Issues Addressed By ICSOM

Many topics have been addressed in Senza Sordino and at ICSOM conferences by guest speakers, in workshops, and in floor discussions. The following list suggests the number and range of topics.

Reviewing ICSOM newsletters, correspondence, and conference minutes, one sees threads that run through the years: issues addressed, concepts articulated, and projects undertaken. Some goals were achieved, some aborted; some efforts are still sustained, others have ebbed. In the following text, some of the major threads have been linked to show when and why certain ideas and projects got started, where they went, where they finished or where they are now, and occasionally to suggest some conclusions.

Communications

One of the very first goals of ICSOM, articulated at the 1962 meetings, was an inter-orchestra newsletter. It was not long in coming, and it is still with us. Senza Sordino, first published in January 1963, is now sent not only to over 4,000 musicians in member orchestras but to managers, local union officials, orchestra trustees, critics, retired musicians, legal firms, government and arts agencies, libraries, and foreign orchestras.

One of its principal features for many years, a chart of wages and working conditions, had its forerunners in charts prepared by the St. Louis Symphony in 1958 and the Chicago Symphony in 1962. Charts, ever more comprehensive, continued to appear every year until 1971, when publication was taken over by the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) in cooperation with ICSOM. Senza Sordino continues to publish a mini-chart of wages each year.

To serve as a repository for contracts and to provide quick dissemination of information, a Contract and Rapid Communications Center (CRCC) in Baltimore was established at the 1964 conference. As orchestra contracts became available from ICSOM legal counsel and the AFM Symphony Department, the CRCC gradually became inactive and ceased operation in the middle 1970’s. Bulletins were subsequently prepared and mailed by the ICSOM secretary. In recent years, bulletin information has also been posted electronically on Orchestra-L, the ICSOM computer subscription news service.

A third communications publication, the ICSOM Directory, was first published in 1972. The directory was published every two years until 1995, when it began being published annually.

To facilitate communication between ICSOM and member orchestras, four geographical regions were created in 1969, and the ICSOM Executive Board was enlarged to include vice-chairs for each region; in 1971, a Canadian region was added. In 1984, the regional vice-chair positions were discontinued in favor of a more comprehensive office, the governing board members-at-large. A President’s Council was also created in 1984 to develop greater contact with orchestra committee leadership, and this mechanism has been effectively used from time to time since its inception.

The goal behind such communication—the mutual sharing of ideas, of solutions to problems, of contract information—is to help each orchestra negotiate more effectively, improve its position, and thus improve the lot of the community of orchestras.

It was this strategy that led delegates to the decision in May 1962 to call for annual conferences, and delegates have met every year since ICSOM’s founding. The most intense exchange of information and ideas, and the greatest personal contact and communication among delegates, continues to take place at these events. Additionally, meetings of representatives of negotiating orchestras have occasionally been held under ICSOM aegis. For maximum effectiveness, conferences and meetings rely on delegate continuity and orchestras’ willingness to share, conditions not always in evidence.

Since the mid-1990’s ICSOM has taken increasing advantage of cyber-technology. An online newsletter, DOS Orchestra (with apologies to the German magazine Das Orchester), was established in 1994, and some fifty issues were published. DOS Orchestra was superseded in 1995 by the more elaborate Internet mailing list, Orchestra-L, providing news service and opportunity for discussion. An ICSOM website (www.icsom.org) was established in 1996 and makes available much material for research and downloading, including all issues of Senza Sordino. A CD-ROM containing all back issues of Senza Sordino, orchestra collective bargaining agreements, and other information was created in 1997 and is regularly updated and distributed. The mastermind behind all these projects was former webmaster Robert Levine.

A communications network that brings information and support to orchestras nationwide is one of ICSOM’s greatest accomplishments, yet the full potential of that network cannot be realized if orchestras fail to provide information for bulletins, for charts, and for the newsletter. Laxity seems to increase as an orchestra’s situation improves. No conference goes by without a plea from the officers for greater input from the membership. top

ICSOM-AFM Relations

A major issue from the very creation of ICSOM has been the relationship of this small but prestigious special-interest group and the American Federation of Musicians. Despite some opinion within ICSOM’s ranks that disaffiliation from the Federation would better serve the interests of orchestra musicians, the organization has, from its earliest meetings and in its statement of purpose formulated in September 1962, espoused the principle of working with and within the AFM to accomplish change.

From its inception ICSOM asked the AFM to amend its bylaws to grant orchestra musicians the right to form committees, conduct their own affairs, participate in the negotiation of their contracts, and to ratify those contracts. It called upon the Federation to establish a department for symphony affairs, to allow musicians to participate in the negotiation of national media contracts and to have only those musicians affected ratify those contracts, to help establish a strike fund, and to assist in problems with repressive local unions. The last was often met with the invocation of the principle of local autonomy as the AFM rationale for non-interference with its locals.

To air these concerns, ICSOM invited AFM officials to annual conferences, and ICSOM officers met with AFM officials at Federation offices.

Efforts to amend AFM bylaws Article XXII (now Article XX, dealing with symphony orchestras) to define the role of ICSOM and establish basic rights of symphony musicians proved problematic. Revision was first advocated in 1962. Proposals drafted by an ICSOM committee formed in June 1963 were judged by delegates in September to be too comprehensive and far-reaching. There was still lack of agreement on wording in 1964, probably born of uncertainty about exactly what relationship ICSOM should have with the AFM and what authority the AFM could and should exercise over its locals; the matter was again referred to committee. In 1966, there still being no unity on recommendations, the implementation and presentation of revisions was left to the ICSOM Executive Committee, which proposed sending the latest revision to member orchestras for approval.

During the 1965-1966 season, the ICSOM Executive Committee met three times with the AFM International Executive Board to discuss revisions of Article XXII. While the ICSOM officers were invited at AFM expense to discuss their grievances, the IEB voted to prohibit orchestras from discussing bylaws revisions because they “were not in the best interests of the AFM.” Chairman Zazofsky concluded that ICSOM needed a lawyer to help deal with the IEB. Meanwhile, as Zazofsky noted in 1965, even without bylaws changes, orchestra committees, participation in negotiations, and ratification had become almost universally accepted practices even if not established in law. Merely making a fuss over these matters, especially at the symposia held by the AFM in New York in 1962 and 1963, had encouraged locals to allow these privileges. By the time ratification rights became part of AFM bylaws in 1983 virtually every orchestra had long been ratifying its contracts. (Problems have arisen even after adoption of this bylaw; at the 1985 conference the New York City Ballet reported on Local 802’s refusal to approve a contract ratified by the musicians.)

Delegates answered Zazofsky’s plea for a lawyer in 1967 by empowering the executive committee to retain counsel as needed, and at the 1968 conference the New York labor lawyer they had engaged as interim counsel, I. Philip Sipser, was retained as ICSOM counsel. Sipser addressed the conference on ICSOM-AFM relations, advocating ICSOM’s seeking conference status within the AFM to achieve its goals. Delegates had called for such a relationship as early as the 1965 conference.

That status was officially granted January 21, 1969; its advantages were questioned almost immediately at the following conference. Dissatisfaction with AFM attitudes towards ICSOM were expressed by counsel Sipser, chairman Zazofsky, and others. Among the complaints: No progress had been made on a strike fund proposal; there still was no full-time symphony department; the replacement of Gil Rogers by Robert Crothers as AFM president Kenin’s assistant on symphony affairs was done without consulting ICSOM; and ICSOM had been allowed only a minimal role in recent recording negotiations. There was discussion pro and con about ICSOM’s retaining conference status. Baltimore local president and IEB member Victor Fuentealba, representing the AFM, promised to work for improved communications between ICSOM and the IEB on these matters.

On September 15, 1970, the AFM Symphony-Opera Strike Fund, begun with a $250,000 loan (essentially a line of credit) from the Federation, took effect. Although some delegates to the 1970 conference were unhappy that the fund would be administered by the AFM and not ICSOM, the subsequent success of the fund is difficult to refute: since its inception the fund has paid out nearly $5 million to over 40 orchestras on strike or locked out. By 2001, Over 60 orchestras had contributed to the Fund.

At the 1971 conference, ICSOM chairman Ralph Mendelson could report that the March 1971 AFM symphony symposium was the most successful ever; unlike the past, no topic was ruled out of order for discussion. Also in 1971, the AFM, in consultation with ICSOM, began publishing the rapidly expanding wage chart that was becoming too cumbersome to print in Senza Sordino. Yet in 1972, it was noted that while the strike fund trustees enjoyed a good relationship, ICSOM officers encountered difficulties and frictions with AFM officers and AFM counsel Henry Kaiser, particularly in efforts to exempt orchestra musicians from federal wage controls. It was resolved that ICSOM-AFM relations be scrutinized by the ICSOM Executive Committee, in Senza Sordino, at orchestra meetings, and by local unions. Phil Sipser presented a lecture on ICSOM-AFM relations, and Sam Denov felt it important that the Music Performance Trust Fund (MPTF) be scrutinized. At the 1973 conference, relations were reported improved, especially by ICSOM being allowed greater participation in recording negotiations.

In 1979 ICSOM secretary Stanley Dombrowski complained of shabby treatment while an observer at the AFM convention; as a result of his experience, ICSOM requested improvements in status, voice, reimbursement, and registration procedure. These were achieved the following year, but were overshadowed by the resolution imposing 1% Federation work dues, the result of which was that 3,919 symphony orchestra musicians (1.3% of the Federation) would carry 37% of the AFM budget. Delegates to the 1980 ICSOM conference deplored contributing so heavily to the Federation while having so little voting power, and they passed a resolution to resist by all legal means and to try to repeal the tax. Another serious gripe at the 1980 ICSOM conference was the publication of the new recording contract with wording at variance with what had been negotiated and ratified. Delegates passed a resolution to explore restructuring the relationship between ICSOM and the AFM.

Melanie Burrell, as ICSOM observer, addressed delegates to the 1981 AFM convention and presented the ICSOM view of the Federation work dues resolution as unfair to orchestra musicians; unsympathetic AFM delegates voted to continue the work dues. The executive committee was urged to explore trade division status for ICSOM. Although better relations developed with the media committee, culminating in the 1982 negotiation of an audio-visual agreement that offered revenue sharing to musicians, the issue of work dues and union services continued to smolder at each conference.

In 1983 a full-time Symphony Department was established at the AFM, with Lew Waldeck as director. Prior to that time, presidential assistants with other duties had served as liaisons with ICSOM and orchestras, looking after symphony affairs on a part-time basis, even after a Symphony Department was established in name in 1970. A second Symphony Department office was opened Hollywood, California, in 1986 and was relocated to Colorado Springs in 19- 92. Florence Nelson succeeded Waldeck as director in 1994. With the IEB adoption of the Roehl Report in 1990, the Symphony Department became the Symphonic Services Division (SSD). Janice Galassi succeeded Florence Nelson as director in 2001.

In the 1980s and 1990s ICSOM-AFM relations, and relations between orchestras and their locals, were strained by a continuing dilemma: orchestra musicians, with fixed contracts, high visibility, and steady wages, paid a high percentage of union dues, sometimes with little return in services; at the same time they constituted a small percentage of the total membership and thus had virtually no voting power when matched against the many part-time musicians and life members in the union.

At the 1985 ICSOM conference, AFM president Victor Fuentealba attended for the entire week as official representative of the Federation—a first in ICSOM history. Fuentealba presented a history of union finances, noted the disparity between dues paid and services received, and announced plans to hold a national meeting of orchestra musicians and local officers, a meeting subsequently held in Chicago in May 1986. A resolution at the 1986 ICSOM conference urged the AFM to establish a minimal level of union services to orchestras, including payment of fees for professional negotiators, arbitration costs, and expenses incurred by ICSOM delegates in attending annual conferences, with the AFM helping locals when needed.

Fuentealba appointed a joint committee to propose solutions to work dues problems to the IEB for action to the next AFM convention, but the committee failed to formulate mutually satisfactory solutions. However, proposals requiring locals to provide competent representation and to make reasonable efforts to collect work dues from all members did win approval at the 1987 AFM convention.

Not satisfied, ICSOM delegates in 1987 called for the formation of an ICSOM committee (subsequently called the Structure Committee) to examine the structure and finances of the AFM. A Summit Committee was also formed, consisting of the chairs of the four player conferences. At the 1988 conference the Structure Committee gave an extensive report on its research and deliberations, and it recommended pursuing the possibility of symphony, opera, and ballet orchestra musicians forming a trade division within the AFM; a resolution asked the governing board to pursue the establishment of a joint committee to formulate a working model of such a trade division, including its governance and financing. The Trade Division Committee, composed of representatives of ICSOM, ROPA, OCSM, RMA, and the AFM was subsequently formed for this purpose.

As a result of this activity, gains were won at the 1989 AFM convention: the player conferences were given voice without vote, and locals were mandated to provide services to orchestras; if they could not or would not comply, the Federation would assist. This provision was later implemented by the creation of the AFM’s Orchestra Services Program (OSP). A labor consultant retained by ICSOM, Bill Roehl, working with the Trade Division Committee, prepared a report in August 1989 for presentation to the AFM IEB. With the adoption of portions of the report in March 1990, the Symphony Department became the Symphonic Services Division (SSD), the Media Department became the Electronic Media Services Division (EMSD), and the Summit Committee became the Player Conference Council (PCC).

In 1990, AFM president J. Martin Emerson convened a “blue ribbon” panel to propose work dues reforms at the 1991 AFM convention, and union finances and services were the major focus of the 1990 ICSOM conference. A panel discussed accessing the AFM; there were many complaints about the EMSD. A resolution called for increased staffing and better service from the SSD and EMSD. AFM and local finances and services were extensively examined, including ICSOM orchestras’ dues contributions relative to membership; it was noted that the constituency of the four player conferences, composing 5.4% of the AFM, paid over 55% of AFM work dues collected. A resolution urged the Blue Ribbon Committee to take bold steps to address the financial and structural problems of the union.

At the 1991 AFM convention, dues were increased, with orchestra work dues going specifically to fund services by the Symphonic Services Division. Bylaw amendments, developed by the ICSOM Structure Committee and the AFM’s Blue Ribbon Committee, mandating that certain services be provided by locals to orchestras, were adopted. At the 1991 ICSOM conference, ICSOM labor consultant Bill Roehl spoke about the AFM bylaws changes and led delegates in a discussion of the services orchestras expected the AFM Symphonic Services Division to provide. An extensive list developed, including databases on many topics, monitoring media activity, and education and training for committees and local officers.

Dissatisfied that some provisions of the Blue Ribbon agreement were not being lived up to, delegates again sought remedy following the 1997 AFM convention, where measures to address the Federation’s severe financial straits had not been taken. A panel at the 1997 ICSOM conference addressed restructuring the AFM. Resolutions called for increased staffing and funding for the Symphonic Services Division and for the formation of an Investigative Task Force (ITF) to study ways to enhance the AFM’s services, efficiency, and resources. Planning began for a meeting of all five player conferences in Las Vegas in 1998—the historic Unity Conference. Subsequent issues of Senza Sordino provided extensive background in preparation for Unity: a history of dissent and union democracy in the AFM, an examination of AFM finances and services (“Dues and Don’ts”), explorations of restructuring the AFM, and reports on the activities of the Investigative Task Force.

At the 1998 Unity Conference, the Investigative Task Force presented its proposals to be acted upon at the 1999 AFM convention. The ITF proposed greater AFM emphasis on organizing; establishment of a Conference Representatives Board (CRB); banning contractor/employers on union boards; better training for local union officers; inactive life membership; equitable universal work dues; student memberships in the AFM; moving AFM headquarters out of New York; and no extra charges for what work dues should cover. Resolutions urged ICSOM delegates to run for delegates to the 1999 AFM convention and asked the ICSOM Governing Board to instruct delegates in specific strategies during the year to see that the ITF proposals were passed at the 1999 AFM convention. The entire AFM International Executive Board (IEB) attended an ICSOM session for dialogue with delegates.

The ITF met in Portland (Oregon) in December 1998 to formulate specific proposals to the 1999 AFM convention. Of concern to ICSOM were the dire financial problems of the AFM and the reduced funding and staffing in the AFM SSD. During the season a telephone survey of ICSOM orchestras was undertaken by ICSOM to ascertain the level of services provided by local unions and the AFM.

Some ITF proposals were enacted at the 1999 AFM convention, and progress was made barring employers from serving on local union boards. The proposal to establish a Conference Representatives Board was withdrawn in exchange for the IEB’s creation of an AFM Governance Task Force, composed of player conference and AFM leadership. More orchestra members served as delegates at the convention, and Brad Buckley and Fred Sautter (Oregon) had even been appointed to committee posts.

At the 2000 ICSOM conference, delegates called upon the AFM and Player Conference Council to research ways to enhance the participation of working musicians in the governance of the union. At the 2001 AFM convention, almost every ICSOM Governing Board member was present in some capacity, and many were appointed to AFM convention committees. More progress was made in removing contractors/employers from local union boards and in allowing board members to speak and vote on issues affecting bargaining units to which they belonged. Player-conference musicians attending as AFM convention delegates and serving in the upper levels of AFM deliberation and decision-making had much to do with the success of playerconference initiatives at the 1999 and 2001 AFM conventions. top

Job Security: The Bob Danielson Case

From the very first meeting, ICSOM delegates expressed concern about job security. A situation in San Antonio soon provided a focus for ICSOM action, and it remains the most prominent example of ICSOM’s efforts to address a local problem concerning dismissals.

In 1964 Senza Sordino called readers’ attention to the case of Bob Danielson, a San Antonio Symphony musician whose contract had not been renewed at the end of the 1962-63 season, a year during which he had been active as committee spokesman. When the San Antonio local denied Danielson assistance, he filed charges with the AFM against the local for failing to defend him. The AFM dismissed the charges.

In 1966, delegates instructed the ICSOM Executive Committee to ask AFM president Herman Kenin to re-open the Danielson case. Danielson attended the 1967 conference and addressed the delegates, who again called for an IEB review. Members of the ICSOM Executive Committee met with members of the AFM IEB in New York City in November 1967, and shortly thereafter President Kenin sent an AFM traveling representative and special assistant Gil Rogers to San Antonio, resulting in the local’s understanding that contract negotiations would proceed with the input of the orchestra committee, and with the reinstatement of Bob Danielson in the San Antonio Symphony as a condition of a new contract. This appeared to be a satisfactory resolution of a long and difficult struggle and a validation of ICSOM’s efforts to address a repressive local situation through contact with the Federation. An article in Senza Sordino in 1968 hailed the victory.

Yet at the 1969 and 1970 conferences problems of discipline and dismissal in San Antonio were once again a focus of attention. During the 1968-69 season, eight San Antonio musicians, including Bob Danielson, faced trumped-up management charges in reprisal for their efforts to improve working conditions. The local heard the charges, tried the cases, found all musicians guilty, and levied fines. An appeal to the IEB brought a reversal of the local action, but Danielson and others almost immediately received non-renewal notices. Although the non-renewal notices were issued past the contract deadline, the local ruled them valid. Contrary to assurances by Gil Rogers, who had negotiated the dismissals clause, the local ruled against the dismissed musicians, who in turn appealed to the IEB, which upheld the local’s rulings. Redress was sought in the courts, including $600,000 in damages. Two years later, in 1971, an out-of-court settlement was reached: $4,000 was paid to the discharged musician-plaintiffs, who dropped the suit. Thus ended the saga.

It is hard to view the resolution of the Danielson case with full satisfaction. The musicians were successfully evicted and out of work or working elsewhere and not greatly compensated for years of grief. One defendant could say only that the symphony society, the conductor, and the local union “knew they were in a fight.”

The Danielson case challenged the effectiveness of ICSOM and the AFM in dealing with problems caused by a repressive management, an autocratic conductor, and a non-supportive local union. It would seem that neither national organization was able to deal swiftly or successfully with a frustrating local situation.

A repressive atmosphere remained. During the 1970-71 season 31 San Antonio Symphony members (not a majority of total membership) voted to pull out of ICSOM, apparently as a gesture of goodwill toward management and in response to pressure from management and conductor, hoping to get a better contract; they did not. The orchestra rejoined ICSOM in 1977.

Job security and dismissals cases continue to be a concern of ICSOM. A case in Atlanta was reported by Senza Sordino in 1992. ICSOM legal counsel Leonard Leibowitz, who is frequently consulted on cases involving job security and dismissals, gave a workshop on the topic at the conference in 1996. top

Media Activity

Since the very first meetings of ICSOM in 1962, when committees were established to study the entire field of electronic exploitation and to survey orchestra activity, media work has been a major focus at every ICSOM conference. Among topics frequently discussed are phonograph recording; broadcasting and taping for commercial radio and television, cable and pay TV, NPR, PBS, NET and, most recently, the Internet; radio taping compensated by payment to pension funds; home-use audio and videocassettes; copyright laws, royalties, and revenue sharing; service conversion; limited pressings; special sessions paid at rates at variance with national rates; conductors and recording companies working abroad; illegal recording activity; and AFM enforcement of union recording rules and rates.

At the June 1963 conference, delegates empowered the ICOM Executive Committee to demand that the AFM allow it to participate in phonograph recording negotiations and that only musicians affected be allowed to ratify resulting contracts. In September delegates listed topics to discuss with AFM president Herman Kenin prior to upcoming recording negotiations. In response, ICSOM representatives were allowed to observe the negotiations. The degree of ICSOM participation in negotiations has varied over the years, full acceptance of ICSOM representation being noted in 1965. Although ICSOM delegates and AFM officers met in March 1968 to discuss upcoming negotiations, officers expressed dissatisfaction at the 1969 conference over ICSOM’s having been allowed only a minimal role in those negotiations. When similar dissatisfaction was expressed at the 1970 conference over lack of AFM consultation with ICSOM during TV and radio negotiations, a standing committee on recording, eventually the media committee, was formed.

At the following conference in 1971, that committee outlined an extensive plan for addressing problems and for stimulating recording activity and sales. By 1972 the committee had met twice with AFM representatives and managers to discuss recording and had joined in caucuses during negotiation of the new recording contract. The AFM continued to grant ICSOM greater involvement in recording negotiations in succeeding years. That trend was disrupted in 1980 when the recording contract was published with wording at variance with, and less advantageous than, what had been negotiated, calling into question the AFM’s seriousness in consulting ICSOM. However, in 1982, after a very active season for the media committee, the committee and the AFM could take pride in having negotiated a new and complex audio-visual contract that offered revenue sharing and ratification exclusively by signatory symphony, opera, and ballet orchestras. Recording negotiations in 1986 saw concessions regarding the Phonograph Manufacturers Special Payments Fund and the Music Performance Trust Fund. At the 1995 conference delegates considered ways to make recording available to smaller orchestras; they overwhelmingly opposed any reduction in current rates.

In 2000 Brad Buckley, chairman of the ICSOM media committee, explained the new Internet Agreement, negotiated by the Electronic Media Forum (EMF), a group of symphony-operaballet orchestra musicians and managers and AFM officers and staff. Facilitation had been used rather than traditional bargaining. The EMF used the same procedure to negotiate a subsequent Audio-Visual Agreement. In 2001 there was extended discussion about current phono negotiations, up-front payments, and the bargaining process being used by the EMF. A resolution called for fact-finding, a written report, and input from orchestras before proceeding. Following the 2002 conference, a survey was mailed to orchestras, a new ICSOM Electronic Media Committee was constituted, and an online forum, Media-L, was established. ICSOM and the AFM held a ‘media summit” in Chicago in March 2003.

Some special media issues have been given attention over the years:

Legislation and Funding for the Arts

Legislation and funding for the arts and symphonic music have long been an ICSOM concern. In 1963 delegates demanded government aid to the arts and enlisted the efforts of AFM president Herman Kenin to this end. Delegates to the 1964 conference passed resolutions urging ICSOM liaison with the National Council on the Arts and creation of an ICSOM committee to promote and support federal agencies and legislation beneficial to symphony and opera musicians. Federal tax legislation and funding for the arts were discussed extensively at the 1969 conference. Advocacy of a musician-manager-union “partnership for the arts” first appeared in Senza Sordino in 1971 and received attention at following conferences.

Delegates to the 1975 conference heard AFM president Hal Davis speak about the Federation’s legislative support program, Kansas City mayor Charles Wheeler speak on government support for orchestras, and New York congressman Fred Richmond (D) call for active support for his bill seeking a tax-form checkoff for support of the arts, a request reinforced by ICSOM counsel I. Philip Sipser.

A year later, Dr. Walter F. Anderson, director of the music program of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), reviewed the history and workings of the Endowment, and delegates moved to establish liaison with the NEA and to recommend prospects for the music panel membership. Not long thereafter, ICSOM chairman Irving Segall was appointed to the NEA music panel; he was followed over the years by Henry Shaw, Nancy Griffin, Fred Zenone, and Melanie Burrell. Adrian Gnam of the NEA music program addressed delegates in 1977, 1980, and 1982. In 1990, AFL-CIO spokesman Michael Gildea addressed the delegates on legislative action, and Antoinette Handy, director of the Music Program of the National Endowment for the Arts, reported on the working of the program and on the debate about recent Endowment grants to controversial projects; delegates passed a resolution of support for the Endowment. In 1993, Marion Godfrey, Program Director of Culture at the Pew Charitable Trusts, spoke about foundation funding for the arts.

In 1979 Washington attorney Bruce Lehman told delegates of a proposed Performance Copyright Bill that would ensure royalties for musicians, legislation advocated the following season in Senza Sordino.

In 1982 ICSOM attempted to start a legislative action program, with legislative action committees to be formed in each orchestra. Lewis Waldeck, and later Carolyn Parks, were appointed to coordinate these committees. Reports appeared in Senza Sordino in 1982 and 1983, but interest waned thereafter.

In 1982 ICSOM actively supported a lawsuit seeking federal tax deduction for a home music studio. Although this case was successful in the courts, the IRS has still sometimes refused this deduction. In 2001 a new tax court ruling tipped the scales more in the musicians%92 favor.

During the 1990’s Richard and Fiona Simon, of the New York Philharmonic, successfully fought and won a lengthy court battle against the IRS that resulted in the affirmation of a tax deduction for instrument depreciation. ICSOM assisted this effort financially, and ICSOM musicians have benefited greatly from this landmark decision.

In recent years ICSOM has maintained a legislative action committee, invited speakers to address delegates about effective advocacy of legislation, and encouraged support of government representatives sympathetic to the arts. Orchestras sent contributions to Congressman Sydney Yates in 1989, and supported Harvey Gantt in his unsuccessful bid in 1990 to unseat North Carolina’s Jesse Helms, an outspoken opponent of the National Endowment for the Arts. top

Education and Training for Orchestral Careers, Especially for Minorities

ICSOM has shown interest in the encouragement and education of musicians with potential to pursue orchestra careers through its active support of the annual AFM Congress of Strings (COS). In the early 1980’s, ICSOM officers served on the board of the COS, helping in muchneeded restructuring of its organization. Until the discontinuation of the COS, ICSOM provided two scholarships in the names of former chairmen George Zazofsky and Ralph Mendelson and, from 1987, an additional scholarship for a minority-group musician. Individual orchestras have undertaken projects to help aspiring musicians. A Senza Sordino article in 1968 reported on the Buffalo Philharmonic’s project to provide private music instruction to young black students.

ICSOM has long supported the Music Assistance Fund Orchestral Fellowships (MAFOF) program. At the 1976 conference, Dr. Leon Thompson, administrator of the Music Assistance Fund, spoke about the minority apprenticeship program, designed to provide talented minoritygroup musicians with professional experience that could lead to professional careers. An ICSOM committee was appointed to work with Dr. Thompson on implementation of the program, and ICSOM subsequently helped this program by auditioning prospective candidates. Reports on the Music Assistance Fund Orchestral Fellowship program, administered for many years by Daniel Windham, New York Philharmonic, were made regularly at following conferences.

In 1977, in addition to a formal expression of support for the MAFOF program, a resolution called for the establishment of a committee to study the furtherance of the aspirations of minority-group musicians; Senza Sordino reinforced this theme with articles on MAFOF and on minority training programs in different orchestras. ICSOM’s interest in this topic was especially evident in 1978, when Stanley Weinstein (New Orleans) gave a report on minority-group musicians in orchestras and Senza Sordino printed an extensive article on the topic. Articles on the Music Assistance Fund and on black musicians in orchestras also appeared in 1983, 1985, 1989, and 1991.

In 1987, spurred by the Detroit Symphony’s plight in having two state senators threaten to withhold state funding because they felt the DSO had not done enough to engage black musicians, ICSOM reaffirmed its advocacy of minority training and formed a committee to again explore what might be done to effectively further minority-group participation in orchestral performance. In 1988 almost an entire issue of Senza Sordino was dedicated to black musicians in American symphony orchestras. In 1989, Daniel Windham gave an extensive report on the MAFOF program and black musicians in symphony orchestras, and a position paper exploring achieving racial balance in orchestras was adopted.

Delegates to the 1993 ICSOM conference passed a resolution assessing each ICSOM orchestra an amount equal to $1 per member to be kept in a fund to support members of ethnic groups under-represented in US orchestras, including persons studying at music schools to be classical instrumentalists. These funds have been used since 1995-1996 to provide ICSOM awards to minority-group musicians in the MAFOF program, until recently sponsored by the American Symphony Orchestra League and administered by Alberto Gutierrez. The League recently turned the program over to the Sphinx Competition, a program providing financial support for African- American and Latino musicians, and in 2001 a resolution authorized the governing board to enter a pilot project to provide educational scholarships for winners of the Sphinx Competition. In 2003 ICSOM provided scholarship awards in the amount of $500 to each of nine senior semifinalists in the Sphinx Competition. top

Discrimination

Discrimination against musicians because of their age, sex, or race has been addressed at many conferences, beginning in June 1963 when delegates advocated inclusion of a non-discrimination clause in every symphony contract.

In 1966 ICSOM went on record opposing mandatory retirement and urging AFM support in this stance. In 1972 delegates passed a resolution opposing discriminatory mandatory retirement clauses. In 1973 Senza Sordino printed editorials on mandatory retirement and reported an outof- court settlement of a civil lawsuit filed by Francis Henrickson charging the Atlanta Symphony managers and conductor with discrimination against her on the basis of age and sex. ICSOM Legal counsel Philip Sipser presented workshops on age discrimination in 1978, 1979, and 1981.

Press releases in 1962 and 1963 stated ICSOM’s support for equal opportunity for negro musicians in symphony orchestras and called for an end to racially segregated audiences. In 1974 there was a lengthy report and extensive discussion of difficulties in San Francisco involving the denial of tenure to two non-white probationary members, resulting in unfavorable publicity for the orchestra committee and charges of racism and sexism. A resolution was passed requesting ICSOM to offer the services of its officers and counsel to achieve a conciliation and peaceful resolution of the problem. In 1987, spurred by the Detroit Symphony’s plight in having two state senators threaten to withhold state funding because they felt the DSO had done too little to engage black musicians, and following a report on a recent Tanglewood meeting on minority issues, delegates reaffirmed ICSOM’s long-standing concern and formed a committee to explore all aspects of minority-group participation in orchestras. In 1990 and 1991, Senza Sordino featured articles on black musicians in symphony orchestras.

The 1970 conference went on record supporting equal rights for women in all employment and especially in orchestras. Professional problems of women were discussed by Dr. Gilda Greenberg at the 1981 conference and were reviewed in an extensive Senza Sordino article in 1982. Women’s caucuses were held at several conferences in the early 80’s, and an effort was made to establish committees in each member orchestra to address issues affecting women; the visibility of this activity and focus has dropped in recent years. top

Occupational Health Problems

Although musicians have suffered from job-related health problems for years, this issue did not receive great visibility until musicians had gained reasonable job security.

A major concern, discomfort and hearing damage due to musicians’ exposure to high volume levels on stage and in opera pits, was expressed by editor Henry Shaw (Cincinnati Symphony) in his April 1978 Senza Sordino article, “Our Decibel Dilemma”; the article and its topic were picked up by The New York Times and other national press. Other Senza Sordino articles followed in 1981 (tinnitus), 1983 (hearing-loss studies), and 1999 (methods and devices for hearing protection). In 1984, a report on music medicine conferences led to establishment of ICSOM committees on music medicine and sound levels, and ICSOM officers and major orchestra managers met annually with hearing experts for several years thereafter to explore ways to address the decibel problem. In 1985, the music medicine committee reported on the formulation of a comprehensive survey of medical problems of musicians in member orchestras, and a blue-ribbon panel of music medicine experts led discussion of health and medical problems of musicians.

The problem of performance anxiety was addressed in a 1982 Senza Sordino article on the use of beta-blockers to alleviate symptoms of stage fright. Subsequent articles expressed concern about the widespread use of these drugs and suggested other approaches to dealing with stage fright.

Since 1984, comprehensive music medicine issues have been the focus of national conferences sponsored by physicians and attended by ICSOM representatives, with much space devoted to the topic in Senza Sordino since then. ICSOM undertook a major study of medical problems of musicians in member orchestras in 1986, the results of which were reported in 1987, and an entire issue of Senza Sordino was dedicated to music medicine. ICSOM conferences and issues of Senza Sordino have continued to examine music medicine and workplace safety issues. Reports on music medicine conferences are printed frequently.

In 1993, ICSOM published The Musician%92s Survival Manual: A Guide for Preventing and Treating Injuries in Instrumentalists by Dr. Richard Norris, edited by Senza Sordino editor Debbie Torch. The book provides comprehensive information regarding understanding, preventing, and treating the occupational injuries and problems of instrumental musicians. ICSOM secretary Lucinda-Lewis moderated a panel on music medicine at the annual conference in 1999.

Some Additional Issues