Issue: December 2005
More than most we meet in our daily lives, orchestral musicians are blessed with a direct connection to those who came before, be they teachers, performers, conductors, or composers. Less directly, we are also tied to many other individuals from history: poets, painters, noblemen, emperors, and religious figures. Some may think, and we often hear, that our ties to the past are indicative of a dead … [Read more...]
Issue: December 2005
ICSOM was created because symphony musicians of the late 1950s realized that they were a specialized group within the AFM that needed to be able to represent themselves in contract negotiations. That right we won now allows us to shape our contracts to suit our special needs in working conditions, salary, pension, medical and instrument insurance, and employment security. We fought hard for this … [Read more...]
Issue: December 2005
I joined the American Federation of Musicians when I was just a teenager, and I still have my first union card to prove it. This was the late ’70s, and it was an amazing time for me. I was hearing Miles Davis’s music for the first time and performing it. I was hearing Beethoven’s Fifth for the first time and performing it. I was playing in concert halls, in country bars behind chicken wire … [Read more...]
Issue: December 2005
I recently finished reading Julie Ayer’s wonderful book, More Than Meets the Ear: How Symphony Musicians Made Labor History. I encourage you all to read this wonderful retelling of the formation of ICSOM and of the activism of ICSOM’s founders. It was their actions that began the long climb to the respect and impressive collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) that symphonic musicians possess … [Read more...]
Issue: December 2005
More Than Meets The Ear: How Symphony Musicians Made Labor History by Julie Ayer Julie Ayer is the assistant principal second violin with the Minnesota Orchestra. After a relatively short but stressful employment with the Houston Symphony after music school, she joined the then-Minneapolis Symphony in 1976 and has been there ever since. Beginning with that early stint in Houston, she gradually … [Read more...]
Issue: December 2005
The Alabama Symphony was named “Nonprofit Organization of the Year” at the Birmingham Business Journal’s ninth annual Best In Business Awards banquet. The Alabama Symphony was the first winner in a new awards category recognizing nonprofits. An independent panel headed by Robert Holmes, dean of the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Business, did the judging. The orchestra … [Read more...]
Issue: December 2005
As described by the author, Julie Ayer, More Than Meets the Ear: How Symphony Musicians Made Labor History is the story of a grassroots movement that transformed labor relations and the professional lives of U.S. and Canadian symphony musicians. McCarthyism and segregation within the musicians union, women's issues, and the founding of the NEA and Ford Foundation Symphony Program are included in … [Read more...]
