After locking in its promising new music director over the summer, the Minnesota Orchestra will start its new season Friday with a new four-year musicians union contract that gives its players 2.5% to 3% annual pay increases. "The musicians are very pleased with this agreement that allows the Minnesota Orchestra to continue serving the community at the highest artistic level," Timothy Zavadil, musicians' negotiating committee chair and a clarinetist/bass clarinetist, said in a statement. The new contract comes eight years after the orchestra ended a headline-making 15-month lockout over contract disputes with musicians. "These were collegial and productive negotiations," Minnesota Orchestra Board Chair Joseph T. Green said in a statement. Only the 11th music director in Minnesota Orchestra's 120-year history, the 52-year-old maestro replaces the popular and formidable Osmo Vänskä, who served in the role for 19 years.

Source: The Times September 23, 2022 07:15 UTC