SPCO and musicians ratify a three-year contract

The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and its musicians have ratified a new collective bargaining agreement.

Under the deal announced Tuesday, the musicians will receive an annual minimum salary increase of 3.5% over the next three years, the SPCO said in a written statement.

“This agreement represents a meaningful increase in compensation for our musicians, who are so deserving, while also being financially responsible and sustainable,” SPCO Managing Director and President Jon Limbacher said. “We can now move forward, as the new season begins, with a clear focus on providing wonderful concerts, delivering on our mission to the community, and working to regain our financial health.”

Orchestra members, represented by the American Federation of Musicians Local 30-73, each received a ratification bonus of $12,500. The agreement also includes raises in fees for musicians who perform solos and in stipends for those who serve on the SPCO’s artistic vision committee.

“Combined, these increases result in a 6.2% increase in total guaranteed compensation over the next three years,” the SPCO said in a statement.

However, the musicians said in a statement that the contract has “a nominal increase” in base salary, an average of 1.2% annually over three years. And they reiterated their concerns about the orchestra’s management.

“While we are relieved to have concluded a yearlong negotiation without a work stoppage, we continue to have grave concerns about the future of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra,” they said. “Combined with a base salary that remains far from competitive with other high-caliber orchestras in the country, the signing bonus benefits only current members and will do nothing to retain or attract talented players.”

In May, following the resignation of Kyu-Young Kim as artistic director, members of the musicians union announced a vote of no confidence in Limbacher, warning that “the community is at risk of losing the SPCO.”

Musicians said at the time that Limbacher had been cutting concerts and venues without consulting musicians.

That vote of no confidence stands, said Blois Olson, musicians’ spokesman on Wednesday. The musicians voted for this contract to avoid a work stoppage, Olson said. “Their goal was to have their compensation be put into their base salary, not in a signing bonus.”

The union’s contract expired in summer.

The agreement also includes an increase to the minimum guaranteed compensation from the Musician Appreciation Concert to $4,000 from the current $2,000. Attendees, donors and board members make donations to musicians via that fundraising concert. Earlier this year, a SPCO spokesperson said that the amount received by each musician has been greater than the guarantee each year, and in the 2022-23 season, they received $5,228.

“We are sincerely grateful for the monetary and moral support that we continue to receive from our audience members,” the musicians’ statement said.

SPCO Board Chair Deborah Palmer applauded the deal. “The board is very pleased that we have reached an agreement that we believe is good for the musicians, the organization and the community,” she said in the SPCO statement.