Will the Minnesota Orchestra Continue to Shed Stars in Wake of Labor Dispute?

Ruth McCambridge

March 20, 2014

March 18, 2014; Classicalite

As readers know, NPQ covered the lockout and subsequent resolution of the musicians with the Minnesota Orchestra fairly extensively, but tremors have continued around the orchestra concerning Osmo Vänskä, the orchestra’s popular conductor and artistic director who resigned in frustration during the extended lockout, making it clear that CEO Michael Henson needed to leave before a real end could be called to the dispute and healing could begin. Audiences have been loudly calling for Vänskä’s return.

Now, Burt Hara, the orchestra’s principal clarinetist for 26 years, has announced his resignation in a letter to his colleagues. He wrote, “I am resigning now because I do not believe the current leadership has the vision to restore the Orchestra to its place among the great orchestras of the world.”

There are three other musicians currently on leave, with no indication whether or when they will return: Mike Gast, principal horn; Tom Turner, principal viola; and Peter McGuire, violin.—Ruth McCambridge

About the author

Ruth McCambridge

Ruth is Editor Emerita of the Nonprofit Quarterly. Her background includes forty-five years of experience in nonprofits, primarily in organizations that mix grassroots community work with policy change. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Ruth spent a decade at the Boston Foundation, developing and implementing capacity building programs and advocating for grantmaking attention to constituent involvement.

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