Paul Austin

During the 2022–23 season, I visited ten ICSOM orchestras where I met with musician committees. The common theme for all of the groups was a need for cohesion with their colleagues on the heels of the pandemic. As a result, ICSOM Chairperson Keith Carrick and I presented a breakout session “Building Cohesive Colleagues” at the 2023 ICSOM conference in Milwaukee.

Many of the ideas that Keith and I described during our session came from working with Randy Whatley, President of Cypress Media, and the training that he had given the Musicians of the Utah Symphony and the Grand Rapids Symphony Musicians Association a few years ago. We explored tangible items such as a new musician handbook and a musician newsletter, with examples given from the players associations in Utah and Grand Rapids.

A first step in building the relationship with colleagues is to welcome them when they join the orchestra. A new musician handbook (as a PDF) is an excellent resource and introduction to the bargaining unit. Ideally, the handbook should be sent to all of your colleagues on a regular basis, as it contains information that would be helpful for them to have at their fingertips. Its contents should provide a welcoming statement, a brief history of the orchestra and the players’ association, an explanation of AFM membership at both the national and local levels as well as the various dues, details about ICSOM membership, an explanation of the Weingarten rights (https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/your-rights/weingarten-rights), a current list of committee and staff members, and points of interest for those who are relocating to your city. The bylaws of the musicians association could be provided in the appendix section. It would be wise to share a draft of the handbook with your local and attorney in advance of giving it to your colleagues, in order to ensure accuracy and check legalities—especially for those who are in right-to-work-for-less states. The musicians of the Utah Symphony have an excellent handbook that has been used as a template for many other players’ associations when crafting their own version, and it is available at ICSOM’s website.

A musician newsletter can build a sense of camaraderie and pride within the players. The team that works on the newsletter may include an editor, writers, proofreaders, a keeper of the email addresses, and tech support for loading the contents. Colleagues are asked to submit ideas for future articles, and in turn they should share the newsletter via email and social media. Today’s option of an electronic version of a newsletter eliminates printing and mailing costs, and also provides a way to make corrections quickly and easily. The newsletter’s standard format could be an interview with a leader, items of interest about the players, tributes to retiring colleagues, and profiles of current musicians. I am very proud of the newsletter that the Grand Rapids Symphony Musicians’ Association publishes three times a year (https://www.grsmusiciansassociation.com/articles). We are fortunate in that GRSMA’s musician newsletter is shared by our management with the symphony’s board members, donors, and subscribers, as recently requested by an executive board member and upper management. Many articles include links to the symphony’s website to assist in promoting upcoming concerts, which in turn helps the entire organization.

Beyond handbooks and newsletters, the “Building Cohesive Colleagues” breakout session gave suggestions for in-person events. For starters, we encouraged regular in-person meetings of the bargaining unit. During COVID, those meetings necessarily occurred via Zoom and became the norm in many places. However, while electronic sessions are convenient, they do not replace the benefits of face-to-face communication with colleagues to build productive relationships. Part of our pandemic recovery should be the return of in-person meetings. 

We also encouraged get-togethers outside of the workplace, as cultivating bonds with others usually cannot happen during rehearsals or meetings. These activities also fell by the wayside during COVID and can range from outreach activities and orchestra meals to hosting community events and a new musician breakfast. As recently reported in Senza Sordino, the musicians of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra have enjoyed a longstanding and fulfilling relationship with their neighbors at Miriam’s Kitchen (https://www.icsom.org/senzasordino/2023/01/kcoho-at-miriams-kitchen/). ICSOM congratulates the KCOHO musicians for this outreach program, which holds great meaning for all who are involved.

Mentoring newly hired-colleagues also goes a long way in building cohesion. This can be achieved simply with a buddy system—someone who regularly checks in on the new player to see how they are adjusting to the new work environment and city, and encourages them to attend musician meetings and activities. It could also be more official, with a mentor assigned as a point person for this task. This designated mentor should be a tenured musician of the orchestra, not a member of management, and not a member of the musician’s tenure review committee. It should be someone who is willing to put in the time, knows the contract very well, has been in the orchestra for awhile, and has the respect of their peers. Providing a mentor who shows the ropes to a new musician can go a long way for the success of that player’s tenure process. 

Why is all of this important? Because unity is key to having a successful bargaining unit, which in turn will lead to achieving healthy working relationships and progressive contracts. It can also lead to having more musicians participate on committees instead of a few people doing all of the work, which frequently leads to burnout. Remember the famous saying “a house divided against itself cannot stand?” Combined activities are noticed and heard. Collective actions have strength and power. Cohesive colleagues are necessary and vital. 

Keith and I enjoyed giving this presentation, and our slides are available at ICSOM’s website (password protected link — sign on to the website for access https://www.icsom.org/conferences/docs/BUILDING-COHESIVE-COLLEAGUES.pdf). We would like to continue to hear from you about any activities that have assisted in building cohesive colleagues in your orchestra.  

Paul and Keith, bonding and hanging with the Oregon Symphony musicians’ committee after one of their October 2023 concerts.
Photo Credit: Martha Long