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August 1, 2025
When the Eastern Music Festival (EMF) management canceled the 2025 season in February, citing an inability to reach an agreement with the musicians, the musicians responded with their own concert and rally. The June 30 concert and rally was standing room only, with more than 600 people in attendance and approximately 4,000 people watching the livestream. The performance received multiple standing ovations.
The festival’s cancellation on February 27 stemmed from management’s failure to finalize a first collective bargaining agreement with the faculty. These musicians, who had overwhelmingly voted for representation by Local 342 (Charlotte, NC) in November 2023, had expressed their willingness to teach and perform during summer 2025 without a contract, just as they did in 2024, while negotiations continued.
A major sticking point in negotiations has been management’s insistence on faculty cuts. For 2025, they wanted to cut faculty numbers from 61 to 43, while retaining the flexibility to reduce further to 27 in the future. This would have eliminated the faculty orchestra and destroyed the low faculty-student ratio, which made EMF unique among summer festivals. Musicians remain committed to maintaining the structure of the festival as it has been since its founding, with a professional orchestra in residence to teach and inspire students. An unfair labor practice charge is pending against EMF, and the festival has been placed on the AFM International Unfair List.
Guest speakers spoke passionately about the need to keep the original festival model intact. Speakers included conductor and EMF alum Chelsea Gallo; EMF Principal Percussion and Orchestra Committee Chair John Shaw of Local 427-721 (Tampa Bay, FL); former students Nathan Lowman and Kristen Quintin; Barbara Morgenstern, the former wife of EMF founder Sheldon Morgenstern; and AFM International President Tino Gagliardi.
“It is shameful that the management and board of EMF chose to cancel this year’s festival rather than reach a fair deal with the musicians,” says Gagliardi. “Canceling the festival punishes the musicians for organizing, deprives nearly 1,000 students who applied to the festival of the opportunity to learn in the unique environment of EMF. It also robs the Greensboro community of the world-class performances it has come to cherish, not to mention the economic impact it has on Guilford College—in addition to the local hotels and restaurants that benefit from hosting such a prestigious festival. The musicians’ solidarity and resolve is inspiring and the AFM stands with them in this fight.”