Procol Harum's Danish Orchestral Collaborators

And the band didn't play on – chamber orchestra known for Procol cooperation disbands after 75 years

After 75 years of excellent musicianship, Denmark´s Radio has decided to axe the Danish National Chamber Orchestra – otherwise known as the Danish National Concert Orchestra. The orchestra collaborated with Procol Harum at Ledreborg 2006 and later performances in Denmark until 2013. The news is still kept a secret to a non-Danish-speaking audience – or so it seems – as the English version of the orchestra webpage has not been updated with this piece of disturbing news. (http://www.dr.dk/Koncerthuset/kor-og-orkestre/dr-underholdningsorkestret/english/frontpage.htm.) The DNCO disbands as per 1 January 2015.

Visiting the webpage, the viewer might see the orchestra performing a movement of Symphony No. 45 by Joseph Haydn – the so-called “Farewell” symphony. Farewell indeed.

---

A few quotations:

Copenhagen Post, 9 September 2014:

Up to 200 jobs cut at DR
General cost-cutting project will also include the shortening of several TV series
by Philip Tees

The public broadcaster DR has announced it will cut between 170 and 200 jobs as part of a savings initiative. Maria Rørbye Rønn, DR’s executive director, announced the plans to staff on Monday morning.
According to DR Nyheder, the cuts will come in the form of voluntary retirements, discontinuing short-term contracts and redundancies.
 

No free lunch

The move comes following the government's media plan that was agreed upon in June. A budget plan was passed last week by DR’s board of directors to reduce the organisation's expenses by 161 million kroner per year.
Other proposed cost-cutting measures include an end to paid lunch breaks from mid-2017, shorter seasons for a number of television series and the cancellation of the entertainment orchestra.
Dr.dk, 9 September 2014: Cutbacks may cost 200 DR jobs (http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Andre_sprog/English/2014/09/09/09135425.htm)
 
09 September 2014 English
At a meeting on Monday, all employees of the Danish broadcasting corporation Danmarks Radio (DR) were informed of autumn cutbacks and efficiency plans by Director General, Maria Rørbye Rønn.
While it had been hoped to minimise the number of redundancies and avoid cutting programmes, DR does intend to cut between 170 and 200 jobs. 
Shorter seasons and orchestra disbanded

As a result of the savings plans, viewers will experience shorter seasons for a number of DR1’s programmes.

In addition, the hourly news broadcasts shown during the day on DR2 will be dropped and replaced by a reorganisation of the morning and daytime shows DR2 Morgen and DR2 Dagen into straightforward news channels.

On a more positive note, DR’s users can look forward to a range of new initiatives in the coming year.

DR2 will also feature new evening programmes with journalistic content from Monday to Wednesday, and the Broadcasting Corporation will also strengthen its programming for children and young people, Danish programmes on DR3 and the development of educational games for children on the internet. The Corporation will also increase its programming for the hard of hearing and visually impaired.

On an opposite note, the Danish National Chamber Orchestra is to be disbanded from 1 January 2015.
 
Thanks, Niels-Erik