Recently WQXR in New York held a panel discussion called American Orchestras: Endangered Species? And, unfortunately, I’m afraid the title of the session betrayed its bias. The session began with the moderator pronouncing that “orchestras from Honolulu to New Mexico to Syracuse have shut down entirely.” It is this sort of misleading language from within our own field that leads to negative … [Read more...]

As I write this, I have begun my preparations for the 98th Convention of the American Federation of Musicians, to be held June 21–25 in Las Vegas. I will arrive with the hope that we will create a more unified union, but I will also arrive with trepidation that the atmosphere of internal fighting and negativity will persist. I believe that the way things are is not the way things have to be. … [Read more...]

In May 2007 I wrote an article for Senza Sordino about my travels as ICSOM chairman during my first fifteen months in office. At the time I estimated that I had traveled over 40,000 miles to meet with the musicians of ICSOM and the AFM. Now, three years later, it is impossible for me even to attempt to estimate how far I have traveled to visit with musicians in North America and Europe. ICSOM’s … [Read more...]