MnOrch musicians accept invitation to meet with board

After months of asking it looks as though members of the Minnesota Orchestra musicians negotiating committee will meet with the Orchestra Board on April 28th.

The musicians announced the meeting today, a week after receiving an invitation from the board.

Management steadfastly refused such a meeting for several months, but recently had a change of heart in its current effort to remove possible obstructions to reaching a deal.

The news of the meeting comes one day after musicians reacted angrily to a management decision to go forward with an independent analysis of the orchestra's finances without the agreement of the musicians. Orchestra management said the analysis requested by the musicians was overly broad as it was going to examine artistic decisions and board performance.

However musicians argue that information is vital if they are going to make an informed counter-offer to a management contract proposal first put forward in April 2012. They say an analysis done by just one side cannot be considered independent.

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