“Minnesota Orchestra Music Director Osmo Vänskä is easing his deadline for a restart of rehearsals as part of the drive to end the orchestra’s lockout of musicians, and by extension, his threat to resign,” writes Euan Kerr on Monday (9/9) at the Minnesota Public Radio website. “In a letter in May, Vänskä set a Sept. 9 deadline for a start of rehearsals…. In a written statement presented to a Minnesota Orchestra Board meeting, Vänskä said rehearsals need to begin in the week of Sept. 30” for planned November concerts at Carnegie Hall. “Orchestra President and CEO Michael Henson says that, for logistical reasons, this means there needs to be an agreement with musicians by Sept. 15…. ‘That’s a conversation that we are trying to have in order to expedite this process as effectively as possible,’ Henson said…. Orchestra musicians, who have been locked out since Oct. 1, responded that if management had accepted mediator George Mitchell’s proposal for playing and talking at the same time, the musicians would be back at work the next week. ‘The mediator’s proposal would have secured the tenure of Maestro Vänskä as well as the Carnegie sessions, and so we urge management to reconsider and accept the mediators proposal,’ musicians’ spokesman Blois Olson said.”
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/09/09/arts/vanska-eases-deadline-in-orchestra-contract-talks
Posted September 10, 2013
Osmo Vänskä photo by Tom Wallace
