The orchestra made the announcement about the latest cancellations on January 14, nearly a week before the concerts. Previous cancellations have come about three days before the affected event.

"Under the circumstances we thought it would be best to notify our patrons as early as possible about the cancellation of the concerts," orchestra president Randy Adams said in a statement. "With the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday on Monday, large attendance expected for the concerts, including many groups and out-of-town concertgoers, we wanted to make this decision well in advance.

The Perlman concert was to feature Mozart's Adagio in E major, Rondo in C major, Symphony No. 35 ("Haffner"), and Adagio and Fugue in C minor, as well as Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5.

The orchestra has also canceled a non-subscription concert at the St. Louis Cathedral scheduled for January 21, which was to feature the St. Louis Symphony Chorus led by its director, Amy Kaiser.

The musicians have not performed since their contract expired on January 2. Management calls the work stoppage a strike, noting that musicians have been invited to continue working under the terms of the previous contract. Musicians say they have been locked out, citing management's decision to bar them from attending scheduled auditions during the first week of the labor crisis.