Minnesota Orchestra principal trumpet Manny Laureano says he hasn't heard from management about any repercussions.
Posted on 12/08/2017 9:38:37 AM PST by Sopater
Performing in a classier place than usual with a fleet of musicians behind him working on union time, Rufus Wainwright didn’t shoot his mouth off nearly as much as he usually does during his elegant and dramatic two-set performance Saturday night with the Minnesota Orchestra at Orchestra Hall.
In the one instance when he did go on a brief political tangent, though, the 44-year-old piano-pop tunesmith was met with protest by one of the orchestra’s veteran members, principal trumpeter Manny Laureano, who stormed off stage.
The awkward moment came midway through the second set, as Wainwright sat at the grand piano and introduced “Going to a Town,” one of many fan favorites performed on Saturday — essentially a greatest-hits show with the added orchestration.
“I’m so tired of you, America,” is famously/infamously the refrain in the Juno Award-nominated 2007 song, which also offers lines questioning Christians intolerant of same-sex marriage. (Wainwright, a Toronto native and New York resident, has been married to husband Jörn Weisbrodt for five years and they are raising a daughter together, Viva).
Wainwright actually kept his comments relatively brief and, by his standards, rather innocuous, saying he had refrained from political talk at shows in prior months but was “a little in shock over what happened last night,” a reference to the GOP tax plan that passed in Congress overnight.
“It’s a call to arms,” Wainwright said. “We have to fight for this country.”
Even before the short speech was finished, Laureano conspicuously rose up from his seat in the back row of the stage, swung his arm in an exasperated gesture, put his horn down and walked off toward a rear exit. Conductor Sarah Hicks and other members of the orchestra offered no visible reaction and carried on without him.
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Why do we allow so many Canadians to become citizens?
Let’s make sure this fellow gets a new gig if fired
Well done sir!
Rufus the doofuss Wainright
Why can’t they just do what they are paid to do. If he wants to give political commentary, he should go on a talk show. If I was in the audience, I would have booed.
Good for him!
There should be no repercussions because the moment that the performer started talking about politics instead of music it became an antagonistic work environment.
I really hate it when a performer in a non-political venue forces a trapped audience to listen to a political rant. It’s obnoxious and unprofessional. I have been subjected to a couple of these and they took me completely out of the performance.
I understand the trumpeter’s disgust, but that was the wrong time to express his disagreement with the entertainer.
The trumpeter should already have known. Wainright has been talking this way in public for many years. Manny may find it more difficult to get work on this level for a while.
Good for you, Manny. It was the best solo of your life.
Repercussions. Orchestra.
Clever.
he hasn’t heard from management about any repercussions.
Then it’s about time that someone did something.
Leadership from the first chair. Gotta live it!
Wrong is a moral judgment. For Manny it was the right time and he will face the consequences, e.g., loss of pay, lack of gigs, etc. I applaud him for his principled stance and courage.
We had a few people in our history who expressed their disagreement at the "wrong time" who stated, "we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor." Many of them lost their lives and fortunes, but they retained their honor.
Love it!
Yet in Minnesota, politics is everything, especially left wing politics. So he will be fired. He would be welcome in Texas.
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