Tag Archives: recent news

International Musician, Recent News

Yamaha Share the Gift Campaign Helps Rebuild School Music Programs

Music programs for students in Texas and Florida schools have been deeply affected by hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Schools have sustained damage or had to close indefinitely, leaving districts scrambling for resources. The Houston Independent School District alone lost $1 million in instruments across 13 campuses.

Yamaha Corporation of America, in conjunction with the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, is helping to rebuild these music programs. Now through December 31, if you post a photo or video explaining how music education has changed your life with the #YamahaSharetheGift hashtag on Twitter or Instagram, or submit a video through YouTube via the Share the Gift website (www.yamaha.com/us/sharethegift/), the company will donate a brand new instrument to Music Rising, the disaster relief fund of the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation.

International Musician, Recent News

FIA Issues Declaration on Sexual Harassment

In October, the International Federation of Actors (FIA) Executive Committee approved a declaration on sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation in the entertainment and media industries. The declaration, authored and sponsored by SAG-AFTRA, recognizes the rights of all performers to a safe and harassment-free working environment and urges the industry to work in good faith with unions and performer organizations to develop a long-term strategy to achieve discrimination and harassment free workplaces.

“The scandal involving Harvey Weinstein revealed problems that were all to familiar to women—and men—in our industry. We know that sexism in our industry is real. We know that there are sexual harassers who use their power to intimidate. And we know that this needs to change. And as union leaders we are taking a stand—we seek nothing less than a major cultural shift,” says FIA President Ferne Downey.

International Musician, Recent News

MTT to Step Down as San Francisco Symphony MD

San Francisco Symphony Music Director and Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas announced he will step down as music director at the end of the 2019-2020 season. Thomas, who has been credited with propelling the symphony to international recognition, will celebrate his 25th season at the helm and his 75th birthday in December 2019.

As a member of Locals 9-535 (Boston, MA) and 47 (Los Angeles, CA), Thomas has promised to continue in the post of music director laureate, conducting at least four weeks per year and working on special programming projects. He is credited with altering San Francisco Symphony’s performance style, while expanding repertoire to include emphasis on American and contemporary composers, as well as theatrical music. He also promoted music education and outreach, including his multimedia project Keeping Score.

International Musician, Recent News

Metro Workers Bring Safety Concerns to Metro

Following a string of attacks on bus drivers and other safety disputes, members of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 689 brought its concerns to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) board meeting. Representing 9,200 frontline workers, Local 689 has said that employees will stop working if they encounter what the union believes are unsafe working conditions.

“Metro uses any excuse they can to take you away from the narrative that we are working in unsafe conditions,” says ATU Local 689 President Jackie Jeter. “If I am a worker and I encounter an unsafe situation, I should have the right to take myself out of that situation until safety is procured.”

Local 689 and Metro management negotiation reached an impasse this summer—more than a year after the previous four-year deal expired. It will now be up to an arbitrator to settle the dispute over wages and benefits.

International Musician, Recent News

Charity Fights Mental Health Problems Among Musicians

A study published by the charity group Help Musicians UK looked at mental health within the music community. The research was driven by 26 in-depth interviews with musicians drawn from a pool of more than 2,000 respondents to the Can Music Make You Sick academic study. Among the contributing factors to musician mental health problems were money worries, poor working conditions, bullying, insecurity, and isolation from friends and family. Those issues are compounded by the reluctance of musicians to discuss problems due to fear of losing work.

Help Musicians UK made three policy recommendations to help address mental health crisis among musicians:

  • To embed discussion of mental health awareness in music education and promote wider understanding in the industry.
  • To create a code of best practice to demonstrate an organization’s awareness of mental health issues in the industry.
  • To ensure that mental health support services for the music community are both affordable and accessible.
International Musician, Recent News

Union Blasts Company for Using Out of State Contractors to Build Wind Farm

In October, the New York State Laborers Organizing Fund held a rally in front of the American Wind Energy Association investor conference in Manhattan, New York. The union says that the California-based company EDF Renewable Energy hired out-of-state workers to build a wind farm in Lewis County in order to avoid paying prevailing wages.

“EDF’s decision to use out-of-state contractors to perform work being subsidized by New York tax dollars is a disgrace,” says John Hutchings, director of the New York State Laborers Organizing Fund. “Public subsidies should come with public responsibilities. We should be using the state’s limited development resources to fund projects that provide middle class jobs.”

International Musician, Recent News

University of Chicago Grad Students Organize

In October, graduate students at the University of Chicago became the latest to vote to unionize, despite opposition from administrators. Currently, 12 academic institutions host Graduate Student Unions. Penn students faced the same opposition when they voted for unionization last year.

Senator Bernie Sanders, a 1964 UChicago graduate, commented in a letter: “Having a union ends the arrangement where the employer makes all the decisions unilaterally, and institutes a legal process where your union organization collectively bargains with the employer regarding the issues you have identified as needing improvement. I respect the critical work you do every day, and wish you the very best in your efforts to create a democratic workplace where your voice can really be heard.”

International Musician, Recent News

Tesla’s Firing Motives Questioned

Labor groups blasted the electric vehicle maker in a letter to Tesla executives, claiming union-supporters may have been dismissed because they raised issues about wages and safety in the plant. While Tesla insists the workers were let go because of poor performance, some workers among the 400 to 700 employees fired, claim they had consistently strong performance reviews before being let go. The National Labor Relations Board is also looking into whether Tesla harassed workers distributing union materials.

Tesla employs about 33,000 workers. The firings ranged from factory workers in Fremont to engineers at its Palo Alto headquarters. The company, which lost $336 million in the second quarter of the year, is preparing to ramp up production for its lower-cost Model 3 sedans. It has about 450,000 reservations for the all-electric vehicles and produced only 260 last quarter.

International Musician, Recent News

Call for Worker Protections for Hurricane Rebuilding

As workers in Houston’s labor force begin rebuilding after Hurricane Harvey, local organizers are concerned with ensuring they will be properly protected and compensated. Even before Harvey, conditions were tough for area construction workers, particularly among Houston’s large undocumented workforce (about 50% of construction workers).

A study with the University of Illinois found that about 40% of Houston construction workers have no benefits. Industry has dismantled worker protections in Texas for decades. No workers’ compensation insurance coverage is required and one construction worker dies on the job every day. Already there are reports of crews spending hours cleaning up only to be denied their promised pay.

International Musician, Recent News

Study Finds Jazz Musicians Have Unique Response to Unexpected Events

Wesleyan University Scientists used electroencephalography to examine the differences in the brain activity of classical and jazz musicians during unexpected chord progressions. The study, published in the journal, Brain and Cognition, included 12 jazz musicians (with improvisation training), 12 classical musicians (without improvisation training), and 12 non-musicians, observing them while they listened to a series of chord progressions. Some progressions were typical of western music and others were unexpected progressions. Jazz musicians had a different response to the unexpected progressions that demonstrated increased perceptual sensitivity to unexpected stimuli along with an increased engagement with unexpected events.