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HACKING ATTEMPT / KARMA INDEED / MPS – BENEFIT CUTS / MPS MEETING / EVENTS

Friday, March 2nd, 2018

3/2/18

I. A HACKING THEY WILL TRY
II. KARMA INDEED – MEMBER COMMENTS
III. POTENTIAL BENEFIT CUTS – MPS
IV.NATIONWIDE MPS MEETING
V. EVENTS

…Absolutely guaranteed anonymity – Former Musician’s Union officer
‘
…The one voice of reason in a sea of insanity – Nashville ‘first call’ scoring musician
…Allows us to speak our minds without fear of reprisal – L.A. Symphonic musician

…Reporting issues the Musicians Union doesn’t dare to mention – National touring musician

================================

I. A-HACKING THEY WILL TRY

No sooner had the last blog gone out, than
someone who didn’t like it, you can guess
what group they are from, tried to change
the password of responsible 47.com. They
did not succeed however.

WhatEVER are they afraid of? Here’s an idea:
Change your conduct and you won’t have to
worry about whatever info gets out.

================================

II. KARMA INDEED! – MEMBER COMMENTS

[EC: Since we have now gotten three separate,

reliable sources for this story, we feel confident

in naming names.]

————————————–

Member Comment:

The name of the RMA official that
sued was Sazer.

————————————–

AFM goes to bat for Sazer….and only Sazer.

————————————-

Member Comment:

[This comment was edited to remove anything that could be
construed as an attack on someone’s ability or musicality. We
only want to report the facts.]

Please post this.
Who will sue the Federation? How dare they
give someone tenure, especially for political
reasons. I know Sazer is turning in people.
Good people. [EC: This is common knowledge.]
People on the fringe that need
to make money doing projects that are
impossible to go union!

Really! Someone start a lawsuit against
the Federation! Guaranteed work?

How dare the Union do this for one and
nobody else. You turn in players and
contractors and we will guarantee you work.

Gina Zimmitti refused to sign this. Did others?

———————————–

DEMAND LETTER SENT TO GINA ZIMMITTI
This is a public record.

[EC: We contacted the member who sent this to us asking
for verification of it’s origin. This is the reply we got:

To the Committee: “this document was made public
to me and my use of it was approved by a party
that had permission to circulate. Not stolen or
lifted.

Further, here is a link to the NLRB page of this matter:
https://www.nlrb.gov/case/31-CA-179630]

——–

The American Federation of Musicians (“AFM”) and Gina
Zimmitti Music Contracting (“GZMC), agree to resolve
a charge made by the AFM to the National Labor Relations
Board (“NLRB”) on July 1, 2015, (Case No. 31-CA-179630)
regarding Marc Sazer (“Sazer”) as follows:

1. Music scoring work is intermittent. With that reality,
it is the intent of the AFM and GZMC to return Sazer’s
employment on music scoring projects contracted by GZMC
to the level that existed before 2015 (approximately
85% of days contracted by GZMC on major motion picture
projects and about 65% of days contracted by it on
all projects.

2. To achieve that, from the date this Agreement is
executed, GZMC will cause Sazer to be hired for music
scoring projects it contracts with the same frequency
as it caused him to be hired prior to 2015. Specifically,
GZMC will cause Sazer to be hired on substantially
all music music scoring projects requiring a string
section and an orchestra of 30 or more musicians,
in addition to some music scoring projects requiring
fewer than 30 musicians (as it did prior to 2015).

3. As soon as practicable, but in no event later than
14 days of the execution of this Agreement, the AFM
will withdraw the charge in Case No. 31-CA-179630.
But the AFM can reinstate the charge, or file a new
NLRB charge, in the event it determines that GZMC
has failed to comply with the obligations of
Paragraph 2.

4. By entering into this Agreement, GZMC admits no
liability or fault and specifically does not admit
that it engaged in the conduct described in the
charge. Similarly, the AFM reserves its position
that GZMC engaged in the conduct alleged in the
charge.

5. GZMC and the AFM agree that the terms of this
Agreement shall remain strictly confidential, except
that they also agree that they may be disclosed to
Sazer, and may be disclosed to others for the limited
purpose of carrying out the parties’ rights and
obligations under this Agreement.

[Colleagues, you can see the case page for the above at
https://www.nlrb.gov/case/31-CA-179630] So for anyone
not believing in the gross level of control the RMA
continues to have over the AFM, this should be all the
proof you need.

Only someone high up in in the RMA could get the
AFM/IEB to write a letter trying to force a contractor
to use a player they no longer wanted to use.
It’s freelancing, unless you’re an RMA officer,
in which case they MUST be used, right?

As was told to us. Ms Zimmitti refused to sign it
(just as she should have).

NOT WHO YOU THINK

[EC: ••••• In fairness, the section in the last blog post titled:
THE INNER CIRCLE SPEAKS: THERE’S ALWAYS
ANOTHER is NOT in fact about Marc Sazer, but
another current RMA board member If we can get one

more source (We have two), we can name that RMA Board

member as well..•••••

==============================

III. POTENTIAL BENEFIT CUTS – MPS

DOCUMENTS SHOW TRUSTEES KNOW MORE
THAN THEY REVEAL ABOUT POTENTIAL FOR BENEFIT CUTS

AFM President Ray Hair hosted a “Webinar” for
pension plan participants on January 29. When
asked, President Hair and the other participants
would not shed any light on the extent of the
possible benefit cuts: “At this time, we just don’t
know,” they said. Hair and the other trustees may
not know exactly how extensive or when the cuts
will happen, but according to their own documents
recently obtained by MPS (linked below), it seems
that they know far more about the potential for
benefit cuts then they let on. Here is a summary:

1. The trustees began actively considering cutting
our pensions beginning at their August 4, 2015
meeting, targeting 25-30% cuts beginning in
February 2016. (Supporting docs here)

2. It took Ray Hair and our other trustees a year
and a half after that August 2015 meeting before
they snuck the bad news of potential cuts to
existing benefits into a letter to plan participants
in December of 2016. (Read it here)

3. It is true that the trustees have not formally
decided to make the cuts yet. That decision
will be made in June of this year. However,
the trustees’ last “Base Case” (what they
expect to happen) projection from just two
months ago, dated December 18, 2017,
calls for cuts in 2018 (Projections here).

4. The prospect of cuts to our existing benefits
is so real that the AFM fund’s actuary, Milliman,
is already engaged in discussions with the key
members of the US Treasury, which will be
making the decision whether or not to approve
the cuts. In those discussions, Treasury gave
“informal nonbinding guidance” on how best to
fashion the cut application. These discussions
were initiated on November 1, 2017. (See here.)

The AFM-EPF trustees have repeatedly pledged
to be transparent with us and yet none of the
above information was discussed or revealed
in January when the trustees were asked about it.

Keep in mind, the AFM-EPF webinar in late January
was just six weeks after the trustees were discussing
benefit cuts at their December 18, 2017 meetings.
When asked about cuts AFM President Ray Hair
only said, “At this time, we just don’t know,” but
according to their own documents, he and the
other trustees have a very good idea.

In solidarity,

Musicians for Pension Security

Stay informed with MPS. Join our mailing list here.

Who is MPS? Click HERE.

========================

IV.NATIONWIDE MPS MEETING

March 21, 2018 at 5pm
New York City (venue TBA)
LIVE STREAMING ON FACEBOOK

BREAKING AFM PENSION NEWS!
• Musicians for Pension Security recently obtained the
AFM-EPF trustees’ own documents made public by law.
(read them here) These documents reveal that the
pension trustees have been planning cuts to our pension
benefits going all the way back to August of 2015.
According to those documents the trustees are targeting
a 25-30% cut to existing benefits. MPS now believes
the trustees could set an MPRA application into motion
as early as June 2018, which starts the process that
allows the trustees to cut our benefits.

• MPS hired Tom Lowman, a nationally recognized
pension actuary, to review the situation. At the March
21 meeting, Tom will show how our trustees are
proceeding upon assumptions that we would like
to change and will explain why. He will present a
plan to stabilize our pension in the near term and
he will recommend measures to assure the long-
term stability of the plan.

• Tom Lowman thinks that delaying cuts and
working on improving the funding is the way
to go. Cutting now may result in larger cuts
than needed and cutting now while hoping
to restore some of those cuts later would
be difficult. He will explain why at the March
21 meeting.

• At the meeting you will also hear from
Jonathan Kantor, our legal counsel, who
will explain the process that our trustees
are following to obtain the cuts, together
with legal options that they — and we — have.

It is critical that all AFM members make
every effort to attend this meeting. For
those across the country who can’t be there,
the meeting will be streamed via Facebook
LIVE on the MPS Facebook page.

Your attendance at the MPS National meeting
will help to give you a better understanding of
what is happening to our pension and the
solutions we think will make a difference.

Please click here to RSVP to the March 21st meeting.
Who is MPS? Click HERE.

What is MPRA? Click HERE.

In solidarity,
Musicians for Pension Security

Stay informed with MPS. Join our mailing list here.

================================

V. EVENTS
DEAN AND RICHARD
are now at Culver City Elks the first  Friday of  every month.
7:30pm-10:30pm,
11160 Washington Pl.
Culver City, 90232
310-839-8891

——————————————

3/3/18

Westlake Valley Symphony presents
SYMPHONY IN BRASS
music by Ewazen, Strauss and Bruckner
Paul Piazza, Music Director

Saturday, March 3rd, 2018 – 7:30 PM
Westminster Presbyterian Church
32111 Watergate Rd.
Westlake Village, CA 91361

Admission is Free!
RSVP by emailing
[email protected]

—————————————

3/5/18

MALIBU FRIENDS OF MUSIC
p r e s e n t
A Concert Dressed in
St. Patrick’s Day Green

Monday, March 5th, 2018 at 7:30 pm
MAHMA Great Room

Featuring the
Malibu Coast String Quartet
Maria Newman & Rafael Rishik, violinists
Scott Hosfeld, violist
Paula Hochhalter, cellist

Performing Music of ~
Alexander Borodin ~ String Quartet No. 1
Gustav Holst ~ “Thatxed” for String Quartet
W.A. Mozart ~ Divertimento
Maria Newman/Mary Pickford ~ “What the Daisy Said”
1912 Silent Film Short accompanied by live string quartet

Click here for reservations
www.malibufriendsofmusic.org
Or call (310) 589-0295

…for a taste of MAHMA:
Take a listen to Maria Newman’s, “Pied Piper’s Lament”
Performed by MAHMA artists at the Warner Grand Theatre

————————————————-

3/7/18

ELVIS SCHOENBERG’S ORCHESTRE SURREAL

Wednesday, March 7th, 8PM
El Portal Theatre
5269 Lankershim Blvd
North Hollywood, CA 91601
For tickets call: 818 508-4200
or 866 811 4111

Theatrical in a deranged-circus-Fellini-
German expressionistic-John Waters-burlesque
sort of way, the Orchestra Surreal is as Cinematic
as they come for the symphonic world.

http://theorchestresurreal.com/HELLO.htm

Nessun Dorma
https://tinyurl.com/y9rnqa9f

3 minute El Portal promo
https://tinyurl.com/y8xxm5aa

———————————————-

3/8/18

ASMAC Presents
the next First Wednesday’s,… ON THURSDAY!!!!
Yes, Thursday!

Scott Bradlee, founder or
POSTMODERN JUKEBOX

Thursday March 8th, 2017, 7:30 PM

Valley College Music Building, room 106 (recital Hall)
Scott Bradlee – arranger, pianist, author, and
founder of international sensation Postmodern Jukebox
will share his no budget to international success story
which has garnered nearly One Billion YouTube
channel hits and Sold Out live shows in more than 60
countries around the world. Find out about Scott’s
Postmodern Jukebox arranging and song production
process from inspiration to final cut video as well as
details about his new book:
Outside the Jukebox:

How I Turned My Vintage Music Obsession into My Dream Gig

Imagine marrying the 21st century party vibe of Miley
Cyrus or the minimalist angst of Radiohead with the
crackly warmth of a vintage 78 or the plunger-muted
barrelhouse howl of a forgotten Kansas City jazzman.
Bradlee’s choice of material ranges from the ‘80s hard
rock of Guns N’ Roses to hits as recent as 2015’s
Justin Bieber plea “Sorry.” They’re rendered by a
rotating cast of musicians and singers in fashions
that date back to a time when Axl, Slash and Bieber’s
parents had yet to be born – a time of street corner
harmonies and torch singers, blues belters and
golden-voiced crooners.
All About That Bass
http://www.viduba.com/video:QVlVIZFSWdnVrFDUSxmWpVmVVpXWR1TP
Don’t stop believing’
https://tinyurl.com/ycxzw77b

—————————

3/7/18

NACUSA concert

Three’s Company featuring Trio Accento,
with
Limor-Toren-Immerman, violin;
Maksim Velichkin, cello and
Nora Chiang Wrobel, piano,

at Mimoda Studio,
5774 W. Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90019.

Admission is free.

Works include:
Gernot Wolfgang: Jazz and Cocktails
Kenneth Froelich: Polarize
Russell Steinberg: Paleface
Deon Nielsen Price: Angel Trio
Richard Derby: Introspection
William Toutant: Homage a Debussy.

——————————————

4/11/18

Coming to Vibrato April 11th @ 7:30pm
The Fabulous Grammy Nominated
PHIL NORMAN TENTET
reminiscent of the refreshing sounds of
West Coast Jazz.x
Los Angeles, CA.90077
Resevations call 310-474-9400

Click here to visit Herb Alpert’s Vibrato Grill Jazz

PLAYING THE MUSIC OF
Rogers & Hart, George Shearing, Benny Goodman,
Hank Mancini, Debussy, Joseph Kosma, Billy Strayhorn, Jimmy Forrest, Stanley Turrentine
Bob Nolan and others.

—————————————-

The Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program at the Seattle Film Institute

is now accepting applications for the one-year

Master of Music in Film Composition

One of the Top 4 Film Music Programs in the World!

Recently rated as the #4 school in the world for film scoring education by Music School Central.

“in just one year, the school places students into a pressure cooker of intense learning resulting in a professional demo reel that can be used to obtain future paid commercial opportunities.”

Learn from Industry Professionals

All PNWFS faculty are active professional film and game composers, orchestrators, copyists, and engineers, including the program’s creator and lead instructor Dr. Hummie Mann. Hummie is the two-time Emmy Award winning film composer of “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” and featured in Variety Magazine’s article “Leaders in Learning”.

Our Program Features:
• 9 live recording sessions with professional musicians at Studio X, Seattle’s premiere, world-class studio.
• Opportunities to work with student directors to score actual films from film programs all over the world.
•  Training in all major software programs used in the industry.
•  A state-of-the-art workstation assigned to each student fully installed with the latest versions of all software, sample libraries and plug-ins needed to complete the program.

Accelerated and Affordable

We are a one-year Master of Music in Film Composition program which not only gives our graduates the opportunity to enter the industry and start their careers a year sooner than other programs but saves them an entire year of living expenses. In addition to our accelerated format we also offer the most affordable tuition out of competing programs. Our students have access to FAFSA financial assistance, loans, and scholarships as well.

History of Success

We are very proud to have a high success rate for our graduates who have gone on to work on television shows such as Castle, Empire, and Once Upon a Time; video games such as World of Warcraft, Spate, and Destiny; and films such as The Revenant, Trolls, The Dark Tower, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Apply now and you could be joining their ranks!

Applications are being accepted for the Fall 2018 school year.
We offer rolling admissions – no deadline to apply.

(800) 882-4734 | www.pnwfilmmusic.com
——————————————–

UNTIL NEXT TIME,  THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

THE INNER CIRCLE SPEAKS / BUTCH LEWIS UPDATE / EVENTS

Friday, February 23rd, 2018

2/23/18

I. THE INNER CIRCLE SPEAKS
II. UPDATE ON THE BUTCH LEWIES ACT
III. EVENTS

…Reporting issues the Musicians Union doesn’t dare to mention – National touring musician

================================

I. THE INNER CIRCLE SPEAKS

KARMA’S A BITCH

It has now been confirmed by multiple sources
that an well-known officer of the RMA, sued a
major contractor last year because the contractor
stopped hiring them. They lost, of course. Said
contractor stopped hiring them because, according
to the contractor, their lack of “musical contribution”.
Whether they are used by the contractor at this point
is unknown.

It’s called FREE-LANCING, Mr/Ms 2nd fiddle and
contractors can hire (Or not hire) who they like!
How Ironic that after all the careers you’ve affected
for good or ill (far more for ill), you should find yourself
affected by the same practices. You’ll have to suffer
along with the 1000’s of sessions you’ve played
on and the six figure July check you get.

THERE’S ALWAYS ANOTHER

It certainly seems that once the system had
almost gotten rid of one person there’s another
ready to take their place. The below should
prove to the kool-aide drinkers that, yes,
people are still blacklisted and targeted.
And that the RMA is still the most disruptive
entity in our business. Indeed, the RMA
leadership’s conduct and AFM’s conduct has
made the AFM brand absolutely toxic to a
majority of studios and producers of content,
not to mention the composers.

Looking at the below shows why no one
wants to work with the AFM if they have a
choice.

This has ALSO been verified by multiple
sources…. (Some identities are protected
here, though figuring out who is being
referred to should be a simple matter
inside the recording industry.)

-A local union contractor was busted in
the fall of last year for a non-union
recording date at “The Bridge” in
Glendale, CA

-A list of the musicians involved was
leaked to contractors before the musicians
accused were charged. This resulted in
several established musicians becoming
blacklisted from A list contractors.

-An RMALA officer orchestrated this
operation in an attempt to target specific
contractors who are in opposition to his
own personal interests. Coincidentally,
those who also refuse to hire him.

– This RMA Officer, who has also stopped
working for this contractor, is on the war
path having used former Local 47 employee
Gordon Grayson as his henchman to spy
on selected contractors. (Mr. Grayson was
at one point spotted taking photos outside
of Warner Brothers) Gordon’s associate Erick
Cruz took photos outside of the Bridge
Recording to bust said contractor’s session.
Only some of the musicians present were
charged.

-The RMA Officer who himself is on the
A-list, will deny any and all accusations,
and hides behind Grayson’s actions, so
that he may remain in good graces with
his colleagues – the very same people
who he spies on and incriminates.

– The RMA Officer maintains friendships
with musicians and then uses personal
information to bust these select contractors.

– The RMA Officer has also gained preferential
treatment from a certain contractor for
eliminating this contractor’s competition.

– The RMA Officer has held a grudge towards
this particular “busted” contractor and his
partner for many years.

-What is the advantage to this RMA Officer
in attacking musicians who are barely scraping
by to make a living, while he sits comfortably
in an A-list chair helping the one contractor
who still hires him?

-He addresses the only contractor who hires
him as “fat fi-core idiot”, and he will do anything
he can to manipulate him into returning to the
union while he busts actual union contractors.

-He has no allegiance to anyone who will not
help him professionally.

We hope this provides you with some insight to
the inner workings of the RMA and their henchman
working on their own accord outside of Local 47’s
jurisdiction. Please help us by informing the
community via the blog.

Enjoy,

-The Inner Circle

===============================

II. UPDATE on the Butch Lewis Act

Bi-Partisan Committee Created to Solve Pension Crisis by Year’s End

Unfortunately, the Butch Lewis Act did not make it
into the bipartisan budget deal the U.S. Senate passed
last week. However, this is no reason to give up hope.
As a compromise, a bipartisan House and Senate Joint
Select Committee, led by Senator Sherrod Brown, will be
tasked with coming up with a solution to the pension
crisis by the last week of November 2018. You can read
the details about the committee on his website here.

“Washington bailed out Wall Street, and Wall Street
turned around and stole the pensions Ohioans worked
for. Now Congress has a responsibility to protect the
pensions workers earned before it is too late,” Senator
Brown said. “While it is not the immediate solution we
hoped for, this Committee will force Congress to finally
treat the pension crisis with the seriousness and
urgency American workers deserve.”

Even without the bill passing, there are some encouraging
things that have happened. In supporting the Butch Lewis
Act we, the AFM membership, pushed the trustees to finally
look beyond MPRA as a legislative solution to our pension
crisis. Six months ago, they were totally disengaged from the
legislative process claiming that there is no pension-related
legislation that could help the AFM-EPF. Flash forward to
December 2017, after immense pressure from AFM
membership the trustees are writing to us in full support of
the Butch Lewis Act. That is progress which only came
thanks to your calls and emails.

While the Butch Lewis Act did not get added to the budget
deal, this new Committee could develop something better.
There are some good components to the Committees’ mandate.
There is a hard deadline, the last week of November 2018,
to report on a bill to solve the pension crisis. Also, if there are
10 committee members in agreement they are guaranteed
an expedited vote on Senate floor with no amendments.

The Committee is also required hold at least 5 public hearings,
including the option for another outside of D.C. These meetings
will be held to hear directly from retirees, workers, and businesses
affected by the pension crisis. Now, this is the challenge to the
AFM and the AFM-EPF trustees. While call-in campaigns are
useful, they pale in comparison to a physical presence. Our
trustees need to be at those meetings. Not only that, but they
should monitor and interface with the members of the Committee,
throughout the year, to make sure our needs are heard. MPS has
long been in contact with Senator Brown’s staff (see our previous
article here). There is no obstacle to our trustees having the same
access.

While our trustees seemingly continue to pursue making cuts
to benefits through MPRA as an option, it should never be the
first and only option. With the creation of the House and Senate
Joint Select Committee tasked with coming up with a solution to
the pension crisis, there is a new opportunity to move in a direction
away from MPRA and cuts to benefits. Our trustees should be
planning to take full advantage of this and there is no excuse
for them to not be fully engaged in this process.

================================

III. EVENTS
DEAN AND RICHARD
are now at Culver City Elks the first  Friday of  every month.
7:30pm-10:30pm,
11160 Washington Pl.
Culver City, 90232
310-839-8891

——————————————

2/24/18

ASMAC WORKSHOP WITH LADD MACINTOSH!
Saturday, February 24th from 11am -2pm
Valley College Recital Hall
5800 Fulton Ave
Valley Glen, CA 91401

“Problem Solving in Film Orchestration.”

Ladd will share solutions he has encountered in his
film orchestration career: such as dealing with
sustained low brass in Hans Zimmer’s “Crimson
Tide,” to alternating low winds in Harry
Gregson-Williams’ “Live By Night,” to creating
the desired sound for the villain in Heitor Pereira’s
“The Smurfs,” as well as other situations. Other
topics include too much information in the midi
file versus not enough; unusual instruments and
instrumentation; and insights into writing for live players.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0570667/

———————————————-

2/25/18

SONG OF THE ANGELS FLUTE ORCHESTRA
Sunday, February 25th at 4pm.
La Crescenta Presbyterian Church,
2902 Montrose Avenue, La Crescenta, CA 91214
Website for directions: www.lcpc.net
Concert starts: 4 pm
Charles Fernandez, Conductor

Ever seen a Double contrabass Flute?… or a Contrabass
Flute in F? (Only one in the world) Well come out, see
these amazing instruments and hear a widely diverse
concert including:

-Vivaldi 2 flute concerto – Soloists Deborah MacMurray and Lisa Norton
-Handel Harp Concerto – Soloist Naomi Alter (arr. Fernandez)
-Puccini Arias (La Boheme and Turandot) – Tenor Egan Connor Carroll (arr. Fernandez)
-Francine Pancost’s new arrangement of Gabriel’s Oboe featuring Frederick Staff soloist.
– Faure’s Marceau De Concours – Francine Pancost, alto flute soloist.
– Chicako Iverson’s premiere work – Days with a Daughter.

Plus more!

Have a flute? Come, bring your students and play a concert
ending work with us! All are welcome!
Reception to Follow.

———————————————-

2/25/18

COMPOSER’S ENSEMBLE LOS ANGELES

3 PM
2050 Main Street
Santa Ana, CA

Series Premiere!
FREE!

This exciting new concert series features
a new genre of music each month!

From Jazz to Opera, Chamber Music to R&B,
Each concert will re-invent itself in sound as
well as opportunities to participate! Get ready
to listen and bring your horn to play.

Come join the members of CELA:
Laura Halladay – Flute
Phil Feather – Oboe
Kim Richmond – Clarinet
John Mitchell – Bassoon
Josh Aguiar – Trumpet
Melissa Hendrickson – Horn
Ron Minor – Trombone
Marcy Vaj – Violin
Crystal Alforque – Violin
Robin Ross – Viola
Derek Stein – Cello
Larry Tuttle – Bass

in a concert of new music written
by the members!

MORE INFO AT:
music360presents.wixsite.com/connect

—————————

3/7/18

NACUSA concert

Three’s Company featuring Trio Accento,
with
Limor-Toren-Immerman, violin;
Maksim Velichkin, cello and
Nora Chiang Wrobel, piano,

at Mimoda Studio,
5774 W. Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90019.

Admission is free.

——————————————

The Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program at the Seattle Film Institute

is now accepting applications for the one-year

Master of Music in Film Composition

One of the Top 4 Film Music Programs in the World!

Recently rated as the #4 school in the world for film scoring education by Music School Central.

“in just one year, the school places students into a pressure cooker of intense learning resulting in a professional demo reel that can be used to obtain future paid commercial opportunities.”

Learn from Industry Professionals

Accelerated and Affordable

History of Success

Applications are being accepted for the Fall 2018 school year.
We offer rolling admissions – no deadline to apply.

(800) 882-4734 | www.pnwfilmmusic.com
——————————————–

UNTIL NEXT TIME,  THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

L.A. PHIL / PARAMOUNT / MEMBER COMMENT / EVENTS

Thursday, February 15th, 2018

2/16/18

I. L. A. PHIL REATURED IN OSCAR PERFORMANCE
II. PARAMOUNT’S MUSIC MUSIC CLAIMS
III. MEMBER COMMENT
IV. EVENTS

…Reporting issues the Musicians Union doesn’t dare to mention – National touring musician

================================

I. L.A. Phil Plans Centennial Season Featuring Oscar Performance

[We’ll bet the RMAers aren’t happy about this!]

The orchestra kicks off its 100th year in September with an 11-day
L.A. Fest, featuring Herbie Hancock and more, and will perform
live at the 2019 Academy Awards, commemorating its
“intertwined” relationship with film.

Last year marked the 90th anniversary of the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and 2019 will see
the 90th Academy Awards as well as the 100th
anniversary of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
It only makes sense that these two Los Angeles
institutions should celebrate together.

The Phil is planning to commemorate its 100th with a
season packed full of surprises, excitement and the
fruits of a blossoming relationship with the Academy,
culminating in the news that the L.A. Philharmonic,
led by music director Gustavo Dudamel, will be
featured on 2019’s live Oscar broadcast.

“If you look at our centennial season, it really is the
manifestation of the belief that an orchestra is this
organism that adapts and tries to find audiences in
places where orchestral music lives,” says L.A.
Phil COO Chad Smith. “So we’re commissioning
[over 50] new works from significant composers
from all around the world, and playing major works
from the past three or 400 years, but more importantly,
we’re trying to find artists or organizations or ideas
that we can engage with that are outside the
normal activity of an orchestra.”

Part of that engagement again comes from AMPAS,
which entered a three-year partnership with the Phil
for the 2016-17 season. “I was at an event a couple
of years ago with Dawn Hudson, and she said,
‘We should think about doing something together,’”
recalls Smith. “I thought that was a really extraordinary
gesture and one that we jumped at.”

One act in that partnership will be “The Oscar Concert”
on Feb. 28 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, where
Academy Governors and composers Michael Giacchino
(Up, Zootopia, Coco), Laura Karpman (two-time Emmy
nominee) and Charles Bernstein (Cujo, A Nightmare
on Elm Street) will curate an evening of historical
film scores conducted by Thomas Wilkins. Scores
like A. R. Rahman’s for Slumdog Millionaire, Tan
Dun’s for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and
John Carpenter’s for Halloween will be featured.

The evening will close out with a suite from this
year’s Oscar-nominated soundtracks by Carter
Burwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing,
Missouri), Alexandre Desplat (The Shape
of Water), Jonny Greenwood (Phantom Thread),
Hans Zimmer (Dunkirk) and John Williams
(Star Wars: The Last Jedi).

During the 2018-19 season, 51-time Oscar
nominee Williams will also be the subject of
his own night at the Walt Disney Concert Hall,
“Celebrating John Williams,” with Dudamel
conducting a tribute to the composer of
indelible scores for such films as Fiddler
on the Roof (1971), Jaws (1975), Star
Wars (1977), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982),
Schindler’s List (1993) and dozens more.
Montages from these films will screen as the
orchestra plays throughout the evening.

“We always talk about John Williams from the
perspective as one of the great film composers,
and I know that this is Gustavo’s position, and why
Gustavo wanted the John Williams program in the
Hall: John Williams is simply one of the great
composers [even outside of film],” says Smith.
“He’s probably had a more direct influence on
shaping the orchestral sound of two generations
of listeners than any other composer alive.”

Similarly, an evening-long program called “Stanley
Kubrick’s Sound Odyssey” will look at the music
Kubrick used in his film scores. “Famously, Kubrick
used an existing classical music repertoire as the
soundtracks to his films,” says Smith. “The
Academy has their fingerprints all over these
programs as well.”

The Phil’s centennial season will also feature
collaborations with MacArthur Fellow Yuval
Sharon, celebrated composer Christopher
Rountree and Benjamin Millepied’s L.A.
Dance Project, which will perform a dance
production to Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet.
Millepied, who is known in the film industry
for choreographing Black Swan (2010),
during which he met wife Natalie Portman,
returned to Los Angeles after leading the
vaunted Paris Ballet Opera from 2014 to
2016.

“A lot of these projects come back to Gustavo,”
says Smith. “This relationship with Benjamin
is something that’s driven by a creative and
personal friendship.”

The season kicks off Sept. 27 with L.A. Fest, an
11-day extravaganza focusing on L.A.-centric
composers and events, including an evening
of jazz with Herbie Hancock, a concert with
Grammy-winning Mexican-American band
La Santa Cecilia, a Songbook event with
Andrew Bird and a collaboration with Moby.

The season will culminate with a gala Oct. 24,
2019, 100 years to the day after the L.A.
Philharmonic’s first concert.

The Phil came from relatively humble beginnings.
William Andrews Clark Jr. isn’t a name known to
many Angelenos, but his legacy is one that The
New York Times last year called “the most
important orchestra in America. Period.” A
copper baron and arts patron, Clark single-
handedly founded the Philharmonic in 1919.
Of course, situated at the center of the film
universe, the Phil found itself quickly entrenched
in the musical language of the movies.

“The Philharmonic has played a significant role
in the music that has been a part of films for the
past 80 years,” says Smith. “So, there’s been
this intertwined nature. When you think about
back in the ’30s when the exiled composers like
Max Steiner and Franz Waxman were coming
here, those were composers that the Philharmonic
was playing their concert works from when they
were living and working in Europe. Out of that
filmic symphonic sound was also born the sound
of our orchestra. Otto Klemperer was the music
director back in the ’30s, and he invited so many
of those musicians to Los Angeles. The idea that
the L.A. Philharmonic can exist in this space without
having a deep relationship with the community of art
makers that have made Los Angeles the center of
creativity would be silly.”

===========================================

II. Paramount’s Movie Music Claims Take a Beating from Ninth Circuit

(CN) – A panel of Ninth Circuit judges seemed highly
skeptical Thursday of Paramount Pictures’ claim that
it had no control over whether the music producer it
hired for a movie released in October chose a composer
who worked with musicians in the U.S. – a major
condition of Paramount’s agreement with the musicians’ union.

The Basic Theatrical Motion Picture Agreement of 2010
requires nearly a dozen major movie houses, including
Paramount, to hire members of the United States and
Canada to score movies.

But in 2015, an orchestra in Slovakia recorded the score
for the Paramount movie “Same Kind of Different as Me.”
Released in October, “Same Kind” is a poorly reviewed
feel-good movie starring Greg Kinnear as an art dealer
who befriends a homeless man to save his marriage to
his wife, played by Renee Zellweger.

American Federation of Musicians of the United States
and Canada sued Paramount in June 2015, claiming it
breached the parties’ collective bargaining agreement.

In its complaint, the union said the movie was being
“hastily scored” outside the U.S. just weeks after the
union had sued Paramount for the same reasons over
three other movies.

One year later, U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee tossed
the lawsuit, finding that the Slovakian orchestra members
were not technically employees of Paramount, since Paramount
had hired production company Skodam Films to do the bulk
of the work making and shooting the movie. Skodam, in turn,
had hired a music composer who had hired the orchestra.

The collective bargaining agreement does not describe
scenarios with co-producers or more than one producer,
Gee wrote. And under the agreement, the single producer
must also be the employer of the musicians for them to
be covered by the agreement.

The union appealed that decision, and a three-judge panel
heard arguments on the case Thursday.

Arguing for the union, attorney Robert Alexander said that
the district court had based its ruling on an inaccurate
assessment of the collective bargaining agreement.

“The reason that’s an improper interpretation is that the
whole purpose is to require Paramount to employ union
musicians when it would not otherwise do so,” Alexander
told the panel. “Paramount easily could have insisted that
the composer that is chosen for this work be one that
assigns musicians in the United States.”

Paramount’s lawyer, Adam Levin with Mitchell Silbergerg
& Knupp, argued that Paramount was not a producer
under the terms of the union agreement and “did not
control any aspect of this production.”

Under the agreement, Levin said the term “producer”
applies only to activities that involve a movie camera,
and doesn’t apply to things like setting up funding for
a movie or securing a set.

“‘Produced’ must have a very close nexus to the
operation of a camera,” Levin said. “That is what
the agreement is contemplating.”

Circuit Judge Marsha Berzon took issue with that logic.

“So you’re basically saying under this agreement
there is no co-production,” Berzon said. “You can’t
have more than one producer. So it’s contemplating
a world that doesn’t exist, is what you’re saying. It’s
just completely antiquated.”

Levin responded, “It doesn’t say there can be another
producer. Furthermore, the verb ‘producing’ means to
operate the cameras to put images on film.”

Judge Berzon seemed to scoff at that.

“Let’s say that I think those are both exceedingly weak
arguments,” Berzon said. “Although I don’t think the
other side’s argument is a slam dunk, the way you’re
going at this just seems not to be there.”

Levin then said that, despite Paramount’s contractual
right to approve or disapprove the composer chosen
by the production company it hired, Paramount had
no control over whether that composer hired musicians
within the United States.

Judge Berzon said that didn’t get Paramount off the hook.

“If they had known that Skodam Films was scoring
outside the United States, they should have said no,
we disapprove?” Berzon said. “Or could have said,
no because we have an obligation to have it scored
in the United States. Could it have done that?”

“No, your honor, because there is no evidence that
Paramount could have exercised any such control
over Skodam Films,” Levin said. “The contract
contemplates that Paramount could approve or
disapprove the selection of the composer. But that’s
a far stretch from approving or disapproving of the
selection to do the scoring work inside or outside
of the United States.”

“I’m sorry,” Berzon said. “I don’t understand that.”

At the end of the hearing, union attorney Alexander
told the judges that Paramount was mounting its highly
semantic defense because it had a good financial
reason to do so.

“Use of music that is scored under the contract
requires additional payments which would be
entirely on Paramount,” Alexander said. “So it’s
in its interest that the music not be scored. It’s
in its interest to offshore the music.”

The panel did not indicate when it would issue a ruling.

[EC: If the film is made by Paramount, they have a point.
But if Paramount is solely the distributor of the film they
have NO say in how, when and why a film is produced.
It’s just an underhanded money grab for the benefit of
a small fraction of greedy musicians and a union that
is dying not eh vine and desperate to get money
wherever they can.]

====================================

III. MEMBER COMMENT

I am very concerned about this report on the
pension fund and the apparently poor
showing in the investment returns.

I wonder why Vince Trombetta is still a
member of the Pension Trust Fund Board.
It has been some considerable time since
he was an officer of Local 47. I realize that,
as many of us are, is a recipient of pension
from the Fund, but why is he still a
member of said Board?

[EC: We’ve wondered the exact same thing.]

================================

IV. EVENTS
DEAN AND RICHARD
are now at Culver City Elks the first  Friday of  every month.
7:30pm-10:30pm,
11160 Washington Pl.
Culver City, 90232
310-839-8891

——————————————

2/17/18

RON ROBINSON PRESENTS
NUDESCAPES by Nu Som
Saturday, Feb 17 5-8 PM

Artist Reception Book Signing
and Discussion with Photographer
/ Author Nu Som
and
Art Expert / Foreword Writer
Deborah Zafman

Where: Ron Robinson
1327 5th Street, Santa Monica
When 2/17/18 5-8pm

——————————————-

2/21/18

GLENDALE NOON CONCERTS

Wed FEBRUARY 21, 2018 at 12:10-12:40 pm
Free Admission
Violinist JOHANA KREJCI & Pianist BRENDAN WHITE
will perform works by J.S. BACH & JOHANNES BRAHMS
(Violin Sonata No.1 in G Major, Op.78).
http://www.glendalenoonconcerts.blogspot.com
Thank you!
Jacqueline Suzuki
Curator, Glendale Noon Concerts

——————————————-

3/11/18

“WESTERN SUITE” by
Adrienne Albert

Sunday, March 11th, 2018 at 6 pm.
The Southeast Symphony, under the direction of Anthony Parnther,
will be performing my “WESTERN SUITE” for orchestra along
with works by Leonard Bernstein, Rimsky Korsakov, and Capuzzi:
Concerto for Double Bass.

Sunday, March 11th, 2018
Time: 6 PM
Place: First Congregational Church of Los Angeles
540 S. Commonwealth Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90020

https://www.southeastsymphony.com/march-11-scheherazade

More information will be coming soon!!

All best,
Adrienne

——————————————

The Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program at the Seattle Film Institute

is now accepting applications for the one-year

Master of Music in Film Composition

One of the Top 4 Film Music Programs in the World!

Recently rated as the #4 school in the world for film scoring education by Music School Central.

“in just one year, the school places students into a pressure cooker of intense learning resulting in a professional demo reel that can be used to obtain future paid commercial opportunities.”

Learn from Industry Professionals

Accelerated and Affordable

History of Success

Applications are being accepted for the Fall 2018 school year.
We offer rolling admissions – no deadline to apply.

(800) 882-4734 | www.pnwfilmmusic.com
——————————————–

UNTIL NEXT TIME,  THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

CORRECTION! / MPS / THERE THEY GO AGAIN! / EVENTS

Friday, February 9th, 2018

2/5/18

•••CORRECTION•••
I. MPS
II. THERE THEY (AFM) GO AGAIN!
III. EVENTS

…Reporting issues the Musicians Union doesn’t dare to mention – National touring musician

================================

•••CORRECTION!•••

In last week’s “FROM THE EDITOR” We mentioned that
the AFM had lost 2/3’s of it’s membership in the last 10 years.

Actually, the AFM has lost 1/3 of their membership in
the last 10 years.

We apologize for the error.

The Committee

================================

I. MPS

Dear Fellow Musicians,

Our American Federation of Musicians pension fund has been
heading toward a crisis for decades. As a result, the pension
fund trustees are now considering making considerable cuts
to our pension benefits. After a lifetime of paying into a system
we were promised would support us in our retirement, the
trustees are now seeking to break that promise. It is imperative,
at this critical time, that we gather our forces to show strength
in numbers. If you are receiving this email, you are important
to this cause. We urge every musician to read this email.

Please act now and join the MPS EMAIL LIST to stay informed.

Background

AFM pension fund trustees sent out a letter over a year ago
in December of 2016 disclosing for the first time that we would
in all probability face massive cuts to our existing benefits as
soon as spring 2017. Shock and confusion set in. How could
this happen? In the months that followed many AFM members
looked to our elected leaders and trustees for help, information
and a plan. Before long, it became clear that we would need to
deal with the pension crisis ourselves. What resulted was the
formation of Musicians for Pension Security, a non-profit
volunteer organization made up of musicians who do thousands
of hours of work in order to help our friends and colleagues
around the country to seek solutions and stay informed in
the face of the AFM pension crisis.

MPS Initiatives and Accomplishments
– MPS national conference calls which are regularly
attended by scores of engaged participants across
the country.
– MPS launched our first ever MPS fundraising
campaign which raised $15,000 in less than two weeks.
Funds were used to retain one of the most respected
actuaries in the country to start an independent actuarial
analysis of the fund.
– MPS has worked closely with policymakers in Washington
D.C. like Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Senator
Lamar Alexander (R-TN) to develop and discuss new
pension legislation like the Butch Lewis Act.
– MPS spearheaded a call to action, where thousands
of AFM members called and emailed AFM President
Ray Hair urging him and the other AFM-EPF trustees
to support The Butch Lewis Act, which they finally
endorsed just a few weeks later.
– MPS Executive Director, Adam Krauthamer received
an award from the Pension Rights Center in Washington
DC in recognition of his services to the AFM-EPF plan
participants.

We are only able to achieve critical change through
strength in numbers. Every musician, no matter your
participation in the music business, is asked to join
the cause now, have a voice and be part of the solution.
The strength in our numbers will determine how loud
that voice will be. Please join the fight to protect our
pension. In Spring 2018, MPS will host a national meeting
in NYC. The MPS team, including our legal and actuarial
counsel, will make a presentation of the current status
of our pension fund. We welcome you to attend or watch
us LIVE on Facebook.

Please act now and join MPS EMAIL LIST to stay informed.

In solidarity,

Musicians for Pension Security
https://www.musiciansforpensionsecurity.com

====================================

II. THERE THEY (AFM) GO AGAIN!
How MGM’s ‘Ben-Hur’ Evolved Into a Pending
Fight Before the National Labor Relations Board

Are MGM and Paramount union-busting? Is the American
Federation of Musicians tampering with witnesses in a
lawsuit over wages and benefits? A labor dispute escalates.

It’s with no small measure of irony that Ben-Hur, the iconic
film about a prince-turned-slave’s revenge, has instigated
a modern-day labor brawl. That’s thanks to MGM’s decision
to reboot the film, and specifically, the musicians hired to
perform the score.

Last April, the American Federation of Musicians of the
United States and Canada filed a lawsuit against MGM
and Paramount — and the complaint seemed simple
enough at the time. The guild accused the studios of
failing to pay proper wages, benefits and residual
compensation to the musicians on the 2016 remake.

MGM and Paramount responded by arguing that the
musicians were subcontracted and therefore not covered
by the union agreement. In October, a California federal
judge rejected MGM’s motion for judgment on the
pleadings and allowed the litigation to proceed.

Now, the dispute has escalated to the point where one
side implies union-busting and the other side suggests
witness tampering. The case has gotten so heated that
it has provoked AFM to file charges against MGM to
the National Labor Relations Board.

According to AFM, MGM and Paramount have unlawfully
coerced musicians employed in the scoring of Ben-Hur
by conditioning their employment on a promise not to
adhere to union economic standards, not to communicate
with the guild about this film project and not to exercise
rights to bargain collectively over terms and conditions
of their employment.

The ramifications of musicians taking work not sanctioned
by the union are beginning to reverberate. As a result of
this movie and the subsequent legal proceedings, questions
are being presented about a guild’s ability to discipline its
own members and an employer’s ability to find out about
such activity.

The case is now in the discovery phase. Both sides want
information. And there’s been no shortage of accusations
that the legal process is being abused.

In December, for instance, Magistrate Judge Michael Wilner
noted that “AFM is undoubtedly authorized to conduct
legitimate disciplinary proceedings to enforce union rules,”
but added, “There is a strong and pungent whiff of abuse
of the Court’s process here. It sure looks like the union
used Rule 45 subpoenas in its lawsuit against MGM
and Paramount simply to gain evidence against its
wayward members.”

Recently, MGM has been investigating.

In court papers filed late last week, MGM told the judge
that it had learned that AFM fined music conductor
Mark Graham $10,000, but “held in abeyance” three-
quarters of that amount pending the guild’s satisfaction
with his future behavior.

The studio wants permission to find out about other
musicians disciplined by AFM.

“Discovery regarding the AFM’s actions, including actual
and/or threatened sanctions against percipient witnesses
in this lawsuit is indisputably relevant to the credibility of
those witnesses’ testimony,” writes MGM’s attorney Adam
Levin. “The AFM’s refusal to produce this potentially relevant
discovery appears to be based on an unfounded interpretation
of the National Labor Relations Act, which does not allow
unions to secretly discipline and cut deals with persons
who are witnesses in civil litigation.”

But AFM has a different read on what’s going on.
In late November, the guild quietly filed charges at
the NLRB against MGM and the law firm of Mitchell
Silberberg & Knupp.

The studio is accused of violating a provision of labor code
that prohibits employers from interfering with employees’
exercise of labor rights. Specifically, AFM alleges it is
unlawful that MGM would interrogate union members
about intra-union disciplinary matters and other
confidential protected union activity.

The NLRB may eventually get around to issuing a decision
about this, but in the meantime, a judge is holding a
hearing next week to examine MGM’s efforts to compel
disclosures about intra-union communications and disciplinary
actions.

Jennifer Garner, attorney for AFM, argues to the court
that after coercing musicians to take economic
sub-standard work, MGM and Paramount now
wish to complete the unacceptable bargain.

“The Ben-Hur employers promised anyone who capitulated
to these yellow dog terms that their acceptance of such
employment would be protected from disclosure to the
representative union,” she writes in a bid for a protective
order. “Thus, in actuality, it is the Ben-Hur employers who
have violated the musicians’ rights and have resorted to
economic and political coercion to silence them and/or
curry their favor as witnesses in this action.”

[Colleagues, No musicians were coerced into taking
this work. It’s called freelancing and If the
company had been forced to go union, the work
would have gone overseas.

At least this way the work stayed here, but that’s not
good enough for the AFM and Local 47. If it’s not
goingto the RMA elites it shouldn’t happen so they
engage in selective enforcement and harassment.

I hope Mark Graham does no give over the
Identities of the players, the AFM doesn’t
deserve them.]

================================

III. EVENTS
DEAN AND RICHARD
are now at Culver City Elks the first  Friday of  every month.
7:30pm-10:30pm,
11160 Washington Pl.
Culver City, 90232
310-839-8891

——————————————

2/11/18

BAXTER MEMORIAL CONCERT SERIES
an Afternoon with Brahms and Clara Schumann

Timothy Durkovic, piano
Isabelle LaForet Senger, violin
Laura Brenes, french horn

Sunday, February 11, 2018, 2:00pm
First REEMethodist Church of Whittier –
13222 Bailey St. Whittier, CA 90601
Admission: Free

Program:
Clara Schumann:3 Romances Op.22,
Johannes Brahms:Violin Sonata No.2 in A major Op.100,
Johannes Brahms: Horn Trio Op.40

Please join us for an afternoon of a romance
themed program, featuring some of the most
beautiful music written by Brahms and Clara Schumann.

This program will be repeated in the High
Desert Chamber Music Concert Series on
Wednesday, February 14, 2018, 8:00pm
at the Tower Theatre in Bend, Oregon.

For more information, please visit:
http://www.highdesertchambermusic.com/index.php/events/hdcm-series

——————————————-

2/10-11/18

RIVERSIDE PHILHARMONIC

“Animatus Eventus” Saturday, February 10, 2018 @ 7:30 p.m. Sunday, February 11, 2018 @ 2:00 p.m.
Music to entertain the young and the young
at heart, with a unique concert celebrating the
music of cartoons including “Alice’s Wonderland,”
“Felix goes to Hollywood,” and others, composed
by some of Hollywood’s top cartoon composers,
like Mark Watters and Charles Fernandez.

Plus: Animatus Eventus (Cartoon Suite), a three
movement symphonic work by Charles Fernandez
based on original material with nods to cartoons
from the last 80 years, including classic cartoon
footage shown on a large screen.
Email – [email protected]
Phone – 951-787-0251
——————————————-

2/11/18
LOS ANGELES SYMPHONIC WINDS
Steve Piazza, Director
Subscription Concert 4 – Valentine Concert
Sunday February 11, 2018 at 2:30 pm
Calabasas High School Performing Arts Education Center
22855 Mulholland Hwy, Calabasas, CA 91302

Valentines Concert featuring music of some of
history’s greatest pairs of lovers including
Romeo and Juliet and Tristan and Isolde.

——————————————-

2/21/18

GLENDALE NOON CONCERTS

——————————————-

3/11/18

“WESTERN SUITE” by
Adrienne Albert

Sunday, March 11th, 2018
Time: 6 PM
Place: First Congregational Church of Los Angeles
540 S. Commonwealth Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90020

https://www.southeastsymphony.com/march-11-scheherazade

More information will be coming soon!!

All best,
Adrienne
——————————————–
Adrienne Albert
[email protected]
www.adriennealbert.com

The Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program at the Seattle Film Institute

is now accepting applications for the one-year

Master of Music in Film Composition

One of the Top 4 Film Music Programs in the World!

Recently rated as the #4 school in the world for film scoring education by Music School Central.

“in just one year, the school places students into a pressure cooker of intense learning resulting in a professional demo reel that can be used to obtain future paid commercial opportunities.”

Learn from Industry Professionals

Accelerated and Affordable

History of Success

Applications are being accepted for the Fall 2018 school year.
We offer rolling admissions – no deadline to apply.

(800) 882-4734 | www.pnwfilmmusic.com
——————————————–

UNTIL NEXT TIME,  THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

FROM THE EDITOR / RESIGNATION LETTER / EVENTS

Monday, February 5th, 2018

2/5/18

I. FROM THE EDITOR
II. MY RESIGNATION LETTER
III. EVENTS

…Reporting issues the Musicians Union doesn’t dare to mention – National touring musician

================================

I. FROM THE EDITOR

WHY I’M LEAVING THE AFM AND LOCAL 47

Dear fellow musicians,

I and others started this blog 12 years ago
in the hope of keeping recording work in
Los Angeles and addressing some of the
injustice done by local 47 against our
members.

During this time, we’ve all witnessed the
steady decline of recording work in Los
Angeles. We’ve also witnessed, with the
consent of our local, the wholesale transfer
of work from one group of musicians to
another (e.g. the Pasadena Pops and the
Los Angeles Ballet orchestra).

In response. our union leadership has failed
to address any of our underlying problems
and selectively punishes anyone who questions
the status quo. As opposed to standing up
for the rights of rank and file musicians, our
AFM national officers have condoned our
local’s actions and have also sanctioned
anyone who protests against their policies.

Despite losing two thirds of its membership
in the last ten years and facing the possible
demise of our pension fund, you would think
the AFM and our local officers would try to
reform their policies and conduct. Unfortunately,
this is not the case.

As a result, I will be withdrawing my local union
membership after a total of 40 years and will
be electing Financial Core status. I encourage all
musicians of conscience to do the same.
I believe the AFM will eventually
fail under its own mismanagement.

I invite all progressive musicians of good will to
form an new organization that will generate
both work and justice for musicians. We must
be proactive in trying to create something new.

The blog will remain committed to the
rank and file.

Sincerely,

Charles Fernandez
Editor, Committee for a More Responsible Local 47 Blog

====================================

II. MY RESIGNATION LETTER – Enough is enough.

Colleagues,

Here is the resignation letter I included with my shift to Fi-Core Status.

Local 47
American Federation of Musicians
Attn: Secretary
3220 Winona Ave.
Burbank CA 91504

Re: Election of Financial-Core Status Effective Immediately

To the Secretary:

I, Charles Fernandez, hereby elect financial-core status effective
immediately. And to the extent necessary, I hereby resign as
an active member of Local 47 and the AFM, effective immediately.
Please refund a pro rata portion of my dues previously paid which
were allocated by you to political causes.

I want you to know the reason why I am electing financial-core status.

For the past 35 years, I have taken it as a point of great pride to
be a member of the American Federation of Musicians and Local
47; but no longer. The AFM and Local 47 no longer represent the
interests of the majority of its members. Instead, the union has
failed to adopt policies and procedures ensuring that the majority
of our members who are willing and want to work as musicians,
are able to do so. While the union is not responsible for changes
in technology and in the marketplace, the union IS responsible
for how it reacts to those changes so that the minimum harm is
felt by the members.

The AFM and Local 47 – as work has dried up over the past
15 or 20 years – have more and more favored the interests
of a minority of members who belong to the RMA. It has
done so at the expense of the interests of the majority of
members. That is an undeniable fact.

By ignoring the interests of a majority of our members,
leadership of the AFM and Local 47 have demonstrated
an utter lack of creativity, imagination and flexibility in
responding to the changing marketplace, and the union
has severely hurt the majority of members.

As for myself, I got hauled up on totally bogus, trumped
up charges because, in my capacity as an educator, not
a union musician, I conducted a couple of pieces of music
composed by my students at what was nothing more nor
less than a demo session to provide the students with a
reel of their music to assist them in getting work as composers.
As a reminder to you IEB and Local 47 board members,
there is NO bylaw against a union member conducting
on a session, union or not. Look it up.

We all know I was treated so harshly with the size of the
fine because of my past activism and the Local using the
excuse of a supposed position with the Collective Media
Guild. This was so obviously fraudulent that all of the
charges against me relating to my alleged affiliation
with CMG were dropped for the lack of evidence.
I can only conclude that the fine of $2500 was simply
underhanded and vindictive.

So in the end I was selectively targeted for simply
attending the session as an educator, which is absurd,
but those prosecuting the charges against me didn’t
care about that reality, or the truth, and designed
their actions to cost me the most money possible,
in the end the amount will be approx. $15,500.

Had I been treated fairly I would’ve been called
into Local 47, and given a warning.

If I had been a well-placed RMA member and/or
a member of the board I’d have faced no charges.

I have been a member of Local 47 since 1983
(35 years) and never, ever, been charged with a
violation or infraction of the Bylaws.

I read the blog “The Truth about Fi-Core” on
the Local 47 website. It is filled with platitudes,
such as “we shouldn’t get screwed over by those
who would happily see us work for less than our
worth;” “standing together, in unity, is the best
way to make [more work] happen;” and that
members who “share in a democratic process,
have a voice, and be active participants in crafting
and maintaining the terms of our employment.”

That all sounds very nice but it isn’t realistic, nor
is it true. Working for “our worth” is a moving
target which depends on the realities of the
marketplace. It would be nice if the union could
set scale rates without taking into account the
rest of the world, but that bubble has long since
burst. The fact is you can record anywhere in the
world except with the AFM with a buyout. There
must be a more realistic distinction between big
budget, Hollywood films and all the rest of the
composers, producers, and production houses
who are trying to get off the ground. No one,
including me, wants to work for a pittance. But
there is a range of scales that can ensure that
those of us who want to work for a certain minimum,
are able to do so.

No union member wants to take nonunion work,
unless that’s the only work available. And in that
situation, no union member wants to be hauled
up on charges simply for trying to feed their family.
Unfortunately, what the union is left with is the vast
majority of its members who are unable to earn a
decent living playing union gigs. This will inevitably
lead to more and more members resigning or electing
financial-core status to avoid charges. This is the
dilemma which the union has created for the majority
of its members.

The bigger picture is that there is little recording work
for anyone other than a minority of RMA members;
there are numerous members of Local 47 who are
fine musicians and perfectly capable of doing excellent
recording work, but don’t work because of the few
contractors and RMA members who have a monopoly
on recording work. That leaves the rest of the members
who are capable of performing at the highest levels
with no work and no prospect of work if they are to
adhere to the union rules. That’s the intersection that
most qualified members find themselves.

All members do non-union work (board members
included – you know who you are), but as mostly
RMA members occupying favored status with the
union leadership, none of you will ever be brought
up on charges, be it for playing on recordings or
orchestrating for film or musical theater.

That’s the kind of favoritism that makes the majority
of our members, cynical; and when the choice is
presented go ahead and take nonunion work and
hope they don’t get caught. How long is this vicious
cycle going to continue? And how long will loyal dues
paying members who want, and are able to, do recording
work continue to turn down nonunion recording work.
It’s a Hobson’s choice!

In fact, given the perception by most members
that the union no longer protects their interests,
including their desire to perform as musicians,
there is no reason for anyone to remain a member
so long as the union crafts policies that discriminate
against members who want to work but have to
reject work for fear of being brought up on charges.
After all, what’s the point of these musicians remaining
members? There is none.

The AFM cannot continue protecting the interests
of a tiny minority at the expense of the majority and
expect to survive in the long term. That is simply a
fact of life.

That is why I am electing financial-core status.
My decision is based on ineffectual, unfair union
policies about what work I can accept; and on the
vindictive, spiteful and malicious manner in which
I was treated in connection with the bogus charges
filed against me, and the inordinate fine attached.

Fraternally,

________________________
Charles Fernandez

================================

III. EVENTS
DEAN AND RICHARD
are now at Culver City Elks the first  Friday of  every month.
7:30pm-10:30pm,
11160 Washington Pl.
Culver City, 90232
310-839-8891

——————————————

2/6/19

Tuesday, February 6, 7:30 pm
USC Newman Recital Hall (AHF)
USC Thornton Faculty Recital with
bassoonist JUDITH FARMER and
cellist ANDREW SHULMAN

Program:
Gernot Wolfgang – ROAD SIGNS (world premiere) Judith Farmer – bassoon
Nic Gerpe – piano

Frank Bridge – CELLO SONATA, H.125
Andrew Shulman – cello
Jeffrey Kahane – piano

INTERMISSION

Gernot Wolfgang – WINDOWS Edgar Lopez – clarinet
Judith Farmer – bassoon
Nadia Shpachenko – piano

Benjamin Britten – CELLO SONATA, Op.65 Andrew Shulman – cello
Jeffrey Kahane – piano

FREE ADMISSION

——————————————-

2/7/18

Brendan White- Piano & Jacqueline Suzuki- Violin at Music@Mimoda
· Hosted by Maksim Velichkin and Jacqueline Suzuki

Wednesday, February 7 at 8 PM – 9:30 PM

MiMoDa Studio
5774 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90019

——————————————-

2/11/18

BAXTER MEMORIAL CONCERT SERIES
an Afternoon with Brahms and Clara Schumann

Timothy Durkovic, piano
Isabelle LaForet Senger, violin
Laura Brenes, french horn

Sunday, February 11, 2018, 2:00pm
First REEMethodist Church of Whittier –
13222 Bailey St. Whittier, CA 90601
Admission: Free

Program:
Clara Schumann:3 Romances Op.22,
Johannes Brahms:Violin Sonata No.2 in A major Op.100,
Johannes Brahms: Horn Trio Op.40

Please join us for an afternoon of a romance
themed program, featuring some of the most
beautiful music written by Brahms and Clara Schumann.

This program will be repeated in the High
Desert Chamber Music Concert Series on
Wednesday, February 14, 2018, 8:00pm
at the Tower Theatre in Bend, Oregon.

For more information, please visit:
http://www.highdesertchambermusic.com/index.php/events/hdcm-series

——————————————-

2/10-11/18

RIVERSIDE PHILHARMONIC

“Animatus Eventus”

Saturday, February 10, 2018 @ 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, February 11, 2018 @ 2:00 p.m.

Music to entertain the young and the young
at heart, with a unique concert celebrating the
music of cartoons including “Alice’s Wonderland,”
“Felix goes to Hollywood,” and others, composed
by some of Hollywood’s top cartoon composers,
like Mark Watters and Charles Fernandez.

Valentines Concert featuring music of some of
history’s greatest pairs of lovers including
Romeo and Juliet and Tristan and Isolde.

——————————————-

3/11/18

“WESTERN SUITE” by
Adrienne Albert

Sunday, March 11th, 2018
Time: 6 PM
Place: First Congregational Church of Los Angeles
540 S. Commonwealth Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90020

https://www.southeastsymphony.com/march-11-scheherazade

More information will be coming soon!!

All best,
Adrienne
——————————————–
Adrienne Albert
[email protected]
www.adriennealbert.com

The Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program at the Seattle Film Institute

is now accepting applications for the one-year

Master of Music in Film Composition

One of the Top 4 Film Music Programs in the World!

Recently rated as the #4 school in the world for film scoring education by Music School Central.

“in just one year, the school places students into a pressure cooker of intense learning resulting in a professional demo reel that can be used to obtain future paid commercial opportunities.”

Learn from Industry Professionals

Accelerated and Affordable

History of Success

Applications are being accepted for the Fall 2018 school year.
We offer rolling admissions – no deadline to apply.

(800) 882-4734 | www.pnwfilmmusic.com
——————————————–

UNTIL NEXT TIME,  THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

NO QUORUM / NCCMP UNDERMINING ACT? / EVENTS

Saturday, January 27th, 2018

1/26/18

I. NO QUORUM FOR LOCAL 47 MEETING
II. NCCMP Tries to Undermine Butch Lewis Act
III. EVENTS

…Reporting issues the Musicians Union doesn’t dare to mention – National touring musician

================================

I. NO QUOROM FOR LOCAL 47 MEETING

BIG take away from the “no quorum” meeting….Local 47/Club
is looking for funding from the most wealthy members for
“naming rights” to our yet to be built auditorium.
(Names floated….Quincy Jones, Burt Bacharach , and as
one member opined …. “must consider John Williams”).

VP Baptist was very clear that the City of Burbank will
not let the project be called “an auditorium” …only to
be permitted and called a “multi-purpose room” during
construction.

A question from a member asked how much does
the Local…(speaker did not identify the Musician’s
Club) anticipate allocating for it…? Ans: 1 million.

So much for the sales pitch that the 47/Club would
have 9-11 million for an endowment after offloading
Vine Street. Our long term investment dollars are
about 4.5 million. It would be nice to know if the
investment income will close the gap between
what the Union can pay and the actual cost to
maintain the new property.

================================

II. NCCMP TRIES TO UNDERMINE BUTCH LEWIS ACT

MPS Signs on with Coalition of Unions
As many of you know, lawmakers in Washington
are responding to our pension crisis. In early
November 2017, the Butch Lewis Act was
introduced in Congress by Senator Sherrod
Brown. The proposed law would guarantee that
all plan participants receive 100% of their
promised pension benefit. It is the only plan
that preserves 100% of our hard-earned
pension benefits.

For the last few months MPS has been in
frequent contact with lawmakers across
the country asking for the “Butch Lewis
Act of 2017” to be a top legislative priority
and to be included as part of the upcoming
omnibus spending bill.

While we have made progress and gained
considerable support for this legislation,
other forces in Washington are currently
trying to undermine the Butch Lewis Act.
The main opposition is a proposal called the
Grow Act. This proposal would deny AFM-
EPF access to the federal loan program
and instead would compel cuts to our
accrued pension benefits.

The main sponsor of the Grow Act is the
NCCMP (the National Coordinating Council
on Multiemployer Pension Plans), which
is a Washington lobbying group that in
2014 drafted MPRA, the law that allows
our pensions to be cut. MPS has previously
pointed out the strong ties between our
AFM-EPF trustees and the NCCMP.
(See prior post here.) Unfortunately, our
trustees continue to support the NCCMP
by paying dues, by serving on their board
and by being actively involved with that
organization.

Musicians for Pension Security has recently
joined AARP, the International Association
of Machinists and Aerospace Workers,
the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers,
the National United Committee to Protect
Pensions, the National Retirees Legislative
Network, the Pension Rights Center, the
United Steelworkers, and the Western
Conference of Teamsters to oppose the
NCCMP in its effort to subvert the Butch
Lewis Act. See the joint statement here.

We call on the trustees of AFM-EPF to
immediately show their support by joining
this coalition and publicly rejecting the
NCCMP’s Grow Act.

AFM-EPF trustees say they support the
Butch Lewis Act. However, it is impossible
to wholeheartedly support it without
disavowing the NCCMP’s proposal. By
immediately joining MPS and many other
unions by signing onto the coalition
statement and rejecting NCCMP’s proposal,
our trustees have an opportunity to show
plan participants that they are 100% behind
the Butch Lewis Act. They will also show us
that they will no longer allow the NCCMP
to call the shots for the AFM-EPF.

====================================

III. EVENTS

DEAN AND RICHARD
are now at Culver City Elks the first  Friday of  every month.
7:30pm-10:30pm,
11160 Washington Pl.
Culver City, 90232
310-839-8891

——————————————

2/1/18

DeLuna, Marder & Kronstadt
Upstairs at Vitello’s
Thursday, February 1 at 8 PM – 11 PM
4349 Tujunga Ave, Studio City, California 91604

Three Singers, Songwriters, and Arrangers perform
their Original Music. Jazz/Brazilian/Groove/Pop…
backed by an All-Star Band.

Featuring

Rich Ruttenberg on piano,
Edwin Livingston on bass,
Joel Taylor on drums,
Brian Swartz on trumpet,
Bob Sheppard on sax,
Peter Kent and Rocio Marron on violin,
Rodney Wirtz on viola,
and Peggy Baldwin on cello.

Tickets: $20 for General Admission// $40 for VIP Seating

A minimum of two items ($20.00) is required per person
while occupying a table. If the minimum is not met the
difference will be charged. – Free dessert with your
purchase of a VIP ticket. $10

TICKET PRICE INCREASE DAY OF SHOW.
GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!

——————————————-

2/6/19

Tuesday, February 6, 7:30 pm
USC Newman Recital Hall (AHF)
USC Thornton Faculty Recital with
bassoonist JUDITH FARMER and
cellist ANDREW SHULMAN

Program:
Gernot Wolfgang – ROAD SIGNS (world premiere) Judith Farmer – bassoon
Nic Gerpe – piano

Frank Bridge – CELLO SONATA, H.125
Andrew Shulman – cello
Jeffrey Kahane – piano

INTERMISSION

Gernot Wolfgang – WINDOWS Edgar Lopez – clarinet
Judith Farmer – bassoon
Nadia Shpachenko – piano

Benjamin Britten – CELLO SONATA, Op.65 Andrew Shulman – cello
Jeffrey Kahane – piano

FREE ADMISSION

——————————————-

2/7/18

Brendan White- Piano & Jacqueline Suzuki- Violin at Music@Mimoda
· Hosted by Maksim Velichkin and Jacqueline Suzuki

Wednesday, February 7 at 8 PM – 9:30 PM

MiMoDa Studio
5774 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90019

——————————————-

2/10-11/18

RIVERSIDE PHILHARMONIC

Valentines Concert featuring music of some of
history’s greatest pairs of lovers including
Romeo and Juliet and Tristan and Isolde.

——————————————-

The Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program at the Seattle Film Institute

is now accepting applications for the one-year

Master of Music in Film Composition

One of the Top 4 Film Music Programs in the World!

Recently rated as the #4 school in the world for film scoring education by Music School Central.

“in just one year, the school places students into a pressure cooker of intense learning resulting in a professional demo reel that can be used to obtain future paid commercial opportunities.”

Learn from Industry Professionals

Accelerated and Affordable

History of Success

Applications are being accepted for the Fall 2018 school year.
We offer rolling admissions – no deadline to apply.

(800) 882-4734 | www.pnwfilmmusic.com
——————————————–

UNTIL NEXT TIME,  THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

MERGER / SAN ANTONIO / CHINA / COMMENT / EVENTS

Tuesday, January 16th, 2018

1/16/18

I. MERGER PRESENTS PROBLEM WITH ACCESS
II. SAN ANTONIO SYMPHONY
III. CHINA IS THE NEW HOLLYWOOD
IV. COMMENT
V. EVENTS

…Reporting issues the Musicians Union doesn’t dare to mention – National touring musician

================================

I. MERGER PRESENTS PROBLEM WITH ACCESS

MEMBER COMMENT

I have a question about the MICU (Musicians’
Interguild Credit Union) merger with SAG-AFTRA
FCU — I was just informed that former MICU members
will not have access to their transaction data
prior to the merger — that if you want info prior
to the end of last year, you have to contact them
to ask for info.

This is contrary to what I was initially told —
that ALL records would transfer and we would
have access from the time of opening the MICU
account.

[Colleagues, any thoughts?]

================================

II. SAN ANTONIO SYMPHONY

SAN ANTONIO SYMPHONY

[MEMBER COMMENT: An example on how
important a Orchestra is to a city and also an
example of how management let the orchestra fall
short of pension payments to AFM if what has been
presented is factual.]

San Antonio leaders throw support behind symphony
By David Hendricks

Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson
Wolff appeared Saturday night with the San Antonio
Symphony in a show of unity behind the beleaguered
orchestra that is struggling to stay onstage.

Nirenberg and Wolff spoke to a near-capacity audience
of almost 1,450 people at the Tobin Center for the
Performing Arts before the symphony’s performance
of its first Tricentennial program.

“We believe in a world-class symphony for San Antonio.
We believe in a long-term sustainable plan for the
orchestra,” Nirenberg told the audience.

City leaders talk about how important the San Antonio
Symphony is to the city.

“I wish I could say the work is completed, but it’s
not,” Nirenberg said in reference to this week’s
developments in which the Symphony Society of
San Antonio first said the rest of the 2017-18
season would be canceled then reversed the
decision, under new Chairwoman Kathleen Vale,
in favor of a modified concert schedule that will
be announced soon.

Initially, symphony officials said $2.5 million
would be needed to complete the entire season,
then announced Wednesday it would be
cancelled altogether for lack of funds.

After that announcement, Vale said, about $400,000
in donations was verbally pledged, allowing for the
presentation of at least some of the remaining concerts.
She declined to name the donors.

Also available to the symphony is part of the city’s
allocation of more than $600,000 for the current season,
said bassoonist Brian Petkovich, the orchestra musicians
union representative.

About $300,000 already has been spent by the Symphonic
Music for San Antonio nonprofit, Petkovich said. SMSA
operated the orchestra during the fall but last month pulled
out its deal to take over the orchestra’s management,
citing a possible pension liability that was disputed by
the musicians.

The city still holds about $350,000 that would be available
to the orchestra for concerts this winter and spring. But
the city “will want to see a plan from the symphony before
they release the funds,” Petkovich said. “I’m confident
we’ll develop something, and we’ll have an orchestra on
the stage,” he added.

Wolff told the audience that local leaders and symphony
supporters will begin this summer, if not earlier, to “sit
down and start planning a viable way to operate the
symphony. We have a great orchestra. We want to
keep that orchestra,” Wolff said, before the musicians
took the stage to perform a program focused on the
music from and about Spain in recognition of the city’s
early history.

While a complete list of what concerts will be performed
hasn’t been released, the Jan. 12, 13 and 14 classical
series concerts featuring a program led by Ludwig van
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, “Eroica,” will be performed
at the Tobin Center, according to Friday’s announcements
from symphony Music Director Sebastian Lang-Lessing.

Contributions are coming in steadily to help keep the
orchestra together and performing, Vale said.

“It’s exploding. We’re receiving contributions in spades.
We have enquiries about where to contribute. Contributions
can be made to the Symphony Society of San Antonio,”
Vale said.

“This is a critical moment in the destiny of the symphony.
It’s our treasure. We appreciate the outpouring of support.
We need financial support and everyone’s attendance at
concerts. This organization belongs to the city of San
Antonio and the area. It will take the whole city and the
area to support the symphony,” Vale said.

Holders of presold season and ticket holders can seek
refunds if some concerts aren’t included in the modified
season to be announced soon, said Vale and violinist
Craig Sorgi, negotiating chairman of the Musicians of
the San Antonio Symphony.

“Our message to ticketholders is do not go and refund
tickets,” Sorgi said. “You’ll need them. If there is a concert
or two that is not performed, refunds can be made, but I
believe it would be better to hang on to them. I believe
you’re going to use them.”

“Ticketholders can seek refunds or they may donate
unused tickets (by not seeking refunds), which would
be gratefully received,” Vale said.

[email protected]

=====================================

III. China Is the New Hollywood, Director Says

12/28/2017 10:49AM

Big-budget director Renny Harlin, known
for films such as “Die Hard 2” and “Cliffhanger,”
has left Hollywood behind to work in China,
the world’s fastest-growing movie market.

In this video, he talks to the WSJ’s Daniel Epstein
about his experience.
https://tinyurl.com/y94t6jjh

====================================

IV. COMMENTS

interesting story & comments at
https://www.facebook.com/scoringsessions/
about Local 47 falsely accusing a company
of doing a non-union session. Thoughts?

====================================

V. EVENTS
DEAN AND RICHARD
are now at Culver City Elks the first  Friday of  every month.
7:30pm-10:30pm,
11160 Washington Pl.
Culver City, 90232
310-839-8891

——————————————-

1/19/18

LOS ANGELES FLUTE ORCHESTRA

The 9 piece flute orchestra that I perform with will be
having a concert at the Miles Playhouse on Jan. 19th.

I hope you can make it. In addition to the large ensemble
I will be playing in a quartet!

Tickets are limited, so I suggest that if you are interested
you purchase them through the eventbrite website.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/los-angeles-flute-orchestra-fireside-at-the-miles-tickets-41146543419
Here’s to a fabulous 2018!

Ellen Burr

————————————————–

1/19/18

Tuesday, January 19th, 2018 / 8:00 pm
Pete Christlieb & Linda Small
with the Ray Ohls Trio
Ray Ohls on piano Derick Polke on bass Tim Malland on drums
Brother Don’s
4200 Kitsap Way
Bremerton, WA 98312
Reservations: (360) 377.8442
Directions.

——————————————-

1/20/18

The Kim Richmond/Kimberly Ford Band, featuring Will Brahm,
A Tribute to the Music of Herbie Hancock and Joni Mitchell
WHEN: Saturday, January 20, 8 PM, 2 sets
WHERE: Bar Fedora, 710 W. 1st Street, downtown Los Angeles
WHO: Kimberly Ford, vocals
Kim Richmond, saxophones/flute
Will Brahm, guitar
Daniel Szabo, piano
Jordan Richards, bass
James Yoshizawa, percussion
FOOD: Excellent cuisine

Hope you can make it.

——————————————-

1/21/18

MUSICIANS of the METROPOLITAN OPERA ORCHESTRA
at
M A H M A
Sunday, January 21, 2018 at 7:30 pm
Wine and Cheese Gathering at 7:00 pm

L A U R A H A M I L T O N, C O N C E R T M A S T E R
M E T R O P O L I T A N O P E R A O R C H E S T R A

L A N N Y P A Y K I N – C E L L I S T

E L L E N S O M M E R – P I A N I S T

F E A T U R I N G R E S I D E N T A R T I S T S
M A R I A N E W M A N, v i o l i n i s t & c o m p o s e r
S C O T T H O S F E L D, v i o l i s t

P E R F O R M I N G M U S I C O F
A n t o n i n D v o r a k, M a u r i c e R a v e l
and M a r i a N e w m a n

J a n u a r y 21, 2018
P R O G R A M

Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 81
…Antonin Dvorak (1841- 1904)
For Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Violoncello

String Quartet No. 2 (“Lauds”)
…Maria Newman (comp. 1999)
Commissioned by Pacific Serenades (Los Angeles)
And the Icicle Creek Music Center (Washington)

Sonata for Violin and Violoncello (1920/21)
…Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937)

Selected performances featuring
MAHMA artists below:

—————————————–

1/23/18

CHAMBER MUSIC PALISAIDES
21st Annual Season

Featuring

Jon Lee Keenan, Tenor
Susan Greenberg, Flute
Kenton Youngstrom, Guitar
Delores Stevens, Piano

with commentary by Alan Chapman

Music by
Piazolla, Tarrega, Gershwin, Bellini, Copland,
Ahlert/Young and Mike Mower

Tuesday Jan. 23. 8 pm.

St Mathews Parish
1031 Bienveneda Ave.
Pacific Palisades

Ticket Price – $30

—————————————–

1/24/18

Pete Christlieb and Linda Small
The Tall and Small 11 Piece Band NW
Wednesday, January 24, 8:00 pm
featuring: Pete Christlieb saxophones and Linda Small trombone
saxophones: Tracy Knoop, Travis Ranney, Jeff Kashiwa, Bill Ramsay
trumpets: Morris Northcutt, Jared Hall
piano: Bill Anschell, bass: Nate Omdal drums: Tim Malland
Cover: at door: $12 Online: $10
TICKETS
Directions

——————————————

2/1/18

DeLuna, Marder & Kronstadt
Upstairs at Vitello’s
Thursday, February 1 at 8 PM – 11 PM
4349 Tujunga Ave, Studio City, California 91604

Three Singers, Songwriters, and Arrangers perform
their Original Music. Jazz/Brazilian/Groove/Pop…
backed by an All-Star Band.

Featuring

Tickets: $20 for General Admission// $40 for VIP Seating

A minimum of two items ($20.00) is required per person
while occupying a table. If the minimum is not met the
difference will be charged. – Free dessert with your
purchase of a VIP ticket. $10

TICKET PRICE INCREASE DAY OF SHOW.
GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!

——————————————-

2/7/18

Brendan White- Piano & Jacqueline Suzuki- Violin at Music@Mimoda
· Hosted by Maksim Velichkin and Jacqueline Suzuki

Wednesday, February 7 at 8 PM – 9:30 PM

MiMoDa Studio
5774 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90019

——————————————-

2/10-11/18

RIVERSIDE PHILHARMONIC

Valentines Concert featuring music of some of
history’s greatest pairs of lovers including
Romeo and Juliet and Tristan and Isolde.

——————————————-

The Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program at the Seattle Film Institute

is now accepting applications for the one-year

Master of Music in Film Composition

One of the Top 4 Film Music Programs in the World!

Recently rated as the #4 school in the world for film scoring education by Music School Central.

“in just one year, the school places students into a pressure cooker of intense learning resulting in a professional demo reel that can be used to obtain future paid commercial opportunities.”

Learn from Industry Professionals

Accelerated and Affordable

History of Success

Applications are being accepted for the Fall 2018 school year.
We offer rolling admissions – no deadline to apply.

(800) 882-4734 | www.pnwfilmmusic.com
——————————————–

UNTIL NEXT TIME,  THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

NEW COURT FILING / HELP THE MPS / EVENTS

Saturday, January 6th, 2018

1/6/18

I. NEW COURT FILING
II. HELP THE MPS (Musicians for Pension Security)
III. EVENTS

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE COMMITTEE!!

…Absolutely guaranteed anonymity – Former Musician’s Union officer

…The one voice of reason in a sea of insanity – Nashville ‘first call’ scoring musician
…Allows us to speak our minds without fear of reprisal – L.A. Symphonic musician

…Reporting issues the Musicians Union doesn’t dare to mention – National touring musician

================================

I. New Court Filing Offers Play by Play Account of Trustees’ Decision Making
[Colleagues: Get a load of Ray Hair’s and Tino Gagliardi’s role in this.]

On December 1, 2017, an amended complaint in
the lawsuit filed by AFM Local 802 members Andy
Snitzer and Paul Livant was filed in Federal District
Court, Southern District of New York. For those
interested in understanding what happened to
our pensions, this court filing provides a play by
play account, from 2009-2016, of the decision
making by our trustees and fund administrator
that led to the current state of our pension fund.
It tells a story of poor investment decision making,
attempts to time the stock market, and payments
to multiple investment managers, in millions of
dollars, for little return.

This account was sourced from internal meeting
minutes and communications within the AFM-EPF
obtained through the court-supervised discovery
process. Much of this is information that plan
participants have until now been denied access to.

The trustees have made it clear that they don’t
agree with MPS’ analysis of the fund, even though
virtually all of our information has come directly
from the AFM-EPF’s own files. This court filing
offers a third view of the AFM-EPF, one that
MPS had no hand in. It also offers an opportunity
for plan participants to make up their own mind
with important new information. Read and decide
for yourself. Click here for the full document.

No one knows whether the lawsuit will succeed
in court. Whatever happens there, the plaintiffs
have done us all a service by bringing to light
important facts concerning our fund.

One area that this court filing sheds new light
on concerns the AFM-EPF Communications
Committee. In early 2016, the trustees formed
a so-called Communication Committee, which
includes trustees Ray Hair and Tino Gagliardi.
The committee made the decision in March
2017 to post only partial versions of the investment
reports to the AFM-EPF website. They also made
it policy that any document requested by a plan
participant would have to be copied, on paper,
at significant expense, rather than sent
electronically to the requester.

According to the court filing, while communicating
about plan participant’s access to information to
which they are legally entitled, Maureen Kilkelly
told Communication Committee members Ray
Hair and Tino Gagliardi that “I would love to
think of a way to curtail it” even though she
recognized “it is efficient and time-saving
to send items electronically as opposed to
copying, addressing and mailing a hard
copy.” This quote is taken from page 47
end of paragraph 102 of the complaint.

Read it here.

As recently as December 9, 2017, plan
participants received an email blast from
our trustees stating that they “are committed
to ensuring that all participants have access
to timely and accurate information about the
fund and its financial status.” Clearly, the
policies set internally by the Communications
Committee are in stark contrast to what the
trustees have been publicly communicating
to plan participants.

Below we set forth two other important
examples where the trustee’s statement
that they are “committed to ensuring that
all participants have access to timely and
accurate information” is easily proven to
be false.

First, the most recent Form 5500 that is
available to plan participants covers the
plan year ended March 31, 2016 – information
that is now 21 months old. Form 5500 is
the legally mandated disclosure document
concerning the assets, liabilities, income,
and expenses of our plan. The Form 5500
for the plan’s fiscal year ended March 31,
2017, was due on October 31, 2017, but it
has not been filed. The AFM- EPF does this
by filing for an extension with the IRS. The
extension allows them to file their form 5500
as late as January 15 of the following year.

In other words, the trustees take the longest
allowable time in which to file this important
disclosure form. This is not the behavior of
an organization seeking to be transparent.
With their extensive staff, outside accounting,
actuarial and legal resources, there is no
reason why our trustees could not have
filed the Form 5500 months ago.

And second, because the trustees’ Roadshow
Presentation in February 2017 included
some questionable facts, MPS sought
relevant information from the trustees
concerning investment fees, expenses
and the finances of our plan. All these
requests were denied. The only documents
the trustees would disclose are those required
under the law and many are heavily redacted.
(See our prior article here.)

To sum it up: The trustees are not giving us
timely communications and what they provide
is difficult to get, expensive and incomplete.
And just when the trustees let us know we
could be facing cuts to existing benefits,
those same trustees decided to curtail
participants’ access to information, making
it harder for plan participants to figure out
what happened.

Read the court case and share your
thoughts on our Facebook page here
or email us at [email protected]

[Colleagues: At every point where they could have chosen
either transparency or obfuscation, they
chose the latter. We deserve infinitely better]

=====================================

II. WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP THE MUSICIANS
FOR PENSION SECURITY (MPS)

MPS Community,

Since we started our work on the behalf of AFM
members around the country we have received
many emails asking, “How can we help?” Today,
we’d like to ask all AFM members for assistance
in the coming year. Most of what we need won’t
take much of your time at all:

VOLUNTEER AN HOUR

MPS has grown into a national volunteer organization.
As we continue to grow, the day to day administrative
duties grow as well. There are simple tasks like data
entry and communications that could be covered by
anyone willing to give up an hour or two per week.
This is a simple job but enormously helpful. Those
with special skills like copywriting, online marketing,
public relations or anything else that you think might
be valuable to MPS in the fight to protect our pension
fund, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Email us here: [email protected]
Important: Put MPS VOLUNTEER in the subject line
and let us know how you would like to help.

MPS MEETING COMMITTEE

MPS will soon be announcing a date for another
open meeting to discuss the state of the AFM-EPF
for all plan participants. That meeting will be held in
New York City and will most likely take place
sometime in the next few months. Our inaugural
meeting last spring drew hundreds of people.
Now that we are a nationwide organization we
expect the attendance to be even larger. For
that reason, we are forming the MPS Meeting
Committee and need volunteers to help with the
logistics! The tasks that are involved with this
meeting can be as simple as showing up early
on the day of the meeting to help set up chairs
or greeting people at the door with handouts. For
anyone willing to give a little more time, we will
need help with communications and the audio/
visual equipment setup for our presentation.

To volunteer for MPS Meeting Committee
email us at:
[email protected]
Important: Put MPS Meeting Committee in the
subject line and let us know how you would like to help.

DONATE

If you can’t donate your time, please consider
making a donation to MPS. We are an all-volunteer
organization made up of fellow musicians across
the country that donate their time to help in the
fight to protect our pension fund. Many of us
continue to cover some expenses out of pocket,
but as the organization grows, this will not be
feasible in the long term. Fortunately, now
that we have a large following across the country,
small donations from our many members
can have a huge impact. Please consider
making a donation here.

SUPPORT THE BUTCH LEWIS ACT

The Teamsters are frankly carrying a lot of our
water on this. We can do more by way of
pressuring our representatives In Washington
DC. Call them this week! You can find links to
your rep’s contact info and suggested script
here. (Read about the Butch Lewis Act here.)

CONTINUE TO SHOW UP IN 2018!

All our important accomplishments in the last
year happened when AFM members came
together and took action. Whether it was coming
to a meeting to learn more about the problems
at the AFM-EPF or the thousands of calls and
emails to AFM President Ray Hair, those actions
made a huge difference in the fight to protect our
pensions in 2017. In 2018 we must continue to
organize and speak with one collective voice.
We cannot be just an online community. We
must continue to turn out and show up for
important meetings and presentations when
they occur. Your presence alone shows support.
Let us continue to bring our community together
and work towards protecting our pension fund in 2018.

Happy New Year from MPS!

====================================

III. EVENTS
DEAN AND RICHARD
are now at Culver City Elks the first  Friday of  every month.
7:30pm-10:30pm,
11160 Washington Pl.
Culver City, 90232
310-839-8891

——————————————-

1/10/17

Multiplying Cellos – Villa-Lobos Festival at Music@Mimoda
Hosted by Maksim Velichkin and Lars Hoefs

Wednesday, January 10 at 8 PM – 9:30 PM

MiMoDa Studio
5774 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90019

——————————————-

1/19/18

LOS ANGELES FLUTE ORCHESTRA

The 9 piece flute orchestra that I perform with will be
having a concert at the Miles Playhouse on Jan. 19th.

I hope you can make it. In addition to the large ensemble
I will be playing in a quartet!

Tickets are limited, so I suggest that if you are interested
you purchase them through the eventbrite website.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/los-angeles-flute-orchestra-fireside-at-the-miles-tickets-41146543419
Here’s to a fabulous 2018!

Ellen Burr

————————————————–

1/19/18

——————————————-

2/1/18

DeLuna, Marder & Kronstadt
Upstairs at Vitello’s
Thursday, February 1 at 8 PM – 11 PM
4349 Tujunga Ave, Studio City, California 91604

Three Singers, Songwriters, and Arrangers perform
their Original Music. Jazz/Brazilian/Groove/Pop…
backed by an All-Star Band.

Featuring

Tickets: $20 for General Admission// $40 for VIP Seating

A minimum of two items ($20.00) is required per person
while occupying a table. If the minimum is not met the
difference will be charged. – Free dessert with your
purchase of a VIP ticket. $10

TICKET PRICE INCREASE DAY OF SHOW.
GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!

——————————————-

2/7/18

Brendan White- Piano & Jacqueline Suzuki- Violin at Music@Mimoda
· Hosted by Maksim Velichkin and Jacqueline Suzuki

Wednesday, February 7 at 8 PM – 9:30 PM

MiMoDa Studio
5774 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90019

——————————————-

2/10-11/18

RIVERSIDE PHILHARMONIC

Valentines Concert featuring music of some of
history’s greatest pairs of lovers including
Romeo and Juliet and Tristan and Isolde.

——————————————-

The Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program at the Seattle Film Institute

is now accepting applications for the one-year

Master of Music in Film Composition

One of the Top 4 Film Music Programs in the World!

Recently rated as the #4 school in the world for film scoring education by Music School Central.

“in just one year, the school places students into a pressure cooker of intense learning resulting in a professional demo reel that can be used to obtain future paid commercial opportunities.”

Learn from Industry Professionals

Accelerated and Affordable

History of Success

Applications are being accepted for the Fall 2018 school year.
We offer rolling admissions – no deadline to apply.

(800) 882-4734 | www.pnwfilmmusic.com
——————————————–

UNTIL NEXT TIME,  THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

SAN ANTONIO SYMPHONY / DEVELOPS / COMMENT / EVENTS

Friday, December 29th, 2017

12/29/17

I. SAN ANTONIO SYMPHONY MANAGEMENT GROUP DEAL OFF
II. SAN ANTONIO STORY DEVELOPS
III. COMMENT
IV. EVENTS

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE COMMITTEE!!

…Reporting issues the Musicians Union doesn’t dare to mention – National touring musician

================================

I. MANAGEMENT GROUP BACKS OUT OF DEAL TO
TAKE OVER SAN ANTONIO SYMPHONY

FROM TEXAS PUBLIC RADIO

A nonprofit organization created to run the San Antonio
Symphony announced Wednesday it will no longer take
over the troubled orchestra due to a potential multimillion
dollar pension obligation.

Symphonic Music for San Antonio Chairman Bruce Bugg
Jr. said the musicians’ union — the American Federation of
Musicians — told him of an underfunded pension obligation
of more than $4 million. Now, the management group has
decided to hand back responsibility to the Symphony Society
of San Antonio, which managed the symphony since its creation
in 1939.

“We’ve contributed over $2 million since May of this year just to
keep the symphonic season going,” Bugg said. “Those funds
went to pay the salaries of musicians and other expenses.”

Symphonic Music was created on July 19 with the intent of taking
over the symphony’s business operations Aug. 31. That is, until
an audit uncovered an unexpected cost, Bugg said.

“How we got to where we find ourselves today is we had asked
for the audited financial statements of the Symphony Society
of San Antonio for the period ending Aug. 31, 2016,” he said.

“That audit showed zero mention of any [underfunded] pension
balances.”…

We made it clear from the beginning that we were not in the
position at (Symphonic Music) to assume liabilities. We were
only in a position to move forward.”

Alice Viroslav, chairman of the Symphony Society of San Antonio,
confirmed the shortfall, citing a dip in the stock market and
possible mismanagement of the pension.
“So everyone in the pension is underfunded,” she said. “The
pension is a huge multi-employer plan. And the pension itself
has lost over 40 percent in overall value in the stock market in
2008 and never fully recovered from that.

“And there’s actually an active lawsuit right now against the
pension itself by some AFM musicians because exactly the
issues that we’re talking about. So this has nothing to do with
anything that we did. This has to do with the overall management
of the pension fund.”

Meanwhile, Craig Sorgi, a member of the San Antonio Symphony
and union chairman, sent a news release late Wednesday in
response to Bugg and Symphonic Music’s decision that it will no
longer manage the symphony due to the pension obligation.

“The board members of Symphonic Music for San Antonio are
attempting to excuse their abandonment of the San Antonio
Symphony by using the AFM pension plan as their scapegoat.
This is a false excuse,” the statement read. “… The SMSA board
members spent months proclaiming themselves the saviors of
the San Antonio Symphony. Now, like spoiled children, they have
decided to pick up their marbles and leave because they couldn’t
get their way on everything, including having to deal with a pesky
Union that didn’t think reducing outstandingly skilled musicians’
already-low pay scales was a very good idea.”

———————————–

COMMENTS RELATED TO THE ARTICLE ABOVE:

Something stinks, and it ain’t in Denmark. 1st we have a thinly
disguised attempt by the Tobin Center to get the symphony to
do their bidding and get rid of the pesky conflicts that have been
plaguing them from the get-go, and now we have them dropping
the deal like a hot rock, right after talks with the union fail. Since
they’ve known about the “unfunded liability: for a month — during
the negotiations, mind you — I question the real reason for their
sudden and unconscionable withdrawal from their obligations
which were self-imposed in the first place.

I foresee a long and ugly lawsuit on the horizon. And sadly,
a city without a symphony.

————————–

WAIT a second…..! Why did Bruce Bugg and SMSA sit on this information for a
month? They learned of the so-called underfunded pension
on November 21.

Why is it news…One Month Later??

————————–

I see one big problem in the above quotes from Bruce
Bugg and Alice Viroslav:
“Unfunded” and “underfunded” are not the same thing.
Is this a deliberate slip of the tongue, or careless wording
by the chairman of SMSA?

====================================

II. SAN ANTONIO STORY DEVELOPS
Symphony musicians hope for last-minute agreement
By Steve Bennett
December 28, 2017 Updated: December 28, 2017 8:22pm

With the San Antonio Symphony musicians’ contract set to expire Sunday,
an orchestra representative said next week’s Tricentennial celebration
concerts are up in the air.

While hanging onto hope that labor talks will continue, musicians on
Thursday also blasted a nonprofit group that was expected to assume
orchestra management for what they called “a union-busting power play.”

“At this point, we plan to be at rehearsal on Jan. 3,” said symphony
violinist Craig Sorgi, negotiating chairman of the Musicians of the
San Antonio Symphony. “There have been no cancellations, no work
stoppages, and there is still time on the clock to come to an agreement.
It’s not impossible.”

San Antonio supermarket chain H-E-B, the Tobin Endowment
and the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation set up the nonprofit
Symphonic Music for San Antonio and announced plans in
July to take over the symphony’s assets and operations
from the 78-year-old symphony society by Sept. 1.

The group announced Wednesday that it had pulled out of
the deal, citing a $4 million liability related to the musicians’
pension fund, which it said was disclosed recently in a letter
from the American Federation of Musicians & Employers’
Pension Fund.

The group announced Wednesday that it had pulled out of the
deal, citing a $4 million liability related to the musicians’ pension
fund, which it said was disclosed recently in a letter from the
American Federation of Musicians & Employers’ Pension Fund.

Bruce Bugg, chairman of Symphonic Music for San Antonio,
acknowledged on Thursday that he made a mistake in citing the
number, which was a reference to the multiemployer pension’s
net unfunded vested benefits of $4.5 billion.

The symphony musicians had pointed out the mistake in a
statement released Thursday.
“The pension fund letter identifies a $4.5 billion number for the
fund’s total net unfunded vested benefits aggregated of all
participating employers nationwide and all participating
employees nationwide,” according to the statement.
“This is not a liability figure of the (Symphony Society
of San Antonio).”

However, Bugg insisted the symphony society was potentially
liable for $8.9 million, which the letter identifies as an
“estimated withdrawal liability,” and that it remains a
deal-breaker.

“I don’t see a path forward working with the symphony
society, given what has been exposed in this letter,” he said.

Musicians countered that the figure was “grossly false.”

“Right now, there is no debt that the symphony society
owes the pension fund,” said symphony bassoonist Brian
Petkovich, secretary-treasurer of the local musicians’ union.
“The annual payment that the symphony society makes
to the fund is $120,000, which is such a small part of the
symphony’s budget (of $7.6 million). That shouldn’t
keep the orchestra from being onstage.”

Alice B. Viroslav, a San Antonio physician recently elected
board chairwoman of the symphony society, also said the
symphony is not in debt to the pension fund.

“The pension penalty is solely related to the shortfall of the
overall pension fund,” she wrote in an email. “The symphony
was and has always been current on all payments to the pension.”

Chicago arts consultant Drew McManus said the pension
fund liabilities did not mean that the symphony society
was “in arrears.”

“Withdrawal liabilities only kick in when you pull out of
the fund,” he said.

A symphony society board meeting to discuss all these matters
is scheduled for Tuesday.

“Really, were in a wait-and-see mode right now for what
the other side is going to do,” Petkovich said.

As far as next week’s and upcoming concerts, he added,
“We’re really up in the air.”

—————————————————-

III. COMMENT
interesting story & comments at
https://www.facebook.com/scoringsessions/ about
Local 47 falsely accusing a company of doing
a non-union session. Thoughts?

—————————————————

IV. EVENTS
DEAN AND RICHARD
are now at Culver City Elks the first  Friday of  every month.
7:30pm-10:30pm,
11160 Washington Pl.
Culver City, 90232
310-839-8891

——————————————-

The Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program at the Seattle Film Institute

is now accepting applications for the one-year

Master of Music in Film Composition

One of the Top 4 Film Music Programs in the World!

Recently rated as the #4 school in the world for film scoring education by Music School Central.

“in just one year, the school places students into a pressure cooker of intense learning resulting in a professional demo reel that can be used to obtain future paid commercial opportunities.”

Learn from Industry Professionals

Accelerated and Affordable

History of Success

Applications are being accepted for the Fall 2018 school year.
We offer rolling admissions – no deadline to apply.

(800) 882-4734 | www.pnwfilmmusic.com
——————————————–

UNTIL NEXT TIME,  THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Friday, December 22nd, 2017

12/22/17

I. TRUSTEES ENDORSE ACT FOLLOWING PRESSURE
II. EVENTS

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE COMMITTEE!!

…Absolutely guaranteed anonymity – Former Musician’s Union officer

…The one voice of reason in a sea of insanity – Nashville ‘first call’ scoring musician
…Allows us to speak our minds without fear of reprisal – L.A. Symphonic musician

…Reporting issues the Musicians Union doesn’t dare to mention – National touring musician

================================

I.TRUSTEES ENDORSE BUTCH LEWIS ACT
Thanks to Pressure from AFM Members

Yesterday evening the AFM-EPF trustees sent out
an email informing plan participants of their decision
to support the Butch Lewis Act. We want to
commend the trustees for finally acting on what
is in the best interest of all plan participants.

MPS first approached the trustees about Senator
Sherrod Brown’s then pension proposal as far
back as July. In October, we asked the trustees
to allow Senator Brown’s actuaries to analyze
the AFM-EPF plan data to show the benefits his
proposal would have on our fund. After meeting
with Senator Brown’s staff on November 2, it still
took another seven weeks for the AFM-EPF
trustees to decide that the Butch Lewis Act
would help our troubled pension fund.

Supporting the Butch Lewis Act is a step in
the right direction for the AFM-EPF trustees.
However, plan participants must continue to
hold the trustees accountable for their actions
both past and present. In 2014 when our
trustees helped write and pass MPRA (the
law that allows trustees to cut existing
benefits) they were actively engaged in
Washington D.C. lobbying on behalf of
the legislation and spent money to support
its passage. We must demand that in the
coming weeks our AFM-EPF trustees
publicly show that same level of support
for the Butch Lewis Act.

Recently, MPS joined with many important
unions and multi-employer pension plans to
oppose the efforts of the NCCMP and others
to undermine the Butch Lewis Act with
“composite plan” legislation. (See the coalition
statement here) The composite plan proposal
was part of the original MPRA proposal in
2014, but didn’t make it into the final law.
NCCMP has been pursuing it ever since.
In the last few weeks, they have dramatically
ramped up their efforts. Moving forward,
MPS will again reach out to the AFM-EPF
trustees in hopes of working together to find
new ways in which we can support the Butch
Lewis Act. First, we will ask the trustees to
join MPS and sign on to the coalition statement
disavowing the composite proposal because
it is not in the interests of the plan participants
of AFM-EPF.

MPS wants to thank all the AFM members
across the country who are actively engaged
in the fight to protect our pension. Whether
it was talking to a colleague at intermission
or calling Ray Hair’s office it was your hard
work, your organizing, your phone calls, and
your emails that created the pressure which
led our trustees to finally act. For many years,
our trustees pursued and supported MPRA.
Now, because of your efforts, our trustees
are forced to seriously consider new
legislative solutions in Washington D.C., like
the Butch Lewis Act, that don’t start with
cuts to benefits.

Since MPS was founded, it has been our
mission to bring together AFM musicians
across the country in search of more
information about the state of our pension
and, ultimately, to demand more
transparency and accountability from
the AFM-EPF Trustees. With your input
and participation, we have become a
national force working towards a
sustainable long-term plan for a secure
pension.

The coming weeks will show plan
participants just how serious the
AFM-EPF trustees are in supporting
the Butch Lewis Act.

====================================

II. EVENTS
DEAN AND RICHARD
are now at Culver City Elks the first  Friday of  every month.
7:30pm-10:30pm,
11160 Washington Pl.
Culver City, 90232
310-839-8891

——————————————-

The Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program at the Seattle Film Institute

is now accepting applications for the one-year

Master of Music in Film Composition

One of the Top 4 Film Music Programs in the World!

Recently rated as the #4 school in the world for film scoring education by Music School Central.

“in just one year, the school places students into a pressure cooker of intense learning resulting in a professional demo reel that can be used to obtain future paid commercial opportunities.”

Learn from Industry Professionals

Accelerated and Affordable

History of Success

Applications are being accepted for the Fall 2018 school year.
We offer rolling admissions – no deadline to apply.

(800) 882-4734 | www.pnwfilmmusic.com
——————————————–

UNTIL NEXT TIME,  THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

The Committee For A More Responsible Local 47

Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

HACKING ATTEMPT / KARMA INDEED / MPS – BENEFIT CUTS / MPS MEETING / EVENTS

THE INNER CIRCLE SPEAKS / BUTCH LEWIS UPDATE / EVENTS

L.A. PHIL / PARAMOUNT / MEMBER COMMENT / EVENTS

CORRECTION! / MPS / THERE THEY GO AGAIN! / EVENTS

FROM THE EDITOR / RESIGNATION LETTER / EVENTS

NO QUORUM / NCCMP UNDERMINING ACT? / EVENTS

MERGER / SAN ANTONIO / CHINA / COMMENT / EVENTS

NEW COURT FILING / HELP THE MPS / EVENTS

SAN ANTONIO SYMPHONY / DEVELOPS / COMMENT / EVENTS

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