SPCO Principal Second Violinist Kyu-Young Kim won a position with the New York Philharmonic in their most recent audition held on Saturday February 16. The SPCO musicians have been locked out by their management since October 21.
“While I am thrilled at this opportunity to play with one of the world’s great orchestras,” said Kim, “I am saddened to be leaving the SPCO under these circumstances. In the space of four months, the lockouts of both orchestras have changed the Twin Cities from a destination metropolis for musicians to a place that many of us are actively trying to leave. ”
Kim and his wife Pitnarry Shin, a cellist who won a job with the Minnesota Orchestra in April 2012, moved to the Twin Cities in the fall of 2011. “The last thing we wanted to do was displace our family again so soon after moving here, but this is the reality of the lockouts,” said Kim. “Our friends and colleagues throughout the music world are shocked at what’s going on here. It really feels like the managements of both orchestras are just ripping the heart out of the cultural life of this great community.”
Kim was also very actively involved with the negotiations at the SPCO. Said Carole Mason Smith, chair of the Musicians Negotiations Committee, “It’s a great loss for the SPCO. We’ve said repeatedly to management that we will not be able to recruit or retain the talent that this orchestra needs to remain world class, and this is just a textbook example of that.”
The Musicians of the SPCO have been locked out for 122 days. Their contract expired September 30, 2012. Management imposed the lockout on October 21, 2012 following three weeks where the Musicians continued to “play and talk.”
