INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED VIOLINST PINCHAS ZUKERMAN TO CONDUCT BENEFIT CONCERT FOR MUSICIANS OF THE SAINT PAUL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

St Paul, Minnesota November 9, 2012 - Pinchas Zukerman, internationally acclaimed violin soloist and conductor, returns to the Twin Cities for the first time in over a decade to lead the Musicians of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in an all Mozart program at Wayzata Community Church on December 2, 2012 at 3 pm. The event will be a fundraising concert for the Musicians of the SPCO who have been locked out without salary and benefits until December 31.

"We are thrilled that Pinky reached out to us and offered to help in whatever way that he could," said Lynn Erickson, Musician spokesperson. "We are so excited to have a chance to make music with this fantastic artist again after all these years, playing the music that we love for our many supporters."

Information about purchasing tickets for this event will soon be posted at http://musiciansspco.org/ . Tickets will be available for purchase online and at the door.

Wayzata Community Church is located 125 Boulevard East, Wayzata, MN 55391

Negotiations Update

The SPCO Musicians and Management met on Thursday, November 8 for negotiations. No progress was made, and no further dates have been set. Management’s demand to cut $1.5 million from the musicians’ portion of the budget, which represents a 33% cut, has not changed in eleven months.

Management continues to insist that in order to meet this financial goal, they must initially reduce the number of musicians in the orchestra from 34 to 28. Musicians cited the current size of the orchestra at 28 due to vacancies and leaves, and offered to work with that smaller orchestra for the term of a new agreement; Management refused, saying that the reductions need to be permanent. Management also maintains that they want the right to permanently change the size and instrumentation of the orchestra at any time in the future.

SPCO Musicians are actively seeking and accepting work elsewhere. “We are concerned that Management’s refusal to negotiate any of these terms is threatening the very future of the organization,” said Erickson.