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The Arizona Opera Orchestra narrowly averted a strike that could have disrupted this weekend’s run of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.”

The orchestra and opera management struck a tentative deal late Monday afternoon that addresses one of the musicians’ biggest concerns: job security.

The musicians have been lobbying for a contract that guarantees their employment beyond the three-year window of the deal.

Management met them halfway, guaranteeing the musicians a three-year contract with a two-year right of refusal.

“We’ve got a letter of agreement basically where the opera commits to using our orchestra for five years. That is one of the primary obstacles that we’ve been negotiating,” said Nathan Mitchell, head of the musicians’ negotiations and a horn player in the ensemble.

On Sunday afternoon, the Arizona Opera Orchestra Musicians Association emailed news agencies throughout the state complaining that the nearly year-old contract talks had disintegrated. The email stated that opera General Manager Debra Harrison’s plan “swept away basic guarantees to the musicians that endanger the opening of the opera’s ‘The Magic Flute’ in Tucson on March 1 and its opening in Phoenix March 6.”

Earlier Monday, violinist Cynthia Baker, a member of the negotiating committee, would not say if the orchestra would strike, but she did not rule out the possibility. Mitchell said he could not “specifically speak to” conversations about striking, but said “all of those eventualities were being considered.”

Under the plan, the musicians have agreed to a wage freeze for the next two years. Musicians on average make $98.95 per service, according to the union’s Web site, www.azooma.org. A section musician who played every service in the 2006-2007 season earned $6,332.80, according to the musicians’ association Web site, www.azooma.org.

Harrison applauded the musicians for “working with the company to put the financial footing of the company behind us.”