Music: Assembly Line Symphony

A white-haired repair man played sec ond flute and a lathe operator blew the trumpet. A few stuffy music critics regard ed the whole thing as a foolhardy venture.

But 76 musicians of the Sperry Gyroscope Co.'s orchestra — which claims to be the only industrial symphony in the U.S. —dared last week to put on a black-tied concert at Manhattan's Carnegie Hall.

Sperry's symphony is no brash upstart.

Four years ago, Sperry executives started hiring experienced musicians who could also work on assembly lines. Thereafter job applicants were frequently asked first if they could play an oboe and second, if they could operate...

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