In Tuesday’s (1/15) Star-Tribune (Minneapolis), Graydon Royce writes, “The Minnesota Orchestra has canceled one more weekend of concerts, Feb. 14-15, and pushed another event into the 2013-14 season. Management and union musicians have been unable to reach agreement on a collective bargaining agreement, and the orchestra has not performed since last summer. Musicians were locked out Oct. 1 after rejecting a contract proposal. If there is a silver lining in Monday’s announcement, it is that the cancellations did not extend through the entire month of February. Bargainers for both sides met on Jan. 2 and have agreed to attempt a ‘fresh start’ in the negotiations. It is still too early to know whether these new talks will result in an agreement, but the orchestra has let stand for now performances of Beethoven’s Eroica (No. 3) Symphony scheduled for Feb. 27-28 and March 1-2. Music director Osmo Vänskä is scheduled to conduct that program, which includes pianist Jonathan Biss performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 13. … In the meantime, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and orchestra patron Judy Dayton are presenting a concert Feb. 1 to celebrate the orchestra’s nomination for a Grammy award. Vänskä will conduct the musicians in Sibelius Symphonies No. 2 and 5.”
Posted January 15, 2013
