The ongoing labor crisis in Minneapolis keeps deepening and becoming more of a complete stalemate by the day. Last week, the administration announced further cancelations of concerts, through June 2, which means the entire season is lost. The musicians were locked out by management on Oct. 1, after the players had rejected a proposal for a 32 percent cut in base pay and declined to offer a counterproposal.
Serious orchestra labor crises have been resolved elsewhere — San Francisco Symphony has just reached a new contract, the Detroit Symphony players’ strike of 2010 and the Philadelphia Orchestra bankruptcy filing of 2011 are now mostly bad memories, although problems remain. The Minnesota Orchestra is in danger of falling apart: players have dispersed to jobs or freelance gigs elsewhere, principals — even concertmaster Erin Keefe — are considering offers from elsewhere.
Osmo Vänskä, who has taken the orchestra to new levels of excellence in the decade since he became music director, is now saying that he may be forced to resign his position.