|
Save Live Music on Broadway
Dear Musician,
This is an action alert. The Broadway show "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" continues to use canned music to replace musicians. Instead of a full orchestra, producers are using recorded tracks of strings and winds. In fact, there are no strings at all in the pit! This cannot be allowed to stand. Please follow the link below to read the story, sign the petition and make your voice heard!
http://savelivemusiconbroadway.com/
Orchestra leaders' plan spurned by musicians
By Peter Dobrin
Inquirer Classical Music Critic
In a stunning rebuke to the official leadership of the Philadelphia Orchestra, musicians have rejected a strategic plan prepared by president Allison B. Vulgamore and management leaders.
Players "formally reject its recommendations," states a letter to Vulgamore and Philadelphia Orchestra Association board chairman Richard B. Worley. "The document and its suggestions have serious flaws, and we do not believe it will do what a strategic plan is supposed to do: create a plan for the future that protects the music we create and builds on our legacy as one of the world's greatest orchestras."
The letter, which comes on the eve of the orchestra's departure for a three-week European tour, is to be presented to the board Wednesday, and was signed by about 80 of the orchestra's 100 or so members, said players committee chairman John Koen. In a sign of an increasingly riven institution, the message was delivered on "Philadelphia Orchestra Musicians" letterhead.
Vulgamore did not respond to messages seeking her response.
Koen, a cellist, said that musicians had not developed an official position on what should happen now, but that one idea "voiced by many musicians" was to start from scratch on a new strategic plan.
That said, the current plan makes some good points, he said. "Musicians have been saying for 15 years that the orchestra needs to spend more money marketing itself and needs a more robust development staff to raise money," said Koen. "The plan said they should do that, but so have previous plans, and it didn't happen."
The May 19 strategic plan detailed troubling trends in ticket sales and philanthropy, and outlined ideas to re-engage audiences and donors. The artistic budget would be limited, and international touring curtailed except to the extent that it could be funded. Although the language was vague, the plan proposed expanding the orchestra's repertoire into more populist realms, and suggested repackaging ideas such as dressing the musicians in more informal attire and holding social events in connection with concerts. Many of these ideas have been proposed or tried here before.
Vulgamore touted the plan as an expression of institutional cohesiveness, and said musicians were involved in its preparation.
But Wednesday's letter - written amid difficult and fruitless contract talks with musicians and the association's related Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition - says that while musicians participated in discussions early on, their role was curtailed after November, when the "internal financial crisis" became more pressing.
"That's why we were surprised by repeated public statements that we were somehow involved in the drafting" of the association's plan, the letter says. "As Ms. Vulgamore said in July on CBS, 'The conversations with the musicians started in October. So we've been working together for a long time.' No, we worked together 'a long time ago.' As you know, we did not even see a draft of the plan until just before it appeared in the newspaper at the end of May - more than six months after our involvement in the planning process ended." Orchestra musicians opposed the Orchestra Association's April decision to file for bankruptcy, but have been silent on the strategic plan - until now.
"The Philadelphia Orchestra has long been recognized as one of the world's foremost cultural institutions," the letter says. "We've toured the globe, bringing our renowned 'Philadelphia Sound' to five continents and dozens of countries. We recognize that the Orchestra is a sacred trust that has been handed down to us by generations of colleagues, not simply to perform concerts to the best of our ability, but to uphold the reputation built so carefully since the Orchestra's founding in 1900. The plan that was developed without our input would destroy that legacy, and we cannot endorse it."
Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/peter_dobrin/20110817_Orchestra_leaders__plan_spurned_by_musicians.html#ixzz1VrilygQY
AFM Places Louisville Orchestra on Unfair List
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 22, 2011
Contact: Honore Stockley
(315) 422-4488 ext. 104
honore@bentley-hall.com
The American Federation of Musicians (AFM) has placed the Louisville Orchestra on its "Unfair List," following the orchestra’s emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy without a collective bargaining agreement. At an August 15 court hearing, Judge David Stosberg approved the orchestra’s reorganization plan, effectively bringing it out of bankruptcy. The AFM had opposed the plan, citing the fact that it is not viable without employed musicians.
Louisville Orchestra musicians had rejected management’s last contract offer, which was presented as an ultimatum. The offer would have employed some musicians for 30 weeks per year, while employing others for only 10 or 20 weeks per year. Since proposing the tiered arrangement, management has been unwilling to negotiate.
Following the August 15 hearing, Louisville Orchestra Executive Director Robert Birman stated that the orchestra would work toward a contract with its current musicians, who are AFM members, but that it may also pursue agreements with non-AFM musicians.
"The Louisville Orchestra’s management is mistaken to believe that a pick-up ensemble would be a satisfactory replacement for the world-class symphony orchestra that patrons have come to expect in Louisville," says AFM President Ray Hair. "The AFM will continue to fight on behalf of its members to keep the orchestra intact and to secure a fair contract."
AFM members who render musical services for employers placed on the "Unfair List" are subject to penalty under AFM bylaws.
'Venuology.com' to Review
Local Music Employers
Local musicians in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area now have the opportunity to share information on their experiences with various local employers by visiting www.venuology.com. Details in article below.
New Website Helps Musicians Rate Clubs
By Matt Plummer
AFM Web Developer and Tech Support Specialist
Venuology.com, a new website from the AFM Freelance Services Division, is becoming an important resource for musicians booking gigs at New York City nightclubs and other venues. This service will now expand to (the Metropolitan, Washington, D.C. area.)
In recent years, musicians have found that even large venues with good crowds are refusing to pay musicians adequately. Bands are often paid solely by audience tips, leaving clubs free to erase live music from their business expenses.
Without significant union density, many musicians in indie rock, the downtown scene, jazz, world music, Latin music and country-western are fending for themselves - otherwise known as the D.I.Y. (do-it-yourself) model. Clubs benefit from a glut of musicians looking for gigs, and the subsequent race to the bottom.
The power dynamic is skewed. For a given club, an owner can choose between multiple bands looking for work. From the band's perspective, they can accept the owner's terms - or let another group take their place.
Venuology.com ameliorates this problem. It creates a space where musicians can safely share information about venues. Bands review venues they perform at, writing anonymously about their experience and optionally listing details such as the club's backline, sound quality, room size, whether the club promoted the show and even how much the band was paid.
Armed with this information, other groups can make informed choices when negotiating with venues. They know if the venue has ripped off other bands, or if musicians uniformly love playing there. Musicians can see if groups received free drinks or food. They have a general idea of what others were paid, and they know if the venue uses minimum draws to justify denying bands a share of the cover.
As musicians get a better look at the big picture of the venue landscape, they may think twice about playing at clubs that are rated poorly - without needing to experience it themselves. When booking musical acts, these clubs will now face a small army of empowered musicians rather than isolated individuals.
Indeed, an important goal for the site is to demonstrate the power of collective action, especially to musicians that may not be familiar with the AFM or the labor movement in general. The website is a recruiting tool, a hook to introduce indie musicians to the AFM while providing a genuinely useful service.
Venuology.com may also help determine where the pressure points of the music scene lie; the issues most important to indie musicians will become more apparent.
Since the 1990's, several organizations have arisen in New York to address problems of compensation, opportunity and community, including the Noise Action Coalition, Take It To The Bridge, RUCMA and Local 802's own Justice for Jazz Artists campaign. Parallel efforts could happen in Denver.
Hopefully, Venuology.com will be a useful tool for activists already engaged in a fight to improve working conditions in area clubs. Of course, the most important ingredient of a venue review website is user participation; musicians need to write reviews!
(This article first appeared in the May 2010 issue of Allegro, the newspaper of AFM Local 802.)
MARCH 26, 2011 ELECTION RESULTS
PRESIDENT
Ed Malaga
VICE PRESIDENT
Otis Ducker
SECRETARY-TREASURER
Teresa Gafford
EXECUTIVE BOARD
Harriette (Patty) Hurd
Jeff Koczela
Pam Lassell
Peter deBoor
Bob Dodelin
DELEGATES TO AFM CONVENTION and CONFERENCES
Harriette (Patty) Hurd
Tom Lee
DIVERSITY DELEGATE TO AFM CONVENTION and CONFERENCES
Otis Ducker
Jobs Open to DCFM Members
Positions or auditions currently open to Local 161-710 members include Principal Trumet with the NSO, Percussion/Timpani Substitute with the BSO and Violin Instructor with the D.C. Youth Orchestra Program. Click here for details.
Musicians Win with Post-Classical Pact
The Post-Classical Ensemble has inked an agreement restoring scales to the levels it paid prior to the Local granting concessionary relief in September 2009.
“The agreement provides the musicians a rate of pay slightly ahead of the now prevailing scale,” said Local President John Cusick, “while stabilizing costs for the employer through its 2012 season.”
The new contract establishes concert pay at $175 for two-and–a-half hours, plus $35 per quarter-hour of overtime. Rehearsal rates are restored to $47 per hour with a two-hour minimum call, with overtime paid at the rate of $23.50 per half-hour. Pension goes to 10.4 percent immediately, rising to 10.9 percent on April 1. The agreement runs through September 16, 2012.
Live Performances of Original Material
Eligible for Royalty Payments
By Christiana Drapkin
If you're a BMI songwriter/composer/publisher, you can now register live performances from July 1, 2010 to the present and receive royalty payments. About time, right? I mean, I've gotten royalties for performances in Europe, but until now not for those in the U.S., where I perform most of the time. Anyhow, I just did it: First you have to register for paperless statements and direct deposit to a bank account; then you input the U.S. venues where you played, then performance dates, then which repertoire from your registered compositions were played. Get the FAQs at www.bmi.com/faq/C6382. Start the process at www.bmi.com/live.
Membership Dues for 2011
Annual dues for Regular membership in 2011 are $162. Life members will pay $86 and Inactive Life members, $80. Regular members may pay on a quarterly basis $40.50, Life members $21.50 and Inactive Life, $20.
Regular members' dues are apportioned at $56 per capita to the American Federation of Musicians international and $8 to the local's death benefit fund, leaving available to the local $98.
For Life members, $40 per capita goes to the AFM and $8 to the death benefit fund, leaving the local with $38. For Inactive Life, it's $34 to the AFM and $8 to the death benefit fund, also leaving the local with $38.
As the above figures show, the local receives only a portion of the annual dues. The Federation and the death benefit program are funded with the rest.
The local is also funded by work dues paid on performances. The work dues amount depends on the work: based on local scale, 2 percent; symphonic orchestra, 2.05 percent; and AFM-negotiated electronic media agreements, 4.5 percent. |
How much longer must we hear the stereotype that artists and musicians are lousy at promoting ourselves? 