I joined Local 802 when I got the job to sub for a friend in an Off Broadway show, which was a real hoot – and I enjoyed getting paid union scale! I came to NYC to study jazz and have been lucky to have found a community of musicians studying Japanese traditional flute. It’s my goal to turn more people on to this beautiful instrument! My first instrument was violin, which I played from ages 5 to 17, and I also picked up sax as a teenager. Tenor sax was my major at the New School before I started studying shakuhachi. My current focus is the study of classical Japanese ensemble music from the Edo period (1603-1867) with my mentor, Ralph Samuelson. I also play in a rock band. The coronavirus crisis has been a call for solidarity among all New Yorkers. I’ve been strategizing with fellow artists, organizing tenants in my apartment building, and digging deeply into the fundamentals of instrumental practice.

— Adam Robinson
5adamrobinson@gmail.com