With the Utah Symph-ony|Utah Opera experiencing financial difficulties due to the recession, the musicians of the Utah Symphony have stepped up to meet the problem head on.

In March, they accepted a cut in salary and benefits for the 2008-09 season that totaled nearly $500,000 and included, in part, giving up two weeks' worth of pay and returning half of their pension contribution.

And last week, the musicians accepted an agreement in pay and benefit reductions for the current season that goes far beyond what they did earlier in the year

After lengthy discussions, the musicians agreed to donate $1.3 million in salary and benefits. That breaks down to giving up four weeks of salary, forgoing a 5 percent pay raise and reducing pension contributions by 50 percent.

"This was the same kind of discussion we had last March," said spokeswoman Lynnette Stewart, a violinist with the Utah Symphony who has been with the orchestra for the past 40 years. "We were hoping not to have to have this discussion again, but we realized that we need to do something to get us through this."

USUO president and CEO Melia Tourangeau is "thrilled" with the agreement. "After what they did for us last (season), the expectations were greater. They came to the table with this, which is a lot more than what many of our peers are doing. It shows their commitment."

What makes this agreement different is the fact that the musicians call their pay and benefit cuts a donation rather than a concession. It was crafted this way so that the USUO board of trustees are committed to match the musicians' $1.3 million donation.

"It was an innovative thing to do," Stewart said. "We didn't want to take the full brunt of the deficit, but we felt we should share the burden. That"s why we decided to do it this way."

That means that if the board doesn't come up with the matching amount in contributions by Aug. 31, then the musicians will get back everything they've given up under this agreement. "It's a huge incentive for us to come up with that money," Tourangeau said.

She said that management has several avenues open to raise the money. "We're going to be in conversation with the major funders in our community. We're looking to recruit new donors. And we're going to start a telephone campaign."

This approach to helping solve the financial woes of a performing arts organization is rather unique, according to both Stewart and Tourangeau.

"Baltimore did a similar deal last year with a matching incentive," Tourangeau said. "But (their musicians) called it a concession and not a donation. And in our case, the musicians came to us."