Musician Issues – Page 17

How To Look Like The Smartest Person In The Room When Talking About Colorado

Friday, May 8th, 2015 by Drew McManus

In the wake of yesterday’s post about the Colorado Symphony musicians and the musicians’ union, a number of readers reached out with questions about the most prominent instance of orchestra musicians leaving the American Federation of Musicians (AFM), the Seattle Symphony Orchestra (SSO). In the spirit of knowledge is power combined with the general lack of familiarity with the SSO musicians’ union (the International Guild of Symphony, Opera, & Ballet Musicians; …

Colorado Symphony Musicians’ AFM Representation In Question

Thursday, May 7th, 2015 by Drew McManus

Norman Lebrecht broke the news in a post from 5/6/2015 about the Colorado Symphony Orchestra Musicians filing a signed petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regarding the status of their official representation. Currently, the musicians are represented by the American Federation of Musicians (AFM); Denver Musicians Association (DMA), Local 20-623 AFM AFL-CIO; and now that we have our acronyms straight, let’s take a closer look at what we know. …

A Crisis Of Conscience Inside The AFM

Friday, April 10th, 2015 by Drew McManus

The topic of equal pay for equal work as applied to substitute musician wages has been an uphill examination over the past year. We began exploring the topic in the wake of the Minnesota Orchestra settlement that ended their season-killing lockout after learning the agreement failed to maintain wage parity for substitute musicians and even when the option of achieving parity through direct action was available, the musicians and their Local …

The Performance Simulator, Now With Realistic Backstage Ambiance!

Friday, March 27th, 2015 by Drew McManus

WQXR’s Conducting Business podcast with host Naomi Lewin and producer Brian Wise published an episode on 3/26/2015 that examines the Performance Simulator, a facility located at The Royal College of Music that claims to create performance-like conditions in the confines of a regular practice room. The goal, according to the program’s guest, Dr. Aaron Williamon, a professor of performance science at the Royal College of Music who helped to develop the …

Equal Work For Equal Pay: An Orchestra Musician Third Rail Topic

Monday, February 16th, 2015 by Drew McManus

One of the most common tasks in my consulting work with boards and administrators is adjusting preconceived notions about the musicians union. One of the reasons misconceptions are so common is the musicians’ unique level of self-determination and direct representation is in stark contrast to most other labor unions. A Fascinating History Beginning in the 1960s, orchestra musicians sought to displace the existing method for crafting collective bargaining agreements (CBA) by …