Overview
- The musicians voted Tuesday to ratify a three-year contract that runs through Aug. 26, 2029, with 94 percent approving and a strike narrowly avoided.
- The economic package guarantees 4 percent annual raises (4.5 percent in year three), a base salary that reaches $230,000 by year three, and a boosted pension guaranteed at $94,000.
- The contract expands the music director search committee to 12 members with six player seats and requires any candidate sent to the board to win a committee majority plus a two-thirds supermajority of players’ votes, while the board keeps final hiring authority for qualified candidates.
- Parties framed the deal as a step toward repairing trust after the board’s March decision not to renew Andris Nelsons, but Nelsons has not been reinstated and demands for greater transparency and accountability remain unresolved.
- The agreement also creates a monthly Artistic Liaison Committee to collect musician recommendations for guest artists and conductors, and orchestras nationwide will likely watch how implementation of these new governance provisions affects artistic planning.