Issue: June 2018
The Phoenix Symphony has a very extensive community outreach program, reaching not only thousands of children in the education programs, but also sending musicians out to homeless shelters, rehab centers, hospitals, and most recently, the Hospice of the Valley. The most recent addition to these amazing and powerful programs is a clinical study about the effects of live music on dementia and … [Read more...]
Issue: June 2018
The B-Sharp Music Wellness: a W.O.N.D.E.R. Project Alzheimer’s Research Initiative (ARI) evaluates the impact of live music on Alzheimer’s patients through a six-week program of musical interventions. Our team comprises a groundbreaking coalition of experts representing Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, Arizona State University’s (ASU) College of Nursing and Health Innovation, University of … [Read more...]
Issue: June 2018
JoAnn Falletta has announced her intention to end her tenure as the Music Director of the Virginia Symphony after two more seasons. In the 2020–2021 season, the Virginia Symphony will celebrate its centennial, and JoAnn explained to the musicians that she preferred to have that milestone be entirely forward looking (with a new Music Director either in place or arriving soon with great fanfare) … [Read more...]
Issue: June 2018
Violins of Hope and Schindler’s List Too The Violins of Hope project, which brought approximately 25 violins, a viola, and a cello to Nashville from mid-March to June 2, was nearly 27 months in the making. The instruments, collected and restored by father and son Amnon and Avshi Weinstein and played by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust, survived concentration camps, pogroms, and long journeys … [Read more...]
Issue: June 2018
When I joined the ICSOM Governing Board in 2002, a top priority was to bring our orchestras together to discuss electronic media. We recognized that the ICSOM Media Committee had to be expanded and become more diverse, while also being inclusive of the many viewpoints within ICSOM. We also knew that we needed a chair who was an expert and was well respected within ICSOM and the AFM. Our unanimous … [Read more...]
Issue: Editor's Reports
The Pension Fix is In? I have been interested in financial issues all of my adult life, and in the state of the American Federation of Musicians and Employers’ Pension Fund (AFM-EPF, or the Fund) ever since I became a participant. I have been concerned about the latter ever since it entered critical status in the aftermath of the Great Recession. My second column as editor (back in December 2014) … [Read more...]
Issue: March 2018
In December 2011, the Louisville Orchestra Inc. filed for bankruptcy and attempted to reject the musicians’ contract in federal court. Upon advice of labor counsel, Liza Hirsch Medina, the Louisville Orchestra musicians immediately engaged the most reputable local bankruptcy attorneys and defeated that effort. We were able to keep our contract and continued to work for its duration. After the … [Read more...]
Issue: March 2018
The last year has been tumultuous for the Musicians of the San Antonio Symphony. Our collective emotions have ranged from cautious optimism to total despair as the events of the last year have unfolded. Last spring, the Musicians of the San Antonio Symphony were notified of a plan for a takeover of the Symphony by three of the largest foundations in San Antonio, the Tobin Endowment, the … [Read more...]
Issue: Chairperson's Reports
The 21st Annual Sphinx Competition and SphinxConnect conference were held at the Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center, January 31 to February 4. ICSOM has been a supporter of the Sphinx Competition since 1998, and this year President Paul Austin and I attended, along with AFM SSD Director Rochelle Skolnick; Susan Ayoub, Secretary-Treasurer of Detroit Local 5; Alfonso Pollard, AFM … [Read more...]
Issue: March 2018
The founding of ICSOM in the early 1960s was a result of the desire and need that symphonic musicians felt to have greater control in their contract negotiations. ICSOM was the first of what are now five player conferences within the AFM. The other groups are composed of musicians who perform in US regional (ROPA) and Canadian (OCSM) orchestras, theatre musicians (TMA), and musicians of the … [Read more...]
