday after the orchestra voted to strike.

Hours after the 42-member Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra voted to refuse to rehearse or perform for the festival, the center announced it would be forced to cancel most of the four-week festival's concerts.

The reason for the strike is a disagreement over a contract provision governing the non-renewal of tenured musicians for artistic reasons, according to both sides.

The festival, in its 36th season, was to have started Tuesday. More than 60,000 people attend every year, Lincoln Center spokeswoman Eileen McMahon said.

Two "Green Eggs and Hamadeus" performances and a concert featuring The Chamber Music Society were also canceled because the musicians sympathized with the striking orchestra, McMahon said.

Ten other performances not featuring the orchestra remain scheduled, she said.