Drew McManus on the Orchestra business | est. 2003

Debt Is Only The Beginning

The 4/25/2012 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer published an article by Peter Dobrin that reports the dispute between the Philadelphia Orchestra Association (POA) and the American Federation of Musicians and Employers’ Pension Fund (AFM-EPF) has officially come to a close. For those unaware, the AFM-EPF had been screaming bloody murder that the POA owed as much as $35 million for exiting from the fund. Consequently, it came as a bit of a surprise …

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The Domino Theory, Orchestra Pension Style

The 12/1/2011 edition of the New York Times published an article by Dan Wakin and Mary Williams Walsh that examined the impact of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s (POA) withdrawal from the American Federation of Musicians and Employers Pension Fund (AFM-EPF). In case you’re coming into the situation without much knowledge, here are the highlights you need to get up to speed.

Yet Another Ultimatum In Louisville

UPDATES: 10:40am CT, Musicians Reject Offer | 11:00am CT, Management’s “Final” offer letter leaked – According to an article by Elizabeth Kramer in the 10/20/2011 of the Louisville Courier-Journal, the Louisville Orchestra (LO) has issued one more variation in a string of “final” offers to its musicians for a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Based on Kramer’s report, it looks pretty much like all of their previous offers.