Allegro
Currently Browsing: November, 2005
Met Orchestra Makes Deal
Pension Climbs High in New Contract
Musicians in the Met Opera Orchestra ratified a new contract that will lead to a big increase in pension payouts. From left, Michael Ouzounian, Sylvia Danburg and Shirien Taylor. More photos by Claire Houston below article. Musicians at the Met
President’s Report
Local 802 Endorses…
Mayor: Mike Bloomberg Mayor Bloomberg has a demonstrable record on the arts and his administration has proven to be one of the most supportive of the arts community in decades. His administration lobbied successfully to create tax incentives for the
Organizing New Musicals at Their Roots
Organizing Matters
From left, Allison Spratt, Hollie Howard, Richard Todd Adams and Jodie Langel in “Plane Crazy,” one fo the shows in the New York Musical Theatre Festival. Despite rising production costs and real estate obstacles, it appears that the theatre industry
802 Reaches Out to Young Musicians
Bonus photos below article. On Oct. 5, Local 802 hosted a “meet and greet” networking meeting for the musicians of the New York Musical Theatre Festival. It marked the finale of 802’s Theatre Community Initiative, which had been set in
A Turn for the Worse
Broadway on Broadway Using Some Recorded Music
Phil Reno conducts the 2005 Broadway on Broadway performance. Canned music has started creeping into the annual show. Photo by Walter Karling. Over the past 14 years, the League of American Theatres and Producers has sponsored “Broadway on Broadway” (BoB),
LOCAL 802 MEMBERSHIP SURVEY
As part of an ongoing effort to make Local 802 more responsive to its members and to be better able to cope with a fast changing industry, the Local 802 Executive Board has arranged for a professionally designed and conducted
802 in the Press
802 President David Lennon was profiled in the Juilliard School’s centennial journal; his biography from the journal is reprinted here. David Lennon is President of Local 802, the American Federation of Musicians. A professional musician by trade, Mr. Lennon was
Health Care for New Orleans Musicians
LEGAL HELP, TOO Gulf Coast musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina can receive free legal help through Reed Elsevier. The publisher can help with employment contracts, commercial agreements, copyright issues, general advice as well as help with negotiations. To apply, musicians
Union Women Learning Together
Every summer for 30 years, women union members, staffers, and leaders have come together to participate in the weeklong Northeast Regional Summer School for Union Women, sponsored by the United Association for Labor Education, the AFL-CIO, and the Coalition of
Tenth Anniversary of International Women in Jazz
Photo Section
International Women in Jazz celebrated its tenth anniversary at St. Peter’s Church on Oct. 6. The evening honored Nobuko Cobi Narita and featured jazz legends including Valerie Capers, Della Griffin, Sarah McLawler, Helen Merrill and Carline Ray. Also performing were
Catastrophic Plan Now Available
As everyone who has lived through a serious illness knows, hospitalization bills are a killer. Recent studies showed that half of all bankruptcies are due to medical expenses. Now Local 802 is offering an inexpensive catastrophic plan that will supplement
AFM Web Sites Now Have Gig Info
Looking for gigs? The AFM now has two new Web pages that might help members get jobs. The first is on the AFM’s own Web site, www.afm.org. From the main page, click “Members login.” Once you’re logged in, click on
A Coast-to-Coast Solution
Views from the Board
At the recent AFM convention, members sent all of us a loud signal that they want a union that is inclusive and united. I’m happy to report that the IEB has met this challenge and bridged a gap that had
The Musician as Protestor
MusicMobe is a new Web site (www.MusicMobe.org) that reaches across borders and amplifies the many voices for peace, democracy, environmental protection and global justice. I became involved in this project while on tour in Europe during the most recent U.S.
Smooth as Satin
Jazz Master and Honor Member Bobby Pring
If there’s any one phrase that captures the playing of trombonist Robert Edward Pring – known to most of us as Bobby Pring – it is “smooth as satin.” The epiphany that determined his musical direction occurred prior to World
Flu Crisis Speaks to Larger Crisis
Guest Commentary
The collapse of public health care through decades of deliberate neglect in the U.S. makes the country as vulnerable to a flu pandemic as any bottom tier third world country, and it may be too late to do anything about
Copyright Protection for Arrangers
Legal Corner
Probably one of the most difficult litigations I have ever handled was a suit which I just settled for what I consider to be a substantial sum of money. (Don’t ask because I can’t tell!) Now that the litigation is
You Can’t Always Get What You Want…
...but if you try sometimes you can get what you need
Conflict is an unavoidable part of life. Just getting on the subway at rush hour can feel like a battle to the death. Finding equitable resolutions often seems very difficult, and the desire to save face or prove that one
If You Don’t See Taxes Withheld — Watch Out!
If you are a recording musician, and you are paid without taxes withheld, you are actually losing 8.5 percent of your total pay. Instead of your employers remitting their portion of Social Security and Medicare, this is now thrown onto
Legislative Update
Heather Beaudoin HEALTHCARE SECURITY ACT VETO OVERRIDE City Council overrode Mayor Bloomberg’s veto of the Healthcare Security Act. This pioneering legislation will require employers in the city’s grocery and food retail industries to provide health care to their employees. This
Negotiations Roundup
Chinese-American Arts Council. On Sept. 18, the Chinese-American Arts Council was scheduled to perform an opera at Alice Tully Hall with nearly 80 nonunion musicians. Four days before, Local 802 received an anonymous tip from musicians who had been hired.
Executive Board Minutes
May 17, 2005 -- June 14, 2005
TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2005 Meeting called to order at 11:10 a.m. Present: President Lennon, Financial Vice President Blumenthal, Executive Board members Babich, Gagliardi, Gale, Giannini, Landolfi, Whitaker, and Assistant to the President Delia. Recording Vice President Dennison excused on union
Bill Crow’s Band Room
Here’s a story that Joe Bennett gave me: The old Ed Sullivan Show featured a great variety of entertainment, from circus and vaudeville acts to the fine arts. Once Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn were booked for a pas de