Editing Minnesota Orchestra (section)

===2012–2014 lockout===
On October 1, 2012, the Minnesota Orchestral Association (the orchestra's governing body) locked out the orchestra's musicians and canceled concerts through November 18 after failing to reach a new [[collective bargaining agreement]]. The MOA stated that spending on musician salaries and benefits was depleting the organization's endowment, and that labor costs needed to be reduced by $5 million per year. The musicians and their union took the position that the proposed cuts were so deep and draconian as to represent an existential threat to the future of the orchestra.

The entire 2012–13 concert season was canceled.<ref name="twincities_20130508">{{cite web | last = Raihala | first = Ross | title =  Minnesota Orchestra cancels rest of season, but hopes for summer concerts | work = TwinCities.com | date = 8 May 2013 | url = http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_23198745/minnesota-orchestra-cancels-rest-season }}</ref> During the lockout, the musicians periodically presented concerts on their own.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kerr|first=Euan|title=Emotions, economy collide for locked out Minnesota Orchestra musicians show|url=http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/12/14/arts/locked-out-minnesota-orchestra-musicians/|newspaper=MPR|date=December 14, 2012}}</ref> In December 2012, Vänskä sent the board of directors and the musicians a letter warning that the lockout was severely damaging the orchestra's reputation at home and abroad.<ref>{{cite news|last=Platt|first=Russell|title=Trouble in the Twin Cities|url=http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/12/trouble-in-the-twin-cities-minnesota-orchestra-and-saint-paul-chamber-orchestra-labor-disputes.html|newspaper=The New Yorker|date=December 4, 2012}}</ref> On April 30, 2013, Vänskä said he would resign if the lockout continued:

: I must make it clear that in the case [[Carnegie Hall]] chooses to cancel the Minnesota Orchestra's concerts this November, i.e. if they lose confidence in our ability to perform … then I will be forced to resign.<ref name="startribune_20130503">{{cite web | last = Royce | first = Graydon | title = Vänskä threatens to resign if Minnesota Orchestra lockout isn't settled | work = Star Tribune | date = 3 May 2013 | url = http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/205850451.html }}</ref>

After the orchestra management canceled the concerts in question, Vänskä resigned as music director on October 1, 2013.<ref>{{cite news | author=Euan Kerr | title=Conductor Vanska resigns from Minnesota Orchestra | url=http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/10/01/arts/osmo-vanska-resigns-minnesota-orchestra | work=Minnesota Public Radio | date=2013-10-01 | access-date=2017-07-12}}</ref> On October 4 and 5, he conducted three final concerts with the locked-out orchestra at the University of Minnesota's Ted Mann Concert Hall, with [[Emanuel Ax]] as guest pianist. As an encore, Vänskä conducted Sibelius's ''Valse Triste'' and requested that the audience withhold its applause afterward.<ref>{{cite web | last = Oestreich | first = James R. | title = Departing Director Conducts Locked-Out Minnesota Orchestra| work = The New York Times | date= 5 October 2013 | url = http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/05/departing-director-conducts-locked-out-minnesota-orchestra}}</ref>