“Acting quickly after a historic trip to Cuba, the Minnesota Orchestra has secured its major assets through at least 2019,” writes Graydon Royce in Tuesday’s (5/19) Star Tribune (Minneapolis). “The orchestra announced Tuesday that it extended the contract of music director Osmo Vänskä to August 2019, and reached a new deal with musicians that will run until mid-2020. The musicians’ deal was struck 21 months ahead of the current contract’s expiration date. Musicians and management have been meeting quietly since February. The new contract does not change any of the current terms of a deal that cut musician salaries by 15 percent in 2014—with small increases in subsequent years…. It will increase weekly minimum salaries from $1,967 in 2016-17 to $2,133 by the end of the contract in mid 2020, an increase of 8.4 percent. Management also agreed to raise the number of full-time musicians to 88 in the final year of the contract, from a complement of 84 in 2016-17…. ‘This agreement represents a real vote of confidence in the future direction of this orchestra,’ said clarinetist Tim Zavadil, chair of the musicians’ negotiating team. The deal also modifies work rules to give greater flexibility in scheduling, touring and educational outreach.”
Posted May 20, 2015
