The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra is a week into its strike and there is no sign of compromise.
Musicians want more money and the Symphony Association says it cannot afford an increase.
The symphony has already canceled performances because of the strike and now it has canceled next week's children’s concerts at Bass Symphony Hall.
The concerts were supposed to be somewhat of an American history lesson set to music.
A vital part of education for students in North Texas has been visits to see the symphony or in-school visits by symphony musicians.
“We play for 70,000 school children a year. We actually perform more educational concerts than any other orchestra in the country,” explained Fort Worth Symphony musician Paul Unger.
Education is one of the areas where striking musicians and the Symphony Association agree.
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“The symphony has filled a very important roll that has been missing in the schools for sometime. This is the first college graduating class that has not had a comprehensive music education,” said Association President and C.E.O. Amy Adkins.
Educators know that not all students who learn about music will go on to be professional musicians, but the lessons they learn will help in every facet of life.
“I think that without the arts, the kids don’t really have the same opportunity to learn to work collaboratively. I think that they really help them with higher-level thinking skills. I think that it really taps into their creative thinking skills that are really necessary for a 21st century workforce,” said Pat Antinone, Director of Fine Arts at Grapevine - Colleyville ISD. “The real benefit is that discipline that they develop, that attention to detail that they develop they can apply to anything that they do.”
