But orchestra officials denied that they had made any threat, and said at a board meeting yesterday that the ensemble's subscription renewal drive would begin on February 8 as planned.

Cellist John Holland, the chair of the musicians' negotiating committee, told the Post and Courier that board president Ted Halkyard had imposed the deadline in order to prevent a strike. "We have never threatened to strike and so I don't know why he is worried," Holland said.

Halkyard said that no such deadline existed.

The musicians' last contract, signed in 2003, included an 18 percent pay cut.