The latest statement, released last night, did not characterize the status of the talks, saying simply that performances would continue and that musicians and management had agreed to extend a media blackout. Mikva continues to mediate the negotiations.
The CSO has posted multi-million-dollar deficits for three of the last four years, and may be asking musicians to accept a pay freeze or cut. According to an article published in the Chicago Tribune last week, which cited unnamed sources, there is a philosophical divide between players and administration on "the role and function of the Chicago Symphony as an institution and how the orchestra should go about reducing its deficit."
The CSO is one of several major orchestras at which contracts expired this fall. The New York Philharmonic and the Cincinnati Symphony have reached agreements with their musicians; contract extensions expired on October 31 at the Philadelphia Orchestra and Cleveland Orchestra, but both groups are continuing to perform while talks continue.