The Musicians of the Philly POPS, recently shared an open letter, that claims they "cannot rely" on Encore Series, Inc. (ESI), the company that manages the Philly POPS.
"ESI owes the patrons and musicians a clear path forward. Pivoting to focus primarily on education is not the legacy of The Philly POPS created by Peter Nero," the letter reads. "Patrons have pre-purchased tickets and need to know when and where those concerts will be performed. The musicians deserve the same information. Repeatedly ‘postponing’ concerts, so that refunds to patrons and musician payments are avoided, is obviously an unacceptable practice."
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WATCH HEREThe orchestra recently named Rollo Dilworth as the new chair of the Philly POPS board of directors and appointed Karen Corbin as president and CEO of the POPS. The moves came after the orchestra has had to postpone shows indefinitely after a much touted move to the Met Philadelphia.
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SIGN UP The orchestra planned the move after being forced out its longtime home at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts after missing payments to rent the venue late last year.
But, that's not the only debts the musicians say ESI has been short on.
The Musicians of the Philly POPS claim the Kimmel Center is owed $1 million by ESI for "rent and labor costs" and the musicians themselves say they are owed more than $75,000 in back-pay from the Holiday POPS.
The group also accused ESI of keeping money that was taken from musicians' paychecks for union protections and said it failed to pay the musicians' pensions to the tune of over $35,000.
"The Musicians of the Philly POPS are disappointed, but not surprised, by the recent announcements made by ESI," the letter reads. "In order to raise education funds, ESI continues to push the POPS into primarily a model that teaches music. Unfortunately, this appears to be at the on-going expense of the performances, tradition, and legacy that we have always known as 'the Philly POPS.'"
Calls to the Philly POPS seeking comment on Saturday were not immediately returned.
