Minnesota Orchestra lockout ends

One of the longest work stoppages in recent classical-music history ends as musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra ratify a new three-year contract with an initial 15 percent wage cut (partially made back in later years) and other concessions.

The Minnesota Orchestral Association, the orchestra’s parent entity, locked out the musicians in October 2012 after they refused to accept a contract with even deeper cuts to their income.

The New York Times’ Michael Cooper reports:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/us/minnesota-orchestra-contract-ends-long-lockout.html?hp

ADDENDUM: Cooper’s follow-up report for the Times includes the tidbit that Ellen Dinwiddie Smith, one of the orchestra’s French horn players, wife of former Richmond Symphony Music Director Mark Russell Smith, spent some of her lockout time playing with the Cleveland Orchestra, and a month working as a dive instructor in Mexico:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/16/arts/music/lockout-over-minnesota-orchestra-faces-challenges-as-it-salvages-its-season.html?ref=arts