Issue: October 2016
Of the many lessons absorbed during ICSOM’s 2016 conference, one of my “eureka” moments took place far from the air-conditioned comfort of Loews Madison. Nats Park on a sticky summer night might not conjure images of a setting ripe for introspective discovery, but then again, learning can take place at any time, any place. Although I dislike the term ex-patriot (expat) with its implications of … [Read more...]
Issue: October 2016
The commute couldn’t be beat. When sitting in traffic along the way to New York’s Lincoln Center from my home in New Jersey, I can’t help wistfully recalling a time when I could take a boat to work. The high-speed ferry ride lasted 11 minutes over the most beautiful harbor in the world, docking at Sydney’s busy transport hub, the Circular Quay, within steps of my destination: the breathtaking … [Read more...]
Issue: October 2016
At the ICSOM conference in Washington DC, Dr. Heather Malyuk, a full-time music audiologist, offered vital information about hearing damage and loss and the best ways to proactively avoid and/or treat them. She urged us to take care of our hearing with the same devotion that athletes keep themselves in shape, and to think of ourselves as “small muscle athletes”. Trained as a violinist, she … [Read more...]
Issue: October 2016
On Wednesday, September 21, all of the employees of Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Duke Energy in Charlotte, NC, were told to go home in anticipation of planned protests over the police shooting of Keith Scott. Downtown was basically being evacuated. In the nine years I’ve lived in Charlotte I never have witnessed anything like the frenetic exit that all were attempting to make. That night the … [Read more...]
Issue: October 2016
Detroit Honors Exceptional Giving The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) recently celebrated the extraordinary generosity of Peter Cummings and his wife Julie, whose accumulated giving to the DSO has exceeded $10 million. The Music Box, a multi-purpose entertaining space, was renamed the Peter D. & Julie F. Cummings Cube. The Cube is located within the Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Music … [Read more...]
Issue: October 2016
Lew Mancini Whereas, Lew Mancini had a long and active career with the American Federation of Musicians (AFM), beginning with his membership in Local 248 Patterson, New Jersey, and continuing through his work for seven different AFM presidents; and Whereas, The AFM was a family business for Lew as the son-in-law of Bob Crothers, the former executive assistant to AFM President Hal Davis, … [Read more...]
Issue: June 2016
The contract negotiations in Grand Rapids that culminated in a tentative agreement in mid-March and a ratified contract in April were like a thousand-piece jigsaw: the solution, which seemed impossible even after a great deal of struggle, suddenly and miraculously fell into place after incremental and seemingly insignificant progress. This negotiation made history for us. The story of this … [Read more...]
Issue: June 2016
Since our new President and CEO Scott Showalter joined us in the fall of 2014, the past two seasons at the Oregon Symphony have been marked by an upswing in fundraising, ticket sales, and general morale. The organization has transformed from one that endured two full seasons (2012-13 and 2013-14) with no official executive leadership and the threat of complete collapse, to one that has seen an … [Read more...]
Issue: Chairperson's Reports
Recently, I was in a used bookstore in Franklin, North Carolina, a tiny mountain town west of Asheville. On the plywood shelves I found a collection of ten disintegrating copies of The Etude, a current events classical music magazine, from 1947. Every page is fascinating, even though the magazines are so moldy they make your eyes water and your lungs ache. There are reports of Stravinsky working … [Read more...]
Issue: Counsel's Columns
In April, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a landmark ruling for professional symphonic musicians. In upholding the NLRB’s determination that the musicians of the Lancaster Symphony are employees—not independent contractors—the Court settled the question once and for all. Symphony musicians are entitled to all the rights and protections that accompany employee status. It is now crystal … [Read more...]
