Minnesota Orchestra Raises $650,000 and Keeps Playing

By: Dec. 10, 2013
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A community meeting was held in Minneapolis with more than 300 people in attendance. The musicians revealed that they have raised $650,000 and vow to play on in hopes of resolving their lockout.
Principal cellist Tony Ross, said, "We are doing this because we are a family and you, our audience, are part of our family."

There are two scheduled concerts this weekend in addition to Mozart's "Requiem" on Jan. 10-11 at Ted Mann Concert Hall at the U.

The musicians said that they have earned $201,289 from concerts since Oct. 1, 2012.

Read the full article here.

The Minnesota Orchestra musicians also released the following letter in its report about the state of their orchestra. It reads, in part:
As we take this opportunity to look back over the past year, the Musicians are grateful to see that much good hasemerged from the struggle of our lives, thanks to the power of music and the strength of our community's support.Little did we know that our goal of preserving a world-class orchestra for Minnesota would mean that it would be-come necessary to ful?ll that mission as the Musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra. While a fair resolution with the Minnesota Orchestral Association and a return to our work playing concerts at Orchestra Hall remains our primarygoal, we are happy to report on the concerts, educational programs, and outreach e?orts that we have o?ered to serveour communities.None of this would have been possible without the help of many individuals and organizations. We thank our devotedvolunteers for their generosity and enthusiasm as well as everyone at the ?win Cities Musicians Union and WorkingPartnerships for their deep support of the Musicians. We are grateful to Save Our Symphony Minnesota, OrchestrateExcellence, and the Young Musicians of Minnesota for their extraordinary e?orts toward the preservation of a greatorchestra for Minnesota.Te Musicians could not have produced our concerts and events without the expertise, energy, and labor of our ded-icated Stagehands and Engineers. We are profoundly grateful for their hard work and professionalism, their pride ingreat music, and their service to our community of arts lovers. Without our home in Orchestra Hall, we have been warmly welcomed for rehearsals and meetings by a number of great institutions that we are indebted to for allowingus to continue making music together.Our gratitude goes to the many bloggers and journalists who have shed light and understanding on a complex situ-ation. We thank our devoted audience and followers, community leaders, and all those who believe in the power ofgreat music and stand together with us in support of a world-class orchestra for Minnesota. While we hope for and work toward the day when we can begin the process of rebuilding the Minnesota Orchestra, our promise to you is that we will keep the music alive.


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