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Orchestra News

Detroit Symphony Orchestra Ratifies Contract Early

Seven months in advance of the expiration of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), musicians and management of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) ratified a new contract in January. The new agreement takes effect September 7, 2020 and runs through September 5, 2023.

The CBA will increase base salary by 5.1% over three years and will add an additional week of performances in the third year. Musicians will donate up to four services per year to support high-profile performance opportunities and will continue to have the choice to opt in for community performances. The contract adds a new orchestra position in year two, bringing the orchestra complement from 87 to 88 musicians.

Under the new contract, paid family leave will increase and musicians will take on a greater share of the cost of health insurance premiums.

Principal Horn Karl Pituch, chair of the negotiating committee and a member of Local 5 (Detroit, MI), said he believes the contract will allow Detroit Symphony Orchestra to continue to attract the best musicians in the world. The organization shared that the contract is in line with the parameters set in DSO’s 10-year plan for fiscal and artistic sustainability, introduced in 2013.

Recent News

House Passes PRO Act, landmark bill that would strengthen labor laws

The US House of Representatives on February 6 approved the most significant legislative effort to expand the rights of working people to organize since the Great Depression.

The Protecting the Right to Organize Act, known as the PRO Act, would amend some of the country’s decades-old labor laws to let workers quickly vote to form a union without employer interference, limit anti-worker tactics like employee misclassification, add penalties for companies that retaliate against workers who organize, and help workers secure a first contract. It would also weaken “right-to-work” laws in 27 states.

The House passed the bill with a vote of 224 to 194, mostly along party lines.

Prior to the vote, AFM International President Ray Hair sent a letter urging members of Congress to support the legislation and oppose any amendments offered during deliberations designed to weaken the bill.

Hair wrote:

The PRO Act strengthens the National Labor Relations Act by supporting the ability of working people have a voice on the job. The bill would update the National Labor Relations Act to allow workers to have a greater say in such important workplace issues as higher wages and retirement security. Once workers vote to form a union, the National Labor Relations Board could seek enforcement and relief in federal court allowing for swifter justice. In addition, the bill would prohibit employers from forcing workers to attend captive audience meetings designed to encourage workers from voting against the union. Companies and corporate officers would be confronted with stiff financial penalties for violating the law. 

The PRO act also establishes a mediation and arbitration process to prevent employers from avoiding the completion of a first contract. Historically, many employers attempt to stall first-contract negotiations in an effort to frustrate and in some cases stop the collective bargaining process, often after union organizers and negotiators have worked for years to finalize a first contract.

The bill also supports workers’ right to picket or withhold their labor in order to push for workplace changes. It also protects employees’ right to strike and prevents an employer from hiring permanent replacement workers and allows unrepresented workers to participate in collective action and class action lawsuits against unscrupulous employers.

Finally, HR 2474 eliminates state right to work laws which over the years have given more power to billionaires and special interest groups at the expense of lowering worker wages, eroding pensions and healthcare coverages in states where such laws have been enacted.

The bill now moves to the GOP-controlled Senate, which is unlikely to consider it. Republicans and business groups have forcefully opposed the PRO Act, claiming it would devastate businesses, eliminate privacy rights, and upset the national economy.

Recent News

AFM-EPF Submits MPRA Application to U.S. Treasury Department

On December 30, 2019, the American Federation of Musicians and Employers’ Pension Fund (AFM-EPF) submitted an application to the U.S. Treasury Department to reduce benefits under the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act (MPRA) in order to prevent the Plan from becoming insolvent. “We know that our participants have anticipated this difficult moment for some time. Now that the application has been completed and submitted, we can provide important information about how each participant would be affected by the proposed benefit reductions if the application is approved by Treasury,” according to a statement from the Fund trustees posted on www.afm-epf.org.

On January 6, the Fund office mailed a packet of information about the MPRA application to all participants and beneficiaries of deceased participants. This mailing includes three documents, all of which are important for participants to read in full:

• Personal Benefit Estimate Statement ― Personalized statement showing participant’s estimated benefit as of January 1, 2021 should the reduction be approved and go into effect.

• Difficult Choices Newsletter ― Overview of what’s happening and why.

• Official Notice of Proposed Reduction ― Official notice of the Plan’s application to reduce benefits, including important information about participant rights.

In addition to the copies that participants will receive via U.S. mail, the Difficult Choices newsletter and Official Notice of Proposed Reduction are available now on the Recent Mailings page of the Plan website, under the “Stay Informed” tab.

Participants who have registered on the Plan website can access their Personal Benefit Estimate Statement by logging into the Participant Portal at www.afm-epf.org and clicking on the MPRA Benefit Estimates icon. Participants who have not yet registered may do so by clicking on the link in the heading of the plan website.

The AFM-EPF will continue to keep participants informed throughout the MPRA process via the Pension Fund Notes e-newsletter. It will also maintain resources on the Plan website, including the Frequently Asked Questions page and the MPRA Benefit Reductions page, which contains a description of each component of the proposed benefit reduction.

Products, Recent News

Manhasset Specialty Company Celebrates 85th Anniversary

Manhasset Specialty Company, a leading manufacturer of music stands and accessories, is celebrating 85 years of producing quality music stands and accessories for use by musicians of all levels — from beginners to professionals who are members of world-famous orchestras all around the world.

The Manhasset Specialty Company dates back to 1935, when inventor/musician Otto Lagervall set out to develop a better music stand and created the very first Manhasset music stands. When the company was founded, Lagervall lived in Manhasset, NY, adopting the name of that city for his new company. During the 1940s, Lagervall moved the company to Yakima, Washington, where the company continues to make products today.

“Over the years, the company has introduced many new music stand designs and new accessory products that have become great sellers,” said Dan Roberts, president and general manager of Manhasset Stands. “We are constantly searching for new material improvements and new processes that will help make our great quality music stands even more durable and dependable.”

Recent News

Lee Greenwood Appointed to John F. Kennedy Center Board of Trustees

lee greenwood

Two-time CMA Male Vocalist of the Year and Grammy winning country music artist Lee Greenwood was announced on November 1 as an appointee to the John F. Kennedy Center Board of Trustees by President Donald J. Trump. 

Greenwood, a longtime member of Local 369 (Las Vegas, NV) and Local 257 (Nashville, TN), will serve as a member of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees through September 2024. He continues to serve on the National Endowment of the Arts’ National Council on the Arts, an appointment received by then-President George W. Bush in 2008.

Earlier this year, Greenwood celebrated the 35th anniversary of the release of his signature hit song, “God Bless The USA.” The song first appeared on his 1984 album, You’ve Got a Good Love Comin’, and spent 37 weeks on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, becoming a Top 10 Hit.

Recent News

Kelsea Ballerini to Receive Nashville Symphony Harmony Award  

Kelsea Ballerini

Kelsea Ballerini, a member of Local 257 (Nashville, TN), will receive the 2019 Nashville Symphony Harmony Award. A dedicated committee selects the annual winners. The Harmony Award recognizes individuals who exemplify the harmonious spirit of Nashville’s musical community. She will perform during their 35th annual Symphony Ball. The event will be held on Saturday, December 14, 2019, at Schermerhorn Symphony Center.

“Few artists can boast of such a meteoric rise to start their career like Kelsea Ballerini, who has already had an incredible impact on country music, thanks to her unique talent and a string of history-making hits,” said Laura Kimbrell, co-chair of the 2019 Symphony Ball fundraiser. “A strong, confident woman who serves as a wonderful role model—not to mention a native Tennessean who Music City is proud to call one of its own—Kelsea is a worthy addition to the prestigious list of past Harmony Award winners, and we can’t wait for her performance at the Symphony Ball in December.”

Since her gold-certified, full-length debut The First Time in 2015, Ballerini keeps making history while elevating country music for a new era. The vocalist, songwriter and performer is the only female country artist ever to achieve three consecutive No. 1 songs from a debut album. Likely as a result, her total streams to date exceed 2 billion. Ballerini also earned two Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards and iHeartRadio’s Best New Artist Award. In addition she received two Grammy nominations. Perhaps most tellingly, the Grand Ole Opry welcomed Ballerini as its youngest current member.

make music
Orchestra News

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Members and Advocates Create New ‘Make Music’ Project

The musicians of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra have been locked out of their concert halls and have not received a paycheck since June 17. How have the musicians been making ends meet financially and musically since mid-June?

Before the lockout, a few of the players had already made plans to play in festivals this summer, but since the lockout began, several personnel managers have hired Baltimore Symphony musicians to play in their orchestras. There are many photographs of orchestra musicians from around the country posing with our players and wearing Baltimore Symphony Musicians (BSM) T-shirts. 

The BSO Players’ Committee and its supporters have worked hard to organize work for their colleagues in and around Baltimore. The biggest event to date was putting 60-plus musicians on stage for an Independence Day concert in partnership with the government of Baltimore County. Future concerts for the full orchestra are being planned.

Additionally, BSO musicians and advocates have developed and implemented a project called “Make Music with Baltimore Symphony Musicians.” The group plays chamber music for fundraising and friend-raising. Events have involved home concerts in Baltimore and Montgomery County, Maryland, including side-by-side experiences.

BSM chamber groups have played across Maryland from the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts in the western portion of the state to the Dorchester County Center for the Arts and Temple B’Nai Israel on the Eastern Shore—making friends, creating awareness, and seeking long-term partnerships for the future. More concerts are planned.

make music

BSM presented a Summer Subway Series, playing five concerts during the evening rush hour in one of Baltimore’s subway stations, calling attention to the upright piano that had been installed by the transit authority. A five-concert chamber music series called “The Healing Power of Music” was presented at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

When the First Annual Baltimore Jazz Festival was relocated from the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall to another venue so as to avoid the picket line, the organizer of the festival offered to the Baltimore Symphony Musicians an opportunity to play a set, access to reduced priced tickets, and some financial support. Make Music organized a string quintet with oboe, trumpet and percussion to entertain festival attendees with music of Piazzolla, Reinhardt, Ginastera, and Ravel. 

When the employer canceled BSO’s summer work, it also canceled what was going to be the 10th anniversary of the BSO Academy, a week-long intensive side-by-side fantasy camp for avocational musicians. Make Music with BSM devoted two weekends in July to an intensive three days of playing and coaching chamber groups, and brass ensemble and string orchestra reading sessions at a Baltimore church, thus creating a last-minute replacement for the Academy. 

All of these events have been funded through donations to the Baltimore Symphony Musicians’ welfare fund and Go Fund Me account, providing both financial support and musical sustenance. The Make Music with Baltimore Symphony Musicians project intends to continue after a contract settlement is reached with the BSO so that Baltimore Symphony Musicians stay connected with musicians, donors, and communities across the state of Maryland.

A few other hall rentals were relocated away from the Meyerhoff Concert Hall this summer. Local 40-543 and the Baltimore Symphony Musicians thank International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 19 for their cooperation and ongoing support during this summer’s lockout. 

The next bargaining session is scheduled for August 21. The musicians believe it is important to get the orchestra back on stage, but not without a ratified collective bargaining agreement in place.

Thank you to all of the orchestras, AFM locals and individuals who have contributed to the support of the Baltimore Symphony Musicians. 

Recent News

House Approves Butch Lewis Act, Musicians Praise Pension Reform Bill

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Rehabilitation for Multiemployer Pensions Act, also known as the Butch Lewis Act, on July 24.

The legislation would provide low-interest government loans to struggling multiemployer plans, including the AFM-EPF. These loans would allow multi-employer funds to meet their commitments to current retirees while the funds grow back to stronger financial footing.

“House passage of the Butch Lewis Act of 2019 moves us one step closer to a real solution to America’s multiemployer pension crisis. I urge the Senate to quickly step up to protect the pensions of over a million working people—including thousands of musicians,” says AFM International President Ray Hair.

Union musicians called, emailed, and tweeted at lawmakers in the House to Protect Our Pensions—and they heard us.

Now the Butch Lewis Act heads to the Senate, and U.S. Senators need to hear directly from their constituents. 

Contact your U.S. Senators today! Write to them through the AFM’s Action Network page online at afm.org/PensionAct.

Recent News

AFM Applauds Proposed Tax Fix for Musicians

The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM) applauds the introduction in mid-July of bipartisan legislation to help ensure musicians and other working performers are not unintentionally hit with tax increases after the passage of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act.

Many musicians are employees who incur significant expenses including concert clothing, travel costs, rehearsal space, studio time, instruments, and instrument repairs. Under prior law, the IRS allowed a deduction for necessary expenses incurred in connection with employment. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated this ability to claim miscellaneous itemized deductions, which allowed performers to deduct work expenses. Many musicians can now pay substantially more in taxes as a result.

The Performing Artist Tax Parity Act (PATPA), introduced by U.S. Representative Judy Chu (D-CA) and Vern Buchanan (R-FL), would update the Qualified Performing Artist (QPA) tax deduction to help musicians and other performers deduct the costs of work-related expenses.

“Most working musicians and other performers need every penny they earn to survive in this economy. Musicians cannot afford to lose these deductions. We thank Representatives Chu and Buchanan for this much needed tax fix,” says AFM International President Ray Hair.

Recent News

Saskatoon Symphony Balances Budget

The Saskatoon Symphony announced at the end of May that it has balanced its budget for the first time in decades. Through its “Share in the Future” fundraising campaign, the orchestra succeeded in raising $300,000 to eliminate its deficit. The Frank and Ellen Remai Foundation played a large part in the success, matching donations toward the campaign. Saskatoon Symphony musicians are members of Local 553 (Saskatoon, SK).