In Thursday’s (4/11) Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minnesota), Frederick Melo writes, “Calling the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra ‘the most important cultural institution that we have in the city of St. Paul,’ St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman shared congratulatory words with SPCO President Dobson West at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. ‘We have ended, I believe, the lockout for the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra,’ Coleman told a small crowd of reporters Wednesday, April 10. No one from the orchestra musicians’ negotiating committee attended the news conference. The mayor’s office said a spokeswoman for the musicians was ill. … Late Tuesday, musicians and management announced an agreement that will be taken to the musicians union for a vote. Concerts will resume while details are ironed out. … The performers have been without a contract since Sept. 30, when their 2007-2012 agreement expired. Management of the 54-year-old orchestra locked the musicians out Oct. 21. Performances had been canceled through April 21. … West said that under the current proposal, the base salary for orchestra musicians would drop from $73,000 to $60,000, though some musicians receive overscale pay. … If approved, the contract would run through June 2016.”
Posted April 11, 2013
