University of Virginia Library

Flack Cancellation

Midwinters Concert Called Off

By Steve Johnson
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Due to the contractual cancellation of
Roberta Flack, the Midwinters Weekend
Concert has been cancelled. Thomas L.
Sansonetti, president of PK German,
stated yesterday that, because of Miss
Flack's refusal and the lack of time, his
organization could not afford to put on
the concert.

The concert, which had been
scheduled to present Miles Davis along
with Miss Flack, was to coincide with the
end of Black Culture Week here at the
University. John Thomas, president of the
Black Students for Freedom had agreed to
assume any loss incurred after the presentation
of the $15,000 show since both performers
were blacks.

"Now we don't have the performers, the
money, or the time to schedule another
concert," said Mr. Sansonetti.

He added, "Since Miss Flack's cancellation a
week ago, I've had 20 rejections from other
groups who either had previous engagements or
no desire to make the trip to Charlottesville
when they could easily find booking in the big
cities like New York and Miami."

PK German, which books groups for
Openings, Midwinters, and Easters, had signed
James Taylor who cancelled 10 days ago in
order to play cities in Massachusetts. "We were,
of course, disappointed, but we were at the
musician's mercy in this case since the legally
withdrew his contract before the designated
effective date."

James Taylor had agreed to play 65 minutes
and supply two warm-up groups for a fee of
$10,000. Both Roberta Flack and Miles Davis
were prepared to perform for a total of
$11,000. "At this late date, we could not
afford to assume the loss that would be
incurred by the performance of two lesser
groups. There's no time to prepare publicity,"
said Mr. Sansonetti. "We started booking for
Midwinters last November 26."

"People wonder why we don't schedule
Chicago or Joe Cocker like UNC and other
schools have in the past," stated Mr. Sansonetti.
"What they fail to realize is that our concerts
are not funded by comprehensive fees paid by
each student as they are at other schools. If PK
German had $30,000 to offer, we could assure
top-notch performances, but we don't have
those funds allotted to us."

This is not the first time that big weekends
have been plagued by cancelled performances.
Christmas parties Weekend experienced the
same difficulty.