Musician Issues – Page 13

Credit Where Credit Is Due: Met Opera Musicians

Tuesday, April 25th, 2017 by Drew McManus

If there’s one transgression most professional orchestra and opera player associations commit, it’s launching public outreach efforts during a labor dispute only to abandon them once an agreement is ratified. When things are tough, they desperately want support and attention; but when things calm down, they could care less. That’s not exactly a formula for sincerity. In the best cases, the musicians maintain their efforts and after getting past the obligatory …

The Latest Development In AFM-EPF Pension Headaches

Monday, April 24th, 2017 by Drew McManus

On 1/17/2017 we examined the growing problems within the American Federation of Musicians & Employers’ Pension Fund (AFM-EPF) that led to the Board of Trustees to send a letter to plan members explaining how the fund has suffered since the economic downturn and their plan for recovery. Since then, that letter does not appear to have assuaged anxiety among some AMF-EPF members. A group of AMF member musicians met in New York City …

Counting The Costs Q&A

Thursday, September 20th, 2018Tuesday, March 28th, 2017 by Drew McManus

Last week’s mega-article examining how much orchestra string musicians spend to equip, maintain, and repair their instruments over the course of their career generated a tremendous amount of reader feedback/questions across social media and email. Throughout those discussions, a few items popped up more than others and I wanted to take today’s post to cover those. Do the figures include purchasing the instrument and bow? No. In addition to the exclusions …

The Latest Instance Of Peer Review Problems

Monday, March 27th, 2017 by Drew McManus

The 3/22/2017 edition of the Indianapolis Business Journal published an article by Lindsey Erdody that reports on an Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) musician is accusing music director, Krzysztof Urbansk, of age discrimination. What’s interesting to note is Erdody’s examination of the internal process used by the music director and general manager, which reportedly contributed to current problems. Unfortunately, difficulties related to age discrimination and failing to follow a contractually mandated artistic …

Counting The Costs

Wednesday, February 7th, 2018Friday, March 24th, 2017 by Drew McManus

Have you ever wondered how much string musicians spend to equip, maintain and repair their instruments? Drew McManus spills the beans, and then counts them.