A group of 10 Minnesota state legislators today called for the resignation of Minnesota Orchestra President and CEO Michael Henson and two members of the orchestra’s board of directors on the grounds that they have poorly led the orchestra.
In a letter sent to members of the Board of the Minnesota Orchestral Association released late this afternoon, the lawmakers accused Henson, Board Chair Jon Campbell, and Past Board Chair Richard Davis of financial mismanagement.
The letter comes just hours before the MOA board is due to gather for its annual meeting.
Citing studies by two groups of orchestra supporters, Save Our Symphony Mn and Orchestrate Excellence, the lawmakers — among them Sen. John Marty, Rep. Phyllis Kahn, and Rep. Alice Hausman — call Henson’s fiscal leadership a disaster. The legislators also said that orchestra officials “manipulated financial results in a deliberate deception of the public, first to gain public funding for Orchestra Hall and then to justify locking out the musicians for well over a year.”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.