Were the purveyors of this machine trying to promote live music when they sold their technology to Broadway producers who were attempting to use it to replace all live Broadway orchestras? Their eagerness to sell out all the talented performers on Broadway, not to mention the audiences, belies their "virtuous" claims. That was the beginning. Looking ahead, if in the end producers were allowed to replace all live orchestras with the virtual orchestra machine, to cut costs, increase profits, or both, would they refuse? Would the virtual orchestra machine makers take the moral high ground and refuse to provide them with the weapon? The answer, of course, is no. They have already shown us that they would point that weapon directly at us. And therein lies the driving force behind this machine -- money and greed.

The day we stop fighting what amounts to attempted murder of live music, is the day we might as well shut our doors. How can we fail to use any and all means necessary to protect what no machine can ever replace: the uniqueness, subtlety, inspiration, devotion, passion, heart and soul expressed through live music?

We must persuade those producers and presenters who truly are struggling with limited resources to see their way past this seemingly easy fix. Replacing live musicians with a machine betrays the very art form they are trying to promote. We must work with these employers to help them find ways to continue to uphold the highest of artistic standards.