New deal sees the end of a bitter 15-month lockout and a return to work at reduced salaries.

The Board of Directors and musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra have finally approved a contract that will see them return to the concert platform after a 15-month lockout – the longest work stoppage of a symphony orchestra in US history.

The orchestra have secured a three year contract that will see them resume business as of February 1, 2014. This new contract will include a 15 percent reduction to base and over-scale salaries from 2012, bringing the minimum base salary down to $96,824. It is expected that small increases will be made over the following two years – $99,008 in the second and $102,284 in the third.

Provisions have been made for the board to hire 18 extra musicians at full pay. However the board is only obliged to hire seven other musicians over the contracted three years.  It is still unclear if former music director Osmo Vänskä will return to his position after the two sides were unable to reach an agreement.

Initial dealings in April 2012, which would have seen salaries reduced by up to 40 percent, led to a rejected...