The Wagner Society of New York has donated $5,000 to the Met Orchestra Musicians Fund.

The contribution aims to help more than 150 musicians who have not received their salary since April 2020, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The donation was made in the memory of Katherine Gill, a New Yorker who was a longtime WSNY vice president and the creator of the Anton Seidl Award for those who have made significant contributions to the appreciation and interpretation of Wagner’s work in the United States.

The Met Orchestra musicians are currently presenting a major series of online concerts with a number of opera stars including Angela Gheorghiu, Isabel Leonard, and Eric Owens, among others. The musicians’ union Local 802 remains locked in contentious negotiations with the Metropolitan Opera, and its board, over paying the musicians in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis.

The Met Orchestra Musicians Fund also benefits music librarians, associate musicians, and behind-the-scenes music staff of the Met.