Utah Symphony musicians, in what officials are calling an "unprecedented" agreement, will become this year's largest donor to the state's largest arts organization, said Pat Richards, chair of the Utah Symphony | Utah Opera board of trustees.

The union musicians, who made the proposal in the face of the nation's continuing economic downturn, will donate $1.3 million in salary and benefits to their employer, forgoing a 5 percent salary increase that was due to them this fall, and also giving up four weeks' salary and continuing a cut of 50 percent in matching pension contributions. Local 104 of the American Federation of Musicians also agreed to leave four positions vacant in the orchestra -- one bass, one viola, one cello and one violin.

The average salary and benefit cut for the musicians for this season, counting the 5 percent raise that was contractually mandated, is 19 percent, said Melia Tourangeau, president and CEO of US | UO. "I was really pleased they were willing to be partners," Tourangeau said.

"We see this as a donation, not a concession," said David Gray Porter, violinist. "We want to take part in investing in the future. This is way of moving ahead."

Violinist Lynnette Stewart said the donation was "needed." "These decisions had to be made," she said, while refusing, along with Porter, to speculate about what might have happened if a deal hadn't been struck.

In return for the musicians' donation, the US | UO board

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has agreed to raise an additional $1 million. If the board fails to match the donation, US | UO will have to pay the musicians what they were owed under the original contract, Porter said.

The additional funds the board has pledged to raise are "achievable if the community wants it to be achievable," Tourangeau said. Richards is hopeful, saying donors have been inspired by the recent hiring of new music director Thierry Fischer as well as the musicians' history-making willingness to band together with management.

"I think it is remarkable and absolutely fantastic that the entire organization is prepared to commit this much in order to preserve this institution for the people of Utah," Fischer said in a statement.

The agreement between the epochally fractious sides comes after another donation from the musicians in the middle of the 2008-09 season. The musicians previously accepted a cut in salary and benefits that included donating two weeks of salary and one week of floating vacations. All told, that donation was worth $445,000, as the organization cut its annual budget from $19 million to $17 million. "We were hoping that would be sufficient," Stewart said.

It was not.

As part of the earlier cuts, Tourangeau's salary was cut 10 percent, while a handful of administrative jobs were cut, and staffers received pay cuts and lost matching pension contributions.

The latest donation from the professional musicians will require personal sacrifices. Porter said he will have to spend more time at his second job to make ends meet. Making mortgage payments might be more challenging for some of her colleagues, Stewart said. But both musicians were adamant that the players weren't seeking sympathy.

"Inspiring" is how Richards labeled the musicians' latest financial sacrifices. Richards has served on the board of either the Utah Opera or the merged organization since 1994, and said she has never seen such teamwork between the musicians and administrators.

"We hope the community will invest as well," Porter said.

dburger@sltrib.com