Now is the right time to become an American Federation of Musicians member. From ragtime to rap, from the early phonograph to today's digital recordings, the AFM has been there for its members. And now there are more benefits available to AFM members than ever before, including a multi-million dollar pension fund, excellent contract protection, instrument and travelers insurance, work referral programs and access to licensed booking agents to keep you working.
As an AFM member, you are part of a membership of more than 80,000 musicians. Experience has proven that collective activity on behalf of individuals with similar interests is the most effective way to achieve a goal. The AFM can negotiate agreements and administer contracts, procure valuable benefits and achieve legislative goals. A single musician has no such power.
The AFM has a proud history of managing change rather than being victimized by it. We find strength in adversity, and when the going gets tough, we get creative - all on your behalf.
Like the industry, the AFM is also changing and evolving, and its policies and programs will move in new directions dictated by its members. As a member, you will determine these directions through your interest and involvement. Your membership card will be your key to participation in governing your union, keeping it responsive to your needs and enabling it to serve you better. To become a member now, visit www.afm.org/join.
Named for a three-tiered cave system owned by the US Forest Service, this fantasy musically explores the wonders of this “living” cave. Flavored with jazz harmonies and intricate counterpoint, the piece by T.O. Sterrett of Local 802 (New York City) brings you the shimmer, wonder, and majesty of this grand work of Nature.
Blanchard Caverns Fantasy (for Euphonium, Tuba, and Piano) by T.O. Sterrett, Cimarron Music Press, www.cimarronmusic.com.
Alongside his symphonies, chamber works, songs, and two major piano sonatas, Charles Ives wrote a number of short, groundbreaking works for solo piano. This second volume of The Complete Shorter Works for Piano of Charles Ives is the first publication of the complete extant studies for solo piano.
Charles E. Ives Piano Studies: Shorter Works for Piano – Vol. 2, Peermusic Classical, www.peermusicclassical.com.
Tableaux de peintres russes (The Pictures of Russian Painters) is one of the most popular compositions for piano of prominent 20th century Ukrainian composer Igor Shamo. The pieces burst with rich imagery, poetry, lyricism and humor, drama and energy. They highlight the characteristic features of Shamo’s musical style: beautiful melodic lines, enriched by suave harmonies, create subtle polyphony with countermelodies over playful ever-changing accompaniment.
Tableaux de peintres russes (pour piano), by Igor Shamo, Gerard Billaudot Editeur, www.billaudot.com.
In this collection of essays on music and life, famed classical pianist and composer Stephen Hough writes informally and engagingly about music and the life of a musician, from the broader aspects of what it is to walk out onto a stage or to make a recording, to specialist tips from deep inside the practice room: how to trill, how to pedal, how to practice. He also writes vividly about people he’s known, places he’s traveled to, books he’s read, paintings he’s seen; and he touches on more controversial subjects, such as assisted suicide, abortion, and religion.
Rough Ideas: Reflections on Music and More, by Stephen Hough, Picador, www.us.macmillan.com.
A dozen of the most popular songs by legendary contemporary music composer George Winston transcribed from the recordings and authorized by Winston. Includes an introduction from the composer, playing tips, song notes, a discography, a bio, and 12 songs.
George Winston – Piano Sheet Music Collection, by George Winston, Hal Leonard, www.halleonard.com.
(for Marimba and Piano)
China West Suite is a perfect recital piece that explores a variety of folk songs from the China West region in four movements, each named for a different group of people. Marimba players will appreciate this significant new addition to their instrument’s catalog from one of the world’s leading composers. For the advanced player.
China West Suite (for Marimba and Piano), by Chen Yi, Theodore Presser, www.presser.com.
This poem, written in 1900 by James Weldon Johnson, was set to music by his brother, John Rosamond Johnson, five years later, and was soon adopted as the Black American National Anthem. Pianist and composer Evelyn Simpson-Curenton has arranged the piece with her own variations as a concert level entry for flute and piano.
Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing: Concert Variations (for Flute and Piano), by J. Rosamond Johnson, arranged by Evelyn Simpson-Curenton,
Theodore Presser, www.presser.com.
Oboist Elaine Douvas, of Local 802 (New York City), has transcribed Maurice Ravel’s work for solo piano, Alborada del Gracioso, for oboe and piano. Ravel’s Alborada is popular with audiences for its exuberant flair, its Spanish rhythms, and the mysterious, rhapsodic “Jester’s soliloquy” forming the middle section. Douvas’ transcription springs from her belief that a musician can greatly expand his/her tone, technique, and interpretive ability by playing pieces not written for one’s own instrument.
Maurice Ravel: Alborada del Gracioso, transcribed by Elaine Douvas, TrevCo Music Publishing, www.trevcomusic.com.
For High Voice and Piano
Powerfully poignant and equally tender, My Dearest Ruth is composer Stacy Garrop’s musical setting of the final love letter from Martin Ginsburg to his wife, the opera-loving Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, only days before Martin’s passing. Commissioned by the family to celebrate Justice Ginsburg’s 80th birthday, the work later became a highlight of the Cedille Records CD, Notorious RBG in Song. My Dearest Ruth is a moving 6½-minute scene, touching in sound, deeply dramatic in meaning.
My Dearest Ruth, by Stacy Garrop, Theodore Presser Company, www.presser.com.
This collection includes 24 songs by legend and revered singer-songwriter John Prine, of Local 257 (Nashville, TN) before he passed away in April 2020 from COVID-19 complications, in arrangements for piano, voice, and guitar with chord symbols, guitar chord frames, and full lyrics.
The John Prine Sheet Music Collection, Hal Leonard, www.halleonard.com.
