‘More music’: The Minnesota Opera Orchestra puts on a benefit concert amid uncertain times

“The Many Deaths of Laila Starr,” an opera about the goddess of death coming down to Earth, was set to premiere to the world on Halloween. Every member of the production — from performers to crew and orchestra members — had dedicated themselves to preparing for the show for the past three years. But opening night would not go as planned. Rather than a full-cast performance in the Ordway Music Theater, the orchestra sat alone in Ted Mann Concert Hall on the University of Minnesota’s West Bank, performing a benefit concert instead. On Oct. 26, five days before the opera would premiere, the Minnesota Opera announced they were postponing “The Many Deaths of Laila Starr”. The Minnesota Opera Orchestra musicians, members of the Twin Cities Musicians Union, have been negotiating with Minnesota Opera management since May, seeking an increase in salary. Their pay, the orchestra wrote in an announcement, has been a flat rate for four years, and the proposal for the next four years showed no incr