HONOLULU -- The chairman of the Honolulu Symphony's board of directors told KITV on Wednesday, that as of last Friday, the symphony did not have enough money to make its payroll.

Peter Shaindlin said he hopes to make an announcement about the symphony's future by the end of the day Friday. He refused to confirm whether the orchestra will file for bankruptcy or postpone part of its season.

The symphony has already put off two concerts this weekend.

"Due to the ongoing, extremely stressed cash situation of the symphony, we have been re-grouping," Shaindlin said. "Because of the delicate nature of a lot of the discussions, it would be inappropriate to provide any details at this time."

He says the symphony did not have enough money to meet its payroll on Friday because subscription and last-minute ticket sales have dropped significantly due to the recession.

He says the symphony will not put on concerts "if we know that we do not have the money to pay them going forward."

A new symphony executive director, Majken Mechling, took over on Oct. 1. When she was hired, she told KITV the symphony would "look at our services and performances that we offer so we can scale back or look at new ways to bring people to the symphony outside of the traditional symphony hall. Reach out more into the community. Do community programs, educational opportunities."

Sources tell KITV that the symphony's executive board discussed the possibility of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy organization last Friday. Shaindlin would not confirm or deny that report and Mechling has not returned KITV's calls since Monday.

Meanwhile, KITV has learned the musicians' union filed a complaint with the federal labor board, because the symphony reduced the pay of 25 part-time musicians retroactively, without negotiating with the union. The union said that violates federal labor law.

Symphony leaders said they disagree with the union's complaint.

The union filed its complaint with the National Labor Relations Board on Oct. 23, the same day part-time musicians found their paychecks were reduced by as much as 50 percent, according to Steve Dinion, a symphony percussionist and union spokesman. He said the amount of money in question is worth "several thousand dollars."

He called the move "an unprecedented illegal attack on our contract."

The symphony has not made payments to the musicians' pension fund for months, Dinion also said.

The symphony has already slashed $1 million from its operating budget this year, paring expenses down to $7 million, Dinion said. He said full-time musicians have taken 15 percent paycuts worth $500,000 of those savings. In September, the symphony repaid employees 15 weeks of back pay, with the help of a $1.8 million dollar advance from the symphony's foundation's endowment.