Attorney Yitzhak Yunger has announced that the JSO can now pay the remaining NIS10.4m. of its debts and that he is therefore relinquishing his post.
By HELEN KAYE
Attorney Yitzhak Yunger, court appointed receiver for the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra-IBA, has joyously announced that the JSO can now pay the remaining NIS 10.4 million of its debts and that he is therefore relinquishing his post.
Four years ago, when Yunger took over from the court, he appointed Israel Festival head Yossi Talgan to help run the JSO, and Leon Botstein, then the new music director, agreed to work for free. Talgan put together a draconian rehabilitation plan that included a voluntary paycut for the musicians, many of whom are immigrants from the FSU.
The plan was working, audiences had returned excited by Botstein's innovative programming and then, back in July, the IBA announced that it was cutting its NIS 11.5 million in funding to the orchestra by 50%. Once again closure lurked, and once again vigorous lobbying, help from the US-based Friends of the JSO, and public outcry saved the orchestra.