Following 11 hours of negotiations that ended early yesterday, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and its musicians are close to finalizing a new contract that would avoid a potential strike, reports the Detroit Free Press.

The musicians, who each earn at least $98,800 annually, refused an earlier proposal in which their first season would see three unpaid weeks with a $5,700 salary reduction and two unpaid weeks in the season thereafter with a $1,900 drop; the third season offered a small increase over the $98,000 with one unpaid week.

The latest proposal has a third season raise large enough to preserve DSO's standing among the top ten highest-paid U.S. orchestras; the musicians believe a compromise in their ranking would make it difficult to maintain reputation and caliber of playing.

“We’re still working on one final work rule that has financial implications, but we hope to have it resolved tomorrow,” the newspaper reported DSO spokesperson Jill Woodward as saying. No further details were given.

The DSO's new season opens September 13.

By Kevin Shihoten