The Central City Opera remains engaged in negotiations with the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) in good faith toward a new collective bargaining agreement.

In a statement, the company said that the “negotiations have been ongoing for the last five months. CCO maintains professional decorum and respect for the collective bargaining process in accordance with the National Labor Relations Act. Within the last 10 months, CCO has already reached ongoing agreements in good faith with two other unions, and CCO’s Board of Directors affirms its confidence in administrative and artistic leadership as the team prepares for the 2023 Summer Festival while continuing to negotiate in good faith with AGMA.”

The company added, “As the Summer Festival approaches, CCO leadership is in constant communication with all creative staff, including performing artists, musical leadership, operations teams, and stage directors to advance the season as planned. The team is clearly excited about the season and the incredible caliber of talent Central City Opera’s artists will bring to the stage. As a company that has helped set the blueprint for nurturing young artists throughout its 90-year history, Central City Opera remains deeply committed to developing young artists and will do everything in its power to champion this class of individuals.”

Over the past months, AGMA claims publicly that CCO owes money to artists using the phrase “Pay Your Artists.” However, according to CCO, there are no legal or contractual grounds for those claims regarding payments owed.

AGMA also requested that all CCO artists become AGMA members and pay AGMA’s initiation fee and dues, effectively denying CCO artists the right to choose whether or not to join AGMA.

According to CCO, it has acted in full support of advancing DEI initiatives and celebrates several contractual provisions that have been achieved around these complex issues in partnership with AGMA.