Recent donations include $1 million each from the William T. Kemper Foundation and the Harding Foundation.

"Once again I'm encouraged by the response from the St. Louis community, which has stepped forward to contribute to the special endowment goal to benefit our musicians' compensation," said Randy Adams, president and executive director of the SLSO. "The recent labor agreement with our musicians would not have been achieved without the donors' support, for which I am truly grateful. This is one more step toward bringing our endowment closer to that of other peer orchestras."

When musicians went on strike in January, SLSO management insisted the orchestra could not afford to give musicians a raise above the $73,900 minimum salary they had previously made. The contract signed in March, however, included a series of raises bringing the minimum salary to $76,000 in 2007-08.