In Thursday’s (3/9) Star Tribune (Minneapolis), Graydon Royce writes, “For the first time in the Minnesota Orchestra’s 110-year history, an entire season will pass with no music. The orchestra’s management on Wednesday canceled the remaining two weeks of the 2012-13 season because of the ongoing labor dispute with musicians. Given the absence of any movement in contract talks, the cancellation was widely anticipated. Still, it is extremely rare for a symphony orchestra to lose an entire year. It happened in Oklahoma in 1988 (where the Oklahoma Symphony was disbanded and the Oklahoma Philharmonic took its place) and in Louisville in 2011-12. … At the same time as it announced the cancellations, the Minnesota Orchestra proposed a three-weekend summer season, including Osmo Vänskä’s conducting music of Sibelius and Dvorák—a program that had been scheduled to conclude the classical season in late May. The summer dates would be canceled if there is no contract settlement. … The board also proposed three dates—May 20, 21 and 22—for negotiations with the musicians, under the wing of a federal mediator. Talks were held in federal mediation in the fall before the breakdown. Since then, there has been one short meeting on Jan. 2. Musicians said in a statement that they would respond to the invitation in the next couple of days.”
Posted May 9, 2013
