The coda to Tanglewood’s season in Lenox has been filled with drama, and not only because the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer there ended – as it always does – with Beethoven’s 9th.
After tense negotiations, the BSO and its musicians have finalized a new three-year labor agreement, effective through August 2029, ending a standoff that had raised the possibility of a strike. The musicians ratified the contract by a 94% vote, according to the Boston Musicians’ Association.
But on Saturday, Aug. 22 the musicians’ union, which represents more than 90 players, voted to authorize a possible walkout that would have been the first in the orchestra’s 145 year history. Negotiations between players and leadership had hit an impasse less than 48 hours before their labor contract was set to expire. A two-day deadline extension was announced on Sunday afternoon.
Finally, on Tuesday, Aug. 25, the sides announced announced they attained alignment.
The new contract deal brings some brighter news to the embattled legacy arts organization. Relations between the two sides have been contentious since the BSO’s board of trustees abruptly announced in March they would not renew music director Andris Nelsons’ rolling contract. It expires at the end of Tanglewood’s 2027 season.
The trustees maintained that leadership and Nelsons — who’s been with the BSO for 13 years — were not aligned on a future artistic vision for the orchestra. The musicians said they felt shocked, blindsided and left out of a crucial decision that impacts their work directly.
The institutional fallout that followed has fueled controversy, headlines and a grassroots patron campaign supporting Nelsons and the musicians.
The players sought to secure equitable partnership with management in their new collection bargaining pact. In a statement Boston Musicians Association President David Rufino said, “This groundbreaking agreement offers unprecedented artistic collaboration through all aspects of the artistic process, which we believe will set a new standard for American Orchestras.” He also said that under the new contract musicians will play a role in selecting collaborators and shaping the repertoire.
The BSO Players Committee chair Todd Seeber said the agreement will keep the musicians competitive with other peer orchestras.
“It is also an innovative and transformative path forward for American orchestras, involving players as never before in the process of artistic decision making and planning,” he shared in a statement. Under the agreement, the orchestra members will have a critically enhanced role in offering input as the next music director is selected. “With both musicians and management working in earnest, we look forward to presenting the finest in classical music for our devoted audiences,” he said.
In a joint statement from the musicians, the union, the BSO trustees and management said the contract marks a more collaborative future for the orchestra. “It creates a precedent-setting partnership between musicians and management in artistic planning and centers excellence across all the work we do on our stages and in our communities. It also establishes a truly collaborative process in the search for our next music director.”
The statement added the BSO is one institution, “of musicians, staff, and boards, committed to working together in partnership to advance our artist mission, inspire audiences, and serve Boston, the Berkshires, and beyond.”
But the resolution news didn’t satisfy the BSO Patron Action behind the red flower campaign that’s been out in full force this summer in Berkshires. Organizers George Whiting and Quinn MacKenzie called the contract a first step, but for them nothing else has been resolved.
“Andris Nelsons has not been reinstated as Music Director,” they said in their statement. “CEO Chad Smith has still failed to provide any transparency around his future vision for the BSO, while stonewalling the dialogue that is essential to rebuilding trust with musicians, donors, patrons, and subscribers.”
Whiting and MacKenzie noted it’s been nearly 200 days since Smith and board chair Barbara Hostetter terminated Nelsons’ contract and they shared a warning. “The BSO Patron Action Network is not going away. We will continue to represent the thousands of audience voices that have been ignored by BSO management. We will continue to fight for the music and musicians with the Red Flower Campaign, and stand with Andris Nelsons as he continues to lead this world-class orchestra as Music Director in the fall. The battle for the soul of the BSO has only just begun.”
The new labor contract’s ratification comes less than a month before the BSO’s 2026/27 season. It opens in Boston on Sept. 17 with Nelsons conducting the orchestra and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
