Vista Philharmonic Orchestra Musicians Organize for Union Protection

July 1, 2025

IM  -  

The International Musician regularly features success stories about musical groups that have organized under the Federation. These victories illustrate how working musicians can receive fair treatment and a living wage through AFM membership. Such achievements not only strengthen our union, they also enhance the resilience of the music industry.

Successful organizing campaigns are always gratifying to read about, but there is also much to be learned from examining the organizing process in action. The members of Vista Philharmonic Orchestra (VPO), based in Groton, Massachusetts, have been working toward an AFM collective bargaining agreement since May 2023.

Three members of the VPO Orchestra Committee (OC) were happy to share what they’ve learned so far from the process and give IM readers an overview of what’s next. While the achievement of a signed collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is still some months away, the steps taken so far provide an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look into the stages of organizing.

Constructive Change

For some orchestras, the push to unionize arises from mistreatment by management, or the desire to increase wages and improve working conditions. According to VPO Committee Chair Mary-Lynne Bohn, principal trumpet in the orchestra and a member of Locals 9-535 (Boston, MA) and 198-457 (Providence, RI), their need for a CBA arose as a response to changes in the structure of the organization.

“We saw a need to ensure that these changes will affect us positively,” she says. The 70-member Vista Philharmonic Orchestra, currently celebrating its 51st season, was rebranded in 2022 as part of the opening of Groton Hill Music Center (GHMC), a new state-of-the-art performance and education center that was made possible through the generous gift of a private donor.

“Previously, the orchestra had performed for over 30 years as Indian Hill Symphony and the Orchestra of Indian Hill, playing for relatively small audiences in regional high school auditoriums,” says Bohn. “Many of our members have played with the orchestra for decades, while also playing with other ensembles in the area that had grown and organized during that time.”

Peter Cirelli, VPO principal trombone and a member of the Boston local, says that since VPO was not a union orchestra, their pay scale was one of the lowest in the region and they had chronic problems attracting good players.

“When VPO management decided to pursue the opportunity to build the new arts center, the orchestra members realized tremendous changes were in store—but also tremendous opportunities. We wanted to ensure our growth and cement our position as a leading professional orchestra in the area,” says Cirelli. “A big piece of that was being competitive enough with our wage scale to consistently attract the highest quality musicians in the area.” Naturally, he says, that meant coming under the umbrella of union protection.

Cirelli is quick to stress that the musicians of VPO have always enjoyed a positive relationship with the orchestra’s board and management. “That said, we firmly believed that having a CBA in place, with the backing of the AFM, would give us the structure and support to negotiate with management for the benefits most important to our members.”

An overwhelming majority of VPO musicians agreed with this assessment. In May 2023, the OC surveyed the orchestra to gauge interest in organizing. Over 80% of the musicians responded positively.

From the Ground Up with Locals and the AFM

At this point, the OC knew it needed outside help to achieve its goals, and it turned to the AFM. Many of the musicians were already members of Local 9-535 in Boston. However, Vista Philharmonic falls under the jurisdiction of Local 173 (Fitchburg, MA).

Fitchburg, being a small local, was in a solid position to give VPO musicians its undivided attention and focused effort. Local 173 President John DeCicco was the OC’s first point of contact. DeCicco says it was his duty to be the go-between to ensure the members of the committee had access to every available professional service the AFM could provide throughout the process.

“Since our local does not at present have any CBAs in effect for any ensemble, I informed them that I would immediately contact the Federation for guidance,” says DeCicco. “I received a response to my inquiry the very next day from the AFM. In less than 24 hours, we were assigned a negotiator and began the process of arranging teleconferences with the members of the OC.”

DeCicco also agreed to waive the requirement for membership in the Fitchburg local for at least the first year of any agreement.

VPO Principal Bassist Kevin Green, a member of both the Boston and Providence locals like Bohn, stresses that joining the Fitchburg local is ultimately in the best interests of VPO musicians.

“It’s important that dues go to the local representing us,” says Bohn. “It helps reinforce the commitment between the musicians and the local ultimately charged with enforcing our agreement with VPO management.” Green also adds that for musicians choosing to retain their affiliation with other locals, the AFM has a mechanism to apply for a rebate of per capita dues if you are a member of three or more locals.

Bohn says DeCicco was immensely helpful in facilitating early conversations between the OC and the AFM. “A considerable share of these conversations involved learning about negotiating from the ground up, and how to approach unionizing the workplace in the most expeditious way,” she says. In January 2024, for example, OC members undertook six hours of training with AFM Symphonic Services Division negotiator, organizer, and educator Todd Jelen, in which they learned, among other topics, how to hold organizing conversations with their orchestra colleagues.

“The Federation has developed a training program for orchestras interested in organizing that includes a guide for discussions,” Bohn elaborates. “We took part in three separate two-hour sessions with Todd where we discussed how to approach our colleagues in the orchestra about organizing, and how to best answer questions and concerns they might have.”

Green says the sessions also included role play, in which the OC members took turns asking questions of each other to practice having specific conversations before speaking directly with VPO musicians.

The Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO (DPE) interviewed Mary-Lynne Bohn to learn more about the organizing campaign at Vista Philharmonic. Mary-Lynne explained that pay and job security were two issues that motivated the orchestra musicians to join together in union. Now, after winning their union, members of the Vista Philharmonic Orchestra are very positive and excited about what the future holds.
View the video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqovfmCJpkw

A Negotiation Wish List

By spring 2023, Green says roughly 67% of the orchestra had signed cards to be represented by Local 173. “The OC members undertook our practiced conversations with the remaining VPO members, working to convince them and win a supermajority of signed cards before approaching GHMC management with an official announcement of the musicians’ intent to organize and negotiate a collective bargaining agreement and a request for voluntary recognition,” Green continues.

Bohn observes that it was somewhat surprising at this juncture to discover that the GHMC had no idea musicians were planning to organize. “They knew nothing about it until we sent them a letter asking to be recognized as a collective bargaining unit, and indicating that we had a supermajority of signed cards requesting to be represented by Local 173,” she says. Rather than accept the musicians’ assertion about the signed cards, GHMC requested a National Labor Relations Board election to ensure that the majority of the musicians truly wanted to be represented by the union.

“In the end,” says Green, “the final vote did in fact echo our VPO colleagues’ desire to organize, with a resounding 80-8 result in favor.”

The OC then took nominations for the negotiating committee, a group of five VPO members separate from the OC, who will meet with management to negotiate the orchestra’s first CBA. Cirelli says the OC itself was comprised of representatives from all sections of the orchestra, with most having played 30 or more years with VPO.

The three OC members agree that one of the strengths of an orchestra committee is its successful ability to leverage its members’ various skills. “For example,” says Green, “we have a committee chair who likes to write and has been the primary correspondent with the AFM. This has been helpful for articulating our ideas and streamlining communications.”

“All members of the VPO OC are active freelancers in the area and have served on various negotiating committees over the years,” Bohn adds. “So, each of us also brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. We very much operate as a team, and we have all brought our many years of teaching and administrative experience to help guide the process and manage issues that have come up along the way.”

Organizing is often about ensuring or increasing musicians’ pay and other benefits. Ascertaining which of those benefits are most important to the orchestra was the next step for the VPO OC.

“Our players are interested in many issues that are common to all orchestras,” Bohn continues. “These include things like higher wages, job security, and fair and transparent hiring processes.” Other topics of concern are higher travel and mileage pay, a leave of absence policy, and musician representation on artistic planning and music director search committees.

“Our survey closed May 16, and we plan to evaluate the results and incorporate this wish list into the negotiations,” she says.

A Strong Partnership Toward a CBA

While the achievement of a signed collective bargaining agreement will happen in the coming months, all on the OC agree that a successful outcome is largely dependent on laying solid groundwork leading up to negotiations.

DeCicco concurs, “Although we are still in the beginning stages of working toward securing a CBA for the VPO, the local has been continually coordinating the services offered by the AFM. The Federation’s organizing team and the OC deserve the lion’s share of credit through their stellar grassroots organizing, which is a testament to union advocacy by union members. The OC took the professional guidance that was provided by the AFM’s team and got right down to work.”

DeCicco says, now that the organizing component of the process has yielded such great results, the next priority is Local 173’s direct involvement in negotiating the CBA. “The members of the orchestra are entering into the process on a positive note and feel that they are truly partners in the preservation of Vista Philharmonic Orchestra. So many of them have been performing with the ensemble for over 20 years. They are the ‘face’ of this professional ensemble.”

Cirelli says the VPO has been fortunate to enjoy a responsive and friendly relationship with its management for many years, and that positive relationship continues with GHMC.

“With help from Local 173, we anticipate a collaborative effort during negotiations,” he predicts. Green adds that VPO’s current annual contract is loosely modeled after CBAs from other area orchestras. “That means our goal will be to fill in as many gaps as we can during negotiations in order to create a final CBA that truly represents the best interests of our players.”

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