The Committee For A More Responsible Local 47

12/20/16

I. 802 MEMBER RESPONSE TO AFM-EPF 12/2016 LETTER
II. KARMIC PAYBACK
III. THERE’S ALWAYS ANOTHER – MEMBER COMMENT
IV. MEMBER COMMENTS

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. 802 MEMBER RESPONSE TO AFM-EPF 12/2016 LETTER

Colleagues, we in Local 47 are certainly not the only ones

incensed at the handling of our pension. Below is a letter

from two Local 802 members.

Besides the obvious, this is the most repulsive statement

in the member letter:

“When I asked Maureen Kilkelly to provide the details of

her investment decisions and the source of the $800m

loss, at an AFM 802 meeting in 2011, she refused. She

told me that because the law didn’t require her to

provide me with those details, she wouldn’t.”

 

How dare she, this is reminiscence of the dismissive

and abhorrent treatment local 47 members would get

from our counsel when he used to attend meetings.

Here is the letter:

Dear AFM member,

You recently received a link to a letter from the AFM

pension fund (AFM-EPF).
http://tinyurl.com/huxs6hl
The EPF’s letter intends to explain the poor health of

our pension fund. The essence of the communication is

twofold: that shortfalls in contributions vs. paid benefits

will have an ongoing negative impact on the health of

the fund, and that a 40% ($800m) loss between 10/2007

and 4/2009 was primarily responsible for the fund’s

entry into critical status. This response deals with the

$800m loss. If you’re upset by the loss of that money,

and the dire state of our fund, please take the time to

read this.

1) EPF management did not invest “prudently.”
The letter asserts that it’s “prudent” to diversify into

private equity, direct real estate investments, distressed

debt, etc. That is inaccurate. It is “trendy” in pension

fund circles to consider these types of riskier investments,

based on the success of a few very smart people (see David

Swensen at Yale). But it is hardly “prudent”, as the term

is commonly used in investing (I wonder how many

among EPF staff and board members could properly

explain the risk profile of private equity and emerging

market debt positions that the fund holds). And there

certainly are pension funds, small and large, that do

not pursue such strategies, and do have the vast majority

of their assets in more traditional investment products.

——————————————————–

2) “It” did not happen to “everyone.”
“We were not alone in the magnitude of the decline

in our assets; almost all multi-employer funds suffered

substantial declines.” The implication in this careful

language is that almost all plans suffered the same

fate as ours. That is inaccurate.

http://www.pbgc.gov/documents/pbgc-report-multiemployer-pension-plans.pdf

From a Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation report,

the average multi-employer fund lost 25% percent of fund

value during the 2009 crisis. That is a wholly different

number from the 40% loss reported by the AFM-EPF.

(pg. 5, note 7) In 2008, 77% of multi-employer plans

were in the Green zone. By 2009, that number

plummeted to 32%. By 2011, it was back up to 60%.

(pg. 40, table 15) We started 2008 in the Green zone,

plummeted to the Red zone after the market crisis,

and stayed there.

Response to AFM-EPF 12/2016 letter
https://www.segalco.com/media/2574/spring2016zonestatus.pdf

From a 2016 report by Segal Advisors re its multi-

employer clients: “Multi-employer plans are predominantly

Green.” As of end 2016, 64% of all Segal-advised multi-

employer pension plans were in the Green zone. This

includes other union plans with declining membership

and declining contributions. 25% were in the Red zone.

Only the bottom 9% were in “critical and declining”

status, our likely next stop under current EPF

management.

——————————————————

3) AFM-EPF Management is not being transparent.
When I asked Maureen Kilkelly to provide the details

of her investment decisions and the source of the $800m

loss, at an AFM 802 meeting in 2011, she refused. She

told me that because the law didn’t require her to provide

me with those details, she wouldn’t. A fairly shocking

attitude in front of a room full of people whose $800m

you just lost. If Ms. Kilkelly were a private investment

manager, she’d have been made to explain her decisions

and poor results, in detail, to a very unhappy client. She

wouldn’t be able to hide behind legalities, withholding

details from a client on the subject of their money. That

position, in a private investment management relationship,

would cause her to be fired from the account.

“Before the crisis, many pension funds had experimented

with risky trading techniques or committed more of their

money to hedge funds and other nontraditional firms, which

in turn invested some of it in complex mortgage

securities. When these melted down, pension funds

got burned.”
– Washington Post, 11/2009

 

I don’t know if this is what happened to us, because the

people that run our money won’t answer any real

questions. But something like this is what I suspect.

“The market went down” is a laughably insufficient

explanation for the loss. We deserve to know what

types of risky investments were held by the AFM-EPF

in 2008. We deserve to know how many of those

investments realized the loss of most or all of their

value, and what proportional weight they represented

in terms of our total fund value, and the $800m loss.

Until we get a detailed explanation from EPF

management as to where that $800m went, what kinds

of products/what firms were responsible for the loss,

and what was done in terms of managerial reassignments

in the wake of the failure, we are being purposely talked

down to and diverted from the truth. And even with an

explanation, we deserve an outside auditor to examine

the fund. We need to warrant that every aspect of its

management is appropriate and professional going

forward. The letter referenced above offers no indication

that management has in any way altered its investment

policy, or improved its investment insight, as a result

of all this**.

Response to AFM-EPF 12/2016 letter

4) Our Red zone status is not an act of God. It is

substantially the result of poor investment

decision-making.

 

Email and call your union officials, at your local

and at the national office.

Demand an independent audit of the fund. Demand

wholesale changes in the way your money is being

invested. EPF management’s investment policy

failures have substantially accelerated our fund’s

decline. Do not accept what you’re being told

about the path that led us here.

 

Demand detailed accountability for this mess.
Andy Snitzer & Paul Livant, AFM 802

——————————————————-

5) Investment Returns and Expenses
**The fund’s annual investment return, via the figures

provided, averaged 9.5% over the seven year period

ending 3/31/16. I am not suggesting that putting all

fund money in an S&P500 index fund is exactly an

appropriate investment strategy, or that the comparison

to our fund’s overly long list of investment types is exactly

apples to apples. But as an indicator, as a general

benchmark, the S&P500 returned an average of 14.5%

over the same time period (46.7%,13.4%, 6.2%, 10.9%,

19.9%, 10.5%, and -.04%,

from year-end 3/31/2010).

http://bit.ly/2igQVVn EPF management took

much greater investment risk, spent millions of dollars

in investment, consulting, and administrative fees,

all to underperform a benchmark large-cap equity

index by an average 5% per year (also underperforming

that index in every single one of those seven years,

not just on average).

As a mathematical example, vs. simply investing in

the index, our underperformance represents an

opportunity loss of $693 for every $1000 continuously

invested over the seven year period.

http://bit.ly/2jIbhY9

An interesting link to fund expenses, both investment

fees and salaries….multiple years available, from 2009.

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

II. KARMIC PAYBACK

It has been confirmed by multiple sources that the 2nd fiddle
to the recording stars and high up person in the RMA sued a
major contractor last year because the contractor stopped
hiring them. They lost, of course. Said contractor stopped
hiring the player because, according to the contractor, of
their lack of “musical contribution”.

It’s called FREE-LANCING, 2nd Fiddle, and contractors can
hire (Or not hire) who they like! How Ironic that after all
the careers you’ve affected over the years, you should
find yourself affected by the same practices.

Karma can really suck, can’t it?

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

III. THERE’S ALWAYS ANOTHER – MEMBER COMMENT

COLLEAGUES,

It certainly seems that once the system had almost gotten
rid of one devious, underhanded person there’s always
another ready to take their place. The below should prove
that 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 conduct
has made the AFM brand absolutely toxic to a majority
of studios and producers of content, not to mention
the composers.

The specific names of those mentioned here have been
removed, though most in the recording industry will
probably know who they are.

This has ALSO been verified by multiple sources….

-A local union contractor was busted in the fall 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 RMA board member orchestrated this operation in
an attempt to target specific contractors who are in
opposition to their own personal interests.
Coincidentally, those who also refuse to hire them.
– This RMA board member, who has also stopped
working for this contractor, is on the war path with
the assistance of Local 47’s own Gordon Grayson,
using him to spy on selected contractors. Gordon
Grayson was recently spotted taking photos outside
of Warner Brothers, while his associate Erick Cruz
took photos outside of the Bridge Recording to
bust said contractor’s session.

Only SOME of the musicians present were charged.
[EC: Selective enforcement? How convenient.]

-The RMA board member, who is on the A-list,
will deny any and all accusations, and hides
behind Gordon Grayson’s actions, so that they
may remain in good graces with recording colleagues
– the very same people who they spy on and incriminate.
– The RMA board member maintains friendships with
musicians and then uses personal information
to bust these select contractors.
– The RMA board member has also gained preferential
treatment from a certain contractor for eliminating
this contractor’s competition.
– The RMA board member has held a grudge towards
this particular “busted” contractor and his partner
for many years.
-What is the advantage to this RMA board member in
attacking musicians who are barely scraping by
to make a living, while the officer sits comfortably
in an A-list chair helping the one contractor
who still hires them?
-They address the only contractor who hires
them as “fat fi-core idiot”, and will do anything
they can to manipulate him into returning to
the union while they bust actual union contractors.
-The RMA board member has no allegiance to
anyone who will not help them 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

[EC: Consider it done.]

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

IV. MEMBER COMMENT

Anyone we know on this roster?!

Just where is the ” Union” on this?
Didn’t hear a CBA signed for them at the  inaugural meeting?

FYI
http://www.kco.la/about/

———————-

Still pining away for Tommy Lee whose AFM administration
almost sent the AFM into oblivion, are you?

———————-

I find it funny that after destroying the film music scene
for all but their nifty fifty, destroying any possibility of
a real video game contract (which would go a long way
to healing the arterial bleeding of our pension and
declining local) and infiltrating local orchestras (replacing
tenured musicians with their cronies), the RMA apparently
is now eating their own…

If our pension gets forced into a government program,
we all lose big time. Pennies on the dollar…
And… I doubt the Trump administration will be kind to
unions, bankrupt pensions, or any other worker issues…

We’re in for a rough road ahead..

Good luck.

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

V. EVENTS

---

DEAN AND RICHARD


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

————————————-

LA WINDS JAZZ KATS 584
NO COVER, NO MINIMUM.
Every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month at
Viva Cantina
7:30-10:00.
900 Riverside Drive, 
Burbank.

Free parking across the street at Pickwick Bowl.
Come hear your favorite charts played the way
they 
should 
be. 

We are in the back room called
the Trailside Room. 


Come on down.

Guaranteed to swing.
—————————————–
1/21/16
SFV SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Jan. 21, 2017 –
Tutor Family Center at Chaminade West Hills
Schumann: Manfred Overture
Mendelssohn: Symphony #3 in A minor (Scottish)
Belling: Music Madly Makes the World Go Round
Inaugural Performance
Cary Belling, violinist
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Other concerts in the series
Mar. 18, 2017 –
Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community Center
Tuttle: By Steam or By Dream Overture
Inaugural Performance
Prokofiev: Symphony #1 in D major (Classical)
Ben-Haim: Pastorale Variée for
Clarinet, Harp and Strings
Geoff Nudell, clarinetist
Beethoven: Romance for Violin and Orchestra
Ruth Bruegger, violinist

May 13, 2017 – Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community Center

Saint-Saens: Bacchanale from “Samson and Delilah”
Tchaikovsky: Orchestral Suite No. 2 in C major
Egizi: Orchestral Suite 
“In Memoria di Mio Padre”
Inaugural Performance

Programs subject to change
——————————————

1/28/17

MALIBU FRIENDS OF MUSIC at MAHMA
KAIROS MUSICAL SOIREES

A MOZART BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION!
Saturday ~ January 28th
7:30 in the evening.

For Reservations Click Here:
www.malibufriendsofmusic.org

Featuring the:
MALIBU COAST STRING TRIO
Maria Newman, violinist
Scott Hosfeld, violist
Paula Hochhalter, cellist

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:
Divertimento for String Trio in Eb
KV 563

Ludwig van Beethoven:
String Trio in G Major
Opus 9, No. 1

…and a few surprises…

Performed in the beautiful MUSIC ROOM at the
Montgomery Arts House
For Music & Architecture
Eric Lloyd Wright, architect

Donation $25.00 per Guest
18 and under admitted donation-free

Artists, dates, times, and programming
subject to change without  prior notice

To make a reservation
please visit our website at
www.malibufriendsofmusic.org

Or call the
MAHMA Reservation Line:
(310) 589-0295

Join us at MAHMA
February 11, 2017 and
February 14, 2017
for our romantic
Valentine’s Events:
Champagne & Chocolate

——————————————

2/1/17

On Wednesday FEBRUARY 1, 2017 at 12:10-12:40 pm
the Free Admission Glendale Noon Concerts will feature
oboist Catherine Del Russo
violinist Kirstin Fife
and
cellist Christopher Ahn performing works by
Quantz, Haydn and Fife
at the Sanctuary of Glendale City Church,

610 E. California Ave. (at Isabel St), Glendale, CA 91206.

For more information, email [email protected]
or call (818) 244- 7241.

Oboist Catherine Del Russo received her Bachelor of Music Degree and Performance Certificate at the Eastman School of Music where she studied with Robert Sprenkle, and her Masters of Music Degree from Ohio University where she studied with John Mack in Cleveland. Since then, Del Russo has performed around the world, beginning with the Eastman Wind Ensemble to the Far East as Principal Oboe. After that, she performed with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Filharmonic de Caracas and Orquesta Municipal in Caracas, Venezuela. Del Russo has played with many orchestras since moving to Los Angeles, including the Santa Barbara Symphony, Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, Long Beach Symphony, the Los Angeles Mozart Orchestra, and the Honolulu Symphony. Currently, she is Principal Oboe of Orchestra Santa Monica, Downey Symphony, and Symphony in the Glen, and is Solo English horn for the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and the Asia America Symphony. Del Russo has enjoyed playing on many films, commercials and television shows. She has been a promoter of chamber music and new music in Los Angeles. Her oboe, viola and piano trio won the Consortium of Southern California Chamber Music Presenters. Del Russo is Professor of Oboe at Westmont College and is on the Applied Music
faculty at Occidental College.

Violinist Kirstin Fife has made many recordings for motion pictures, television, and phonograph, including her own solo recordings, “Czechmate” and “Pieces of My Heart”. Both of these are available at Amazon and iTunes. She is a graduate of the music schools at USC and Yale University. Also a composer, Kirstin is working on several projects, including a 22 piece song cycle for piano and violin.
Website: http://www.pottsandfife.com/welcome.html

A native of Los Angeles, Christopher Ahn has appeared in solo and chamber music performances across the U.S. as well as abroad in Europe, Australia, South Korea, South Africa, Canada and Central America. Recent solo performances include recitals at the Brand Library and Art Center, UCLA, California State University, Dominguez Hills, and Santa Monica College, and concerto performances with orchestras in Los Angeles and Melbourne, Australia. He has also performed chamber music on the Chapman University, Dilijan, L’Ermitage Foundation, Music Guild, and Trinity Lutheran concert series, and has performed numerous times for live radio broadcasts on the Sundays Live recital series at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Chris has enjoyed frequent collaborations in recent years with the Lineage Dance Company, most recently presenting a performance of the Bach Cello Suites with dance choreography on the Brand Library and Art Center Dance performance series. He has also worked closely with several Los Angeles based composers, performing new works for solo cello and chamber ensemble on several local series such as the Blackbird Music Project in Orange County, the contemporary music collective ‘Synchromy,’ and Classical Revolution LA.
Chris pursued his studies at UCLA, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the University of Michigan, where his principal teachers included Antonio Lysy, Richard Aaron, Stephen Geber, and Colin Carr. He has also studied with Hans Jorgen Jensen, Andrew Shulman, Peter Rejto, John Walz, and Jenny Goss. Chris currently resides in Los Angeles, where he enjoys a broad spectrum of performance and teaching opportunities.

——————————————

3/26/17

LOS ANGELES SYMPHONIC WINDS
Subscription Concert 3 – Calabasas High School
Stars of the Los Angeles Symphonic Winds
Revel in the artistry of some of the LA Winds’ most
acclaimed performers.
-Geoff Nudell and Parker Gaims (now a member of the US Marine Corps Band) play Felix Mendelssohn’s virtuosic Two Concert Pieces. Also on the program will be two works by the LA Winds’ resident composer,
– Charles Fernandez
• Sunday March 26, 2017
• 2:30 p.m.  Performing Arts Education Centers.

——————————————
You can read all previous offerings at:
http://www.responsible47.com
UNTIL NEXT TIME,

THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47

1/13/16

 

I. ONCE AGAIN NO QUORUM FOR LOCAL 47 MEMBERSHIP MEETING
II. A MORE AND MORE COMMON SITUATION
III. THE SCL PRESENTS: DORICO & CUBASE PRO 9
IV. 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. ONCE AGAIN NO QUORUM FOR LOCAL 47 MEMBERSHIP MEETING

Besides the officers, there were only about 40 in attendance,
including board members.

Report on two resolutions presented concerning Salary and
COLA (Cost of Living Increase) , the text of which you can find online.

Parliamentarian explains what happens when there is no quorum.
– Open board meeting, members can comment and make revisions,
– Only board members can vote.

RESOLUTION I

SALARY REVIEW BOARD folks speak on Resolution I
2004 –
Pres $86,000
VP and Sec – $74,000
COLA added at that time.
COLA is usually around 2%
Three titled officers are entitled to COLA, regardless of the

financial state of the Local.

In 2014 President went from $84,000 in 2004 to Approx. $120,000
VP / Sec went from $74,000 in 2004 to $97,921

2015-16 officers forewent COLA.

New rules? No COLA if enough revenue is not made to cover it that year.

In last 6 years, if this rule was in place, only once would
the officers have qualified for the COLA.

Legislation committee member speaks.
Recommends NO vote.

CALL FOR QUESTIONS:
-Board Member suggests changing the word “Shall” to “May”,

– Member – Asks to table resolution till next meeting.

– Board member gets up and makes same motion,
not having paid attention.

-Member – This same thing was previously tabled last October.

Board members move to postpone resolution to next
membership meeting. it is seconded.

Board members and officers vote to postpose resolution to
April Meeting.

RESOLUTION II

Committee wants to strike first paragraph, where it’s stated
that Article V., Section 6 has not been used for many years…
Turns out it has been.

First “Whereas” and “Resolved” should be removed.
They are stricken.

3 more changes needed.
Union cannot make submissions on behalf of board and
committee members, should be removed.

Lots of adjustments needed.

Legislative committee comment:
Sees no issues with Resolution II

Vote takes place.

VP moves to adopt, 2nded.
No discussion

Resolution 2 passes.

You can read the original wording in the latest Overture.

————-

MEMBER – New Business
California Nurses Association to push a bill for single payer because of
the possible repeal of ACA.

Members will write a series of Schoolhouse Rock style songs
to push the single payer. Wants union to pay for the musicians
for the first few songs. Will submit budget at meeting the next day.
for first 3 videos.

————-

OFFICER REPORTS – President

2016 nego. reached
Lots listed, probably in Overture.

NEW AGREEMENTS
Transparent, LA Jewish Symphony, Jacaranda, Hollywood Chamber
Orchestra, ARTDONTSLEEP, wildUP, Echo Society, “Lost” concert.

RE-CAP
Building Campaign
Exploring Health Plan Merger
Organizing Program (musical Theater, mariachi’s, regional symphonies.

WORKSHOPS/SEMINARS
Low Budget Recording
Intellectual Property
Financial Planning
Music Prep
Orchestration

2015 processed 14,512 contracts
$78,000,000 dollars collected

BUILDING
Renovations must be completed.

Showed rendering of new building.

PENSION
Terms are changing and it doesn’t look good.
Ray Hair will come and speak on it in March.
A new status, critical declining, has been created.
We’re in critical status.

Current recipients of pension cannot be changed.
Anyone who has not taken pension it could be a
big problem.

——————–

VICE PRESIDENT REPORT
Name for awards program? – not sure yet.

Last APRIL Turner Classic Movies did a concert to
play with a silent movie. Musicians weren’t paid.
Calls were made. TCM made sure they were paid
without complaint.

Realtors were good. hung onto it for a year.
4 escrows. Closed on January 4th.

SECRETARY’S REPORT

Most recent review – 3rd quarter –
3,711,235 Income
2,251,728 outflow
478,661 dollars profit.

New Bylaws are Available.

Last month, 4296 views for Overture Online.

LA Fed of Labor annual MLK day breakfast for
Brian Peterson (American Nelson Mandela)
Next month is Black History Month
“Black Music, Black Work”

Pushes Radio Station

————–

Cristy Crowley pushes online musician list.
demo is on AFM Local 47 website. vin

————–

TO ANNUAL CLUB MEETING

Secretary Financial report:
Review:
218,156 dollars in revenue for first 9 month
273,246 in costs
In the red by 50 plus thousand.

Dec. 2nd $23,952,149 for the closing of the vine street property
-Over 12, million spent to buy the new property
-Jan 3rd – ended escrow.
-Jan 6th – $524,236 in loans paid.

As of today
$121,567.24 in Club account.
$38,000+ in saving
$10,275,982.24 in Building sale account.

VP Scheduling Building committee meeting.

Send your thoughts to VP about the building.
We’re paying $1 a month for six months to stay in building.

Trying to get plans finalized.
-$100 a square foot for union workers for renovations.
-Sound proofing will be done
-Studio is in the plans
-Rehearsal Rooms are included.
3 big band rooms.
Larger 967 sq foot room. Big Band and strings.
2 medium sized rooms
1 smaller room
3 practice rooms

New Building
3220 Winona Ave
Burbank, CA 91504
Hollywood Way near center staging and Burbank Airport.
Area will be called Golden Circle.

-Member – Airport and Studio – Cannot hear planes
inside the building?
no….
-Member – will it be expanded?
No, we have plenty of room.
is
-11,000 Sq foot area will be used for rehearsal rooms
– Behind that will be 4000 sq ft for an auditorium.
– At least one room will be tech ready.
– Goal for moving – June, 2017n
– Offices and Rehearsal room up and running first.

Want to have celebration for old building before we leave.
and celebration in new building.

120 anniversary of the Local is this year.

Member – Makes motion to create documentary about the building
of the new building – 2nded. Board will discussed.
Motion passed.

Old Business – NONE
New Business – NONE

Meeting adjourned at 9:18 pm

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

II. A MORE AND MORE COMMON SITUATION

Below is a letter sent to an AFM Local’s membership department.
This, unfortunately, applies to more and more AFM Members:

Dear Local +++ Membership Dept:

It is after a great deal of thought, and with sadness, that I resign
my membership from AFM Local +++, effective December 31st, 2016.

I joined the AFM after college in 1983, at the age of 21, and have
been a freelance professional musician, musical director, arranger
and orchestrator for the past 34 years. I spent the first 20 years
in Los Angeles, as a member of Local 47, then moved to the +++
area and joined +++.

In 2014, for personal and family reasons, I relocated to Fort Wayne,
IN, and took a full-time job with Sweetwater Sound. I have now been
here for 2½ years, and it looks like it may well be a permanent move.

There is simply not enough Union work of any kind here to make it
practical for me to continue as an AFM member. I do still orchestrate
a fair amount for a variety of clients, and occasionally conduct concerts
on the road, but as you must know, almost all music prep work is now
done outside of Union contract. Employers are no longer persuadable
when it comes to this, particularly for live performance, which is
most of what I do.

Despite not having much Union work to speak of for the past few years,
I have remained a member because I believe in what the AFM stands
for and I appreciate the hard work and advocacy of all unions during
a very politically difficult time. Bit by bit over three decades I have
seen the power of unions chipped away. Sometimes it seems they
are all that stand between a civilized society, where workers are
respected, and an oligarchy.

If I wasn’t trying to put two kids through school and plan for my
own future, the $220 per year in dues would probably seem like a
worthwhile donation to this cause. But now I read in the Pension
Fund’s recent email that there is no guarantee that the Fund, in
which I have been fully vested for many years, will be paying
benefits to me 12 years from now. So I am taking all steps
possible to be financially responsible.

I wish everyone at the AFM, and all my fellow musicians,
a very professionally rewarding New Year, and I continue
to support the important contributions made by union
members. May the country come to its senses and once
again value the level of pride and accomplishment we
invest in our calling as artists.
FORMER AFM MEMBER

[EC: Until we become competitive again, our situation will
only deteriorate further.]

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

III. THE SCL PRESENTS: DORICO & CUBASE PRO 9
With Steinberg Marketing Managers
DANIEL SPREADBURY & GREG ONDO

TUESDAY, JANUARY 17th, 2017 – 7:00PM
American Film Institute | Mark Goodson Theater
2021 N Western Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027

Please join us for an in-depth overview of Steinberg’s
professional applications for scoring, composition and
audio production: Dorico and Cubase Pro 9.

Dorico will be presented by Product Marketing Manager
Daniel Spreadbury, and Cubase Pro 9 will be presented
by Product Specialist Greg Ondo.

Find out about the latest innovations in Cubase Pro 9,
Steinberg’s most complete DAW ever, with its new lower
zone for improved workflow, sampler track, Frequency
EQ, MixConsole history, and many other new features.

Discover the orchestration and arranging capabilities of
Dorico, the next-generation music notation application,
with its unique workflow features, fast and flexible input
and editing, unrivaled graphical quality, and high-
performance architecture.

At the conclusion of the presentations there will be a
RAFFLE for one copy of Dorico, and one copy of Cubase
9 Pro (separate prizes)!

The Seminar will be followed by a reception in the AFI
foyer. Please note: as drinks will be served, all attendees
must be age 21 or over.

DANIEL SPREADBURY is the Product Marketing Manager
for Dorico. Daniel holds a master’s degree in music from
Oxford University, and has been working in the field of
music notation software for nearly 20 years. He leads the
design of Dorico, can be found at all hours of the day and
night answering questions from users
on the Dorico forum, and also writes a blog about the development
of Dorico, called Making Notes. Daniel is also a keen choral
director and singer, and runs an adult chamber choir and a
children’s choir.

GREG ONDO is the Field Marketing Manager for Steinberg North
America and has done over 2,000 seminars on music technology.
He has worked with many high profile clients including Microsoft,
NPR, Electronic Arts, Stevie Wonder, Peter Frampton, Teddy Riley
and Phil Ramone.  Greg has worked on many projects and was
awarded a TEC award for his audio engineering on Eric Clapton’s
Crossroads Guitar Festival DVD.  He has also done many online
tutorials with over 3,500,000 views on YouTube.

REGISTRATION REQUIRED: Click “ATTEND EVENT” below
and enter your first and last name (no spaces) in the
promotional code field for free SCL Member ticket.
FREE for SCL MEMBERS
$35 for NON-MEMBERS and GUESTS OF MEMBERS
$20 for Non-member college STUDENTS with valid student I.D.
American Film Institute | Mark Goodson Theater
2021 N Western Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027

THE SOCIETY OF COMPOSERS & LYRICISTS (SCL)  is the non-
profit premier organization for professional film, television,
video game, and musical theater composers and lyricists,
and those working in our industry such as orchestrators,
arrangers, music supervisors, music agents, music attorneys,
music editors, copyists, recording engineers, and related jobs,
with a distinguished 70-year history in the fine art of creating
music for visual media. Current SCL Members include the top
creative professionals whose experience and expertise is focused
on many of the creative, technological, legal, newsworthy and
pressing issues of the film music, television music, game music,
and musical theatre industry today.

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

IV. EVENTS

———————————–
DEAN AND RICHARD


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

————————————-

LA WINDS JAZZ KATS 584
NO COVER, NO MINIMUM.
Every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month at
Viva Cantina
7:30-10:00.
900 Riverside Drive, 
Burbank.

Free parking across the street at Pickwick Bowl.
Come hear your favorite charts played the way
they 
should 
be. 

We are in the back room called
the Trailside Room. 


Come on down.

Guaranteed to swing.
——————————–

1/15/16

Dear All:

CAL STATE LA / OLYMPIA YOUTH ORCHESTRA

Sunday,  January 15, 2017 at 3PM.
San Gabriel Mission Playhouse
320 S Mission Drive
San Gabriel, CA 91776.

This will be the first public performance of the orchestra
this season, The orchestra is made up of talented young
musicians who gain admittance to perform in the orchestra
through annual competitive auditions, and student of Cal
State University, Los Angeles. The featured soloists this
concert will be John Carpenter, pianist; and Chunyi Zhou,
violinist.

Works will include:
Leonora Overture No.2 by Beethoven
Symphony No.8 by Dvorak
Symphony Espagnole by Lalo
Totentanz by Liszt.

We will also be honoring Dr. Nikolaos Koutouratsas,
the late president of the Hennings-Fischer Foundation
which has given the orchestra so much help these
past years with this concert.

Please come witness the talents of these young musicians
as well as  support classical music in the community. You
do not need a ticket to  get in but if you do need a ticket
with the address sent to you, please feel free to reply and
tickets will be sent to the mailing address you specify.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Sincerely,
Fung Ho

—————————————–
1/21/16
SFV SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Jan. 21, 2017 –
Tutor Family Center at Chaminade West Hills
Schumann: Manfred Overture
Mendelssohn: Symphony #3 in A minor (Scottish)
Belling: Music Madly Makes the World Go Round
Inaugural Performance
Cary Belling, violinist
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Other concerts in the series
Mar. 18, 2017 –
Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community Center
Tuttle: By Steam or By Dream Overture
Inaugural Performance
Prokofiev: Symphony #1 in D major (Classical)
Ben-Haim: Pastorale Variée for
Clarinet, Harp and Strings
Geoff Nudell, clarinetist
Beethoven: Romance for Violin and Orchestra
Ruth Bruegger, violinist

May 13, 2017 – Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community Center

Saint-Saens: Bacchanale from “Samson and Delilah”
Tchaikovsky: Orchestral Suite No. 2 in C major
Egizi: Orchestral Suite 
“In Memoria di Mio Padre”
Inaugural Performance

Programs subject to change
——————————————
You can read all previous offerings at:
http://www.responsible47.com
UNTIL NEXT TIME,

THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47

12/31/16

I. LOCAL ON THE WARPATH FOR RANK AND FILE

II. 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. LOCAL ON THE WARPATH FOR RANK AND FILE

As anyone with an IQ above room temperature knows,
NO musician outside the rarefied air of the recording
elite or the LA Phil can survive on only union work.
It simply isn’t there any more.
For musicians, there are only two options left:
1) Work non-union
2) Get out of the music business.

Some members of the Local’s Executive Board play
non-union work.

Some Members of the Trial Board play non-union work

Members at every level, INCLUDING the recording
elites, play or work on nonunion projects.

But our Local chooses to engage in selective
enforcement. If you’re a regular rank and file,
or someone who causes the board grief through
that member’s activism, you are far more likely
to be a target, whether the charges are legit or
not. Why do this? To get the offending members
to leave the union or cost them thousands of
dollars defending themselves.

There is one particular Local employee, going
full bore against anyone not in the “circle” who
is caught / suspected of working non-union,
or perhaps…if they just want to harass you.

Meanwhile, they steer clear of the board room
or well politically placed occupants. And they’re
using your own dues money to do it.

The AFM has (apparently) shown themselves
to be (oblivious) rubber stamps of this
harassment, not holding the Locals to their
own bylaws that are supposed to protect
members from warrantless, solely political
retaliation.

Their harassment of rank and file members is
causing people who otherwise support the
idea of a union to resign. It is no secret …
the urban legend …get rid of the “weekend
workers”…charge those that remain the
kind of dues some of the other entertainment
trades require…Voilà Only the “cartel” is left
for composers and studios to choose from
when staffing for commercial music.

If you’re being unfairly harassed, please let us
know. you can always post anonymously and
we will keep your ID Sacrosanct.

THE COMMITTEE

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

 

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

————————————-

LA WINDS JAZZ KATS 584
NO COVER, NO MINIMUM.
Every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month at
Viva Cantina
7:30-10:00.
900 Riverside Drive, 
Burbank.

Free parking across the street at Pickwick Bowl.
Come hear your favorite charts played the way
they 
should 
be. 

We are in the back room called
the Trailside Room. 


Come on down.

Guaranteed to swing.

———————————————

1/4/16

Free Admission Glendale Noon Concerts!
Wed JANUARY 4, 2017 at 12:10-12:40 pm

Program features the CLAUDE BOLLING Jazz Flute Suite

Jacqueline Suzuki
Curator, Glendale Noon Concerts
818-249-5108

———————————————

1/7/16

EDENDALE UP CLOSE CONCERT SERIES

Violinist ANNELLE GREGORY & Cellist GEORGY GUSEV
DUO RECITAL
at the
Edendale Branch Library in ECHO PARK
2011 W. Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90026
info (213) 207-3000
FREE ADMISSION

Concert in the Community Room
Free parking in the library lot (enter lot from Alvarado).

Saturday, JANUARY 7, 2017
Time: Noon to 1 pm.

http://annelleviolin.com/

PROGRAM:
R. Gliere: 8 Morceaux for violin & cello
M. Ravel: Sonata for violin & cello
G. Handel/J. Halvorsen: Passacaglia for violin & cello

The Edendale Library Friends Society will provide
refreshments following the concert.

Future concerts in this free series at the Edendale Branch Library:
(all concerts are on Saturdays at Noon-1pm)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

MARCH 11, 2017
Maksim Velichkin Solo Cello Recital

JUNE 10. 2017
Fiato Quartet
http://www.fiatoquartet.com

Updated info will be posted at
http://www.edendaleupclose.blogspot.com/

EDENDALE BRANCH LIBRARY Website (with map):
http://www.lapl.org/branches/edendale

This concert is made possible by a grant
from THE HENNINGS-FISCHER FOUNDATION.

Kewa Civic Concerts http://kewaconcerts.blogspot.com/
Kewa Civic Concerts  is a project of the Pasadena Arts
Council’s EMERGE Program. The Pasadena Arts Council
is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Donations to
Kewa Civic Concerts are tax deductible to the full extent
of the law under Federal ID 95-2540759.”

Donation info here:
http://www.pasadenaartscouncil.org/emerge/kewa-civic-concerts

MORE FREE CONCERTS:
http://www.glendalenoonconcerts.blogspot.com

——————————–

1/15/16

Dear All:

CAL STATE LA / OLYMPIA YOUTH ORCHESTRA

Sunday,  January 15, 2017 at 3PM.
San Gabriel Mission Playhouse
320 S Mission Drive
San Gabriel, CA 91776.

This will be the first public performance of the orchestra
this season, The orchestra is made up of talented young
musicians who gain admittance to perform in the orchestra
through annual competitive auditions, and student of Cal
State University, Los Angeles. The featured soloists this
concert will be John Carpenter, pianist; and Chunyi Zhou,
violinist.

Works will include:
Leonora Overture No.2 by Beethoven
Symphony No.8 by Dvorak
Symphony Espagnole by Lalo
Totentanz by Liszt.

We will also be honoring Dr. Nikolaos Koutouratsas,
the late president of the Hennings-Fischer Foundation
which has given the orchestra so much help these
past years with this concert.

Please come witness the talents of these young musicians
as well as  support classical music in the community. You
do not need a ticket to  get in but if you do need a ticket
with the address sent to you, please feel free to reply and
tickets will be sent to the mailing address you specify.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Sincerely,
Fung Ho

—————————————–
1/21/16
SFV SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Jan. 21, 2017 –
Tutor Family Center at Chaminade West Hills
Schumann: Manfred Overture
Mendelssohn: Symphony #3 in A minor (Scottish)
Belling: Music Madly Makes the World Go Round
Inaugural Performance
Cary Belling, violinist
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Other concerts in the series
Mar. 18, 2017 –
Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community Center
Tuttle: By Steam or By Dream Overture
Inaugural Performance
Prokofiev: Symphony #1 in D major (Classical)
Ben-Haim: Pastorale Variée for
Clarinet, Harp and Strings
Geoff Nudell, clarinetist
Beethoven: Romance for Violin and Orchestra
Ruth Bruegger, violinist

May 13, 2017 – Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community Center

Saint-Saens: Bacchanale from “Samson and Delilah”
Tchaikovsky: Orchestral Suite No. 2 in C major
Egizi: Orchestral Suite 
“In Memoria di Mio Padre”
Inaugural Performance

Programs subject to change

——————————————
You can read all previous offerings at:
http://www.responsible47.com
UNTIL NEXT TIME,

THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47

 

---

12/23/16

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE COMMITTEE!!

I. A CONCERNED MEMBER’S LETTER TO THE IEB – FROM MAY 2016

II. MEMBER COMMENT – BUILDING SALE

III. 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 CONCERNED MEMBER”S LETTER TO THE IEB – LAST MAY

COLLEAGUES, The letter below serves as an excellent summary
of the local’s conduct though out the entire building sale debacle.
We thank the member who took the time and effort to document
this conduct. It also shows how the AFM was in the tank for this
sale as well.

May 15, 2016

from:
MEMBER

Ray Hair, President and AFM International Executive Board
c/o Sam Folio, Secretary Treasurer
American Federation of Musicians
1501 Broadway, Ste. 600
New York, NY  10036

RE: Flawed Referendum Local 47/ Club 47
Response to Ray Hair Letter of April 25, 2016
* Denotes Enclosures

Dear President Ray Hair and IEB,

The LMRDA requires that union members have a

right to a “meaningful vote”. We believe that there

is clear and convincing proof that the referendum put

forward by the Musicians’ Club /Local 47 did not provide

the membership with a “meaningful vote”. In fact, the

Board of Directors put forward a carefully orchestrated

campaign that insured the administration total control

of the narrative promoting the sale of our Vine Street

property, fully exploiting our communications resources

for a one sided argument.

 

No opposition was ever reported to the membership at large

following the October 5, 2015 “informational meeting” where

it was clear the membership in the room was “not on board.”

The membership overwhelmingly voted to delay voting.

Your letter of response says there is a “lack of factual details specific enough for the Federation to act upon them.”

Here are only some specifics:

1) objection to the ballot language,

2) reply from Local 47 on ballot language clarification request,

3)  non-disclosure of member concerns voiced in meetings and omitted in official publications,

4) refusal to use an agency to perform the ballot process.

Additionally, please add to your consideration the enclosed communications from Robert Hirschman, Esq. (a local 47

union member in good standing) that adequately summarizes

the position of many of the members. The response from

Local 47 counsel is also included.

 

Also due scrutiny, a conflict of interest in the hiring of Erick

Cruz from the same promotional company hired to promote

the sale of the building as Local 47 “campaign manager.”

Why was this person hired when Local 47 told us they were

“watching every penny?” Also,  there was a conveniently

“coincidental shut down” of the Committee for a Responsible

47 blog just days after the initial mailing of the August 28, 2015,

“The Time is Now” flyer.

All of the above are addressed below as a response to your

letter of April 25, 2016.

Ballot Language Issue

The Fall Overture (print edition sent to all members) recited

that the referendum question to be decided is:

” Shall the Musicians ‘Club of Los Angeles, by and through

its officers and governing board, be authorized to sell its

real property located at 817 Vine Street, Hollywood, CA 90038?”

The actual question was very much different. In fact, so different

that several members requested clarification of what a “yes”

vote or a “no” vote actually meant. Simply put, the question

could be construed to be asking about authorization regarding

the threshold price required for the sale.

“Shall the officers of the Musicians’ Club of Los Angeles,

(the “Club”) be authorized to sell the Club’s real property-

located at 817 Vine Street, Hollywood CA 90038-for not less

than Twenty Two Million dollars (22,000,000.00) to the

successful highest bidder?”

I have enclosed the correspondence from myself to the Local.

In their response, you can plainly see the callous disrespect

and hostility exhibited toward the members when we dare

to question what may be the most important issue we have

ever voted on..  Is this the type of “service to the membership”

that we somehow deserved for asking a legitimate question?

In addition, Local 47 Member Darius Campo, (one of the

realtors who is working for the Local on the sale and had

access to the names of those members who had not yet voted.

We were told he was working the phone tree and that is how

he knew who to target his email blast), included in his blast

a ballot clarification because he also knew it was an issue.

It appears that the email blast was accomplished with the

help of the Local 47 webmaster.

 

Additionally, repeated requests for ballot language clarification

were made by Attorney Hirschman. Attached you will be able

to see just how even Mr. Hirschman’s request was not answered

by Local counsel.

Finally, at the January 25, 2016 Membership meeting a

direct question was put to the Chair regarding the ballot

language. Counselor Levy took the question and said, “It

means whatever the drafter intends it to mean”. The response

from Counselor Levy was less than satisfactory and left those

of us invested in this question frustrated.  It appeared very clear

that the administration intended to keep all its interpretive

options open.

Non-Disclosure of Member Concerns in Official

Communications/Inadequate Minutes

The membership-at-large did not have the benefit of discourse

regarding this referendum. Those members who opposed the

referendum (as it was presented) did not have their views put

“on the record “from those meetings for the membership as a

whole to consider. Although the minutes record who spoke

they do not indicate if the speaker was or was not in favor of

the referendum and why. Why not? The Minutes from

“Informational Meeting” of October 4, 2015 and Minutes of

General Membership Meeting of October 26, 2015, are available

for viewing on the Local 47 Website.

The administration held two “informational lunches.” No

official minutes were taken at these “Informational Lunches”

October 12, 20, 2015. They were attended by members of the

Executive Board, the realtors and only a handful of members

who were largely in opposition of the referendum.

These members asked questions and voiced their concerns.

Some had prepared and read statements regarding the referendum-none of which was ever shared or disseminated

to the membership-at-large. How could we have expected

otherwise? President Acosta said that in “hindsight” he should

have gotten the sentiment of the membership…but now, “we

are committed to the process of the referendum”. Also, that ”

the Board does not see any negatives regarding the issue of

The Time is Now.” It is reflective of the adage, “Better to beg

for forgiveness than to ask for permission.”

Members’ Request for Special Club Meeting/ Unreasonable Delay by Executive Board

At the beginning of November 2015, members petitioned the

Club 47 under the Club by-laws for a Special Meeting regarding

the referendum.

That meeting was not granted until January 4, 2016.  This was

less than a month before ballots were due in.  We believe this

was a deliberate delay allowing the referendum process to

move forward without “on the record” discourse of the

membership in opposition. The administration had at least two

full months of total control of the message to its members.

Letters to the Editor January Print Edition of  Overture

Starting in  2015 the Overture is only printed and mailed to

the membership on a quarterly basis. The membership (if they

are able) have access only to an on-line version of our monthly

publication.  President Acosta finally and reluctantly agreed

to print all Letter’s to the Editor regarding the referendum

in the January 2016 print edition. Again, this proves consistent

behavior by the administration to insure for themselves months

of  “no visible opposition” reaching membership-at-large  by

official communications. The referendum started in October

2015 and ended February 1, 2016.

Refusal to Provide Resources for Opposing Views

At the October 26, 2015 General Membership Meeting, President

Acosta was asked directly by a member if resources could be

made available so that the opposition could  share legitimate

concerns with the membership-at-large, i.e. the nearly 6000

members who were not present for any discussions regarding

the referendum.  This request was completely refused. President

Acosta said, “no”. The position of the Union was they are not

legally required to provide resources.

Counsel Levy, in one of his letters to Mr. Hirschman, suggested

that opposition voices could have taken out an ad in the Overture

– As if somehow doing so would have been a  viable means of

reaching the membership-at-large. If the on-line version of the

Overture was sufficient to reach the membership it would not

have been necessary for the Union to spend money for postage on

five special mailings promoting the referendum.

Disparity of Resources

In addition to the five special mailings, the Local generated

numerous emails and targeted phone calls to  those that had not

returned their ballots. The President proudly announced that

they had made 20,000 phone calls. How does the membership

wishing to challenge the administration’s myopic one note

samba compete?  It should also be noted that members who

signed the petition for the Special Club Meeting were not

contacted by phone following the filing of that petition. It appears

there was also a “do not call”  list.
Refusal to Use Outside Agency
Repeated requests for use of an outside agency were rejected

by the administration.  President Acosta defended that decision

by saying, “there is no manual (playbook) for the referendum.”

Yet, he made written assurances that the referendum would meet

DOL Standards.

The Election Board Was Not In Charge of the Ballot Process

The Election Board was relegated to only count the ballots. We

were told that the Election Board would be in charge once the

ballots were returned.

Sometime on or about November 2015, the Union ordered an
additional 1000 ballots.  At the General Membership meeting of

January 25, 2016, a member asked about these ballots. Even

though the Chair of the Election Board was at that meeting, he

did not address the question from the member.  Sec.-Treas.

Lasley took the question and said,  “well, it was around a 1000. ”

Why did he not give us an exact number?   We were told the

“extra” ballots were for replacements to those members who

either “lost” their ballot or wanted to change their vote. The

Election Board was not responsible for sending replacement

ballots. All requests went through the Secretary-Treasure’s office and Erick Cruz.

On November 3, 2015, I was in the main office at Local 47 and

a great many number of returned ballots were left sitting on the

receptionists desk. My notes from that day reveal that while the

receptionist was at his desk when I checked in, he was not when I

left.  These ballots were left unattended and were not in the

custody of the Election Board.
Referendum Ballot Count
I was an observer for the ballot counting on February 2, 2016.

From my notes taken in real time during the process, you can

read that it was only after my insistence that the Return to Sender

ballots were produced and counted.  Having been locked in a

cabinet across from the receptionists desk , an office staffer had

to be called back to the building “after hours” to open the cabinet.

Vice-President Rick Baptist and a member of the  Election Board

retrieved these ballots so that they could be included in the ballot

count. Since the administration had ordered an extra 1000

ballots, I wanted to see just how many might have been used to

replace those ballots. The total number of  Return to Sender mail

envelopes was 168.

Astoundingly, in the middle of the ballot count, the entire process

had to be moved from the auditorium to a conference room. It so

happened that an orchestra rehearsal had been scheduled to use

the auditorium!  How could this have happened?  How do you

double book when you have planned this “major event” months

in advance?

The Tally Was Incomplete Due to the Failure to Count the Unused Ballots

Title IV of the LMRDA establishes election procedures that must
be followed by all unions covered by the act. “All ballots, including
used, unused, and challenged ballots, envelopes used to return
marked ballots, tally sheets and related election documents,
must be kept for one year.”

Once the materials were boxed, taped, and signed, the Election
Board, President Acosta, and myself, walked the boxes to the
basement of Local 47 for storage. At that time Pres. Acosta
counted the boxes and  announced that the” ballots will be
kept for one year.”

Subsequently realizing that the unused ballots were not in the
count, I contacted each member of the Election Board . I have
not received any response and do not believe that these ballots
were ever accounted for.  This is significant because while the
vote may look overwhelmingly in favor of approval of the sale,
the threshold of 50% +1 to even count the referendum was met
by only a very few ballots. We were told at the October 5, 2015
“informational meeting”  3210 ballots would need to be returned
to count the vote. At the January 25, 2016 meeting the number
required was reported as 3030. The actual tally from February,
2, 2016 ballot count was reported as 3260.

Jay Rosen Resigned from the Election Board

At the 47 Executive Board  Meeting of February 16, 2016, President Acosta introduced Jay Rosen to give an Election Board report.  Jay Rosen,  in an apparent surprise move, resigned as a member of the Election Board. He read a written statement that was not put into the minutes of that meeting. My observer notes are in addition to his written statement. He said, “The process disturbs me… more than one thing.” “That ballots were heavily weighted to one side…if they were close, it could have been a problem.” Jay’s final comment was, “Hopefully, the referendum will not be repeated.”

With nothing more for the Election Board to do until a new Election Board was elected, why did Jay Rosen choose to resign at this time?

Campaign Manager Hired from Promotional Company

Beginning in October of 2015, the Local hired Erick Cruz who had
been working the prior two years for the very promotional company that the union hired to promote the sale of Vine Street. His Linkedin page says Local 47 Campaign Manager.

Our Election Board Chair identified Erick Cruz as the party that “has been tabulating the ballot numbers and members to whom those number are associated gave us a list of all members that had more than one return ballot envelope that was in the scanned database and what those numbers were.”

Subsequent to the Referendum, I asked President Acosta about
Mr.Cruz, (a clear partisan) and why he should been able to have his hands all over our ballots? ( In the words of an employee.)  President Acosta replied that Erick had to know who had or had not returned their ballots so “we could stop harassing them with phone calls.” There can be no confidence in the process when even the appearance of impropriety is ignored.  Erick Cruz was retained with the job title of “Organizer”.

It in important to note here, that at an open meeting, it was Erick
Cruz who got up and  responded to my inquiry regarding the
unsecured ballots I had seen on the receptionists desk. Then,
on the day of the referendum count, I engaged Erick Cruz in the
hallway and asked him if he was part of the Election Board and
he said no.  I also asked him how he knew how the ballots were
handled? He said he had “seen how it was done.” This conversation took place within earshot of Executive Board Member, Judy Chilnick. Immediately, Ms. Chilnick summoned Local 47 Counsel Levy.  Mr. Levy interrupted me and removed Mr. Cruz from our conversation. Several weeks later, I asked Judy why? I told her that Mr. Levy and Mr. Cruz are technically employees of the Union Membership and she had no right to interfere.  Her response was, “I didn’t want Erick to be alone.”  I then asked her if there was something to hide? She turned around and literally hustled away.

Shut Down of Committee for a Responsible 47 Blog

Probably the most scrutiny should be applied to the loss of a blog
site that has been an integral part of the memberships ability to
openly and freely communicate. The blog is where anonymously
posting opposition to union policy will not result or lead to the
death knell of ones’ career.

Only days after the initial mailing of “The Time is Now” flyer,
posts in opposition to the sale of Vine Street showed up on the
“blog”. Within days of  the Committee weekly emailing the “blog”
was “spammed off.”  It took many weeks and much financial
expense to get out any posts because doing so required the
need to retire a website and rebuild a mailing list.  Counsel
Levy makes a specious argument that somehow the “blog” is
a “viable and consistent alternate channel of communication
for the membership “implying the “blog” absolved the Union
from its responsibility to insure the membership had a
“meaningful vote.”

At a most crucial time for membership discourse, the “blog”
just disappeared.  Following the downing of the “blog”, the
only way to read a post was to search the web for it because
postings no longer automatically went into the subscribers
inbox. Contrary to Counsel Levy’s argument, there was no parity.

At the Oct. 26, 2015 General Membership meeting a member
directly asked President Acosta the following. “Do you know
if anyone in this room was responsible for the “blog” being
shut down?  President Acosta responded. “Ask the author,
does he have any proof?” President Acosta did not even
feign surprise or concern at the implication that anyone
connected with the union would be involved.

Additionally, on November 17, 2015, I had a conversation with
Vice-President Rick Baptist in his office where the issue of the
absence of visible opposition to the referendum came up. In
specifically mentioning the loss of the blog, Mr. Baptist said,
” It did not come from the titled officers…but you know who
did.” I did not quiz him on who?…However, the union does
have a “webmaster.” Might this “webmaster” have had
something to do with it?  Was that the implication from
VP Baptist?

Regardless of who might have facilitated the loss of the
“blog,”the Local knew of the loss and openly admitted it.
The only viable counter voice to the Local narrative had
been silenced.  How could Counselor Levy claim, as he did,
that there was anywhere near an even playing field when
the members know they cannot send letters to the Overture
in opposition to the administration without the fear of
reprisal or losing work, or worse yet, (for our business)
loss of community?

This incident of being “spammed off” is not the first time.
Several years ago, a very well known, but politically
inexperienced member tried to run for the Sec. Treas.
position at Local 47. She put together her email list by
going through the union directory and sent out a mass
mailing. A well known and active musician was
“spammed off” apparently by her fellow musicians? She
lost any ability to mount a campaign to the membership
economically and through electronic means.

Because of the similarity of the incidents, I called the
adversely affected member about it.  To her it was
obvious that she had become a persona non grata
for having attempted to run for office,  She told me
she is not working much now.

Grievance Issue

Given the circumstances, it is risible to attempt for us
to file a grievance at Local 47. Internal probes in an
organization such as this can often be biased toward
a specific outcome.

Because of all the aforementioned, we are asking for
an investigation to be opened by the International
into what many of us believe is a suspicious if not
possibly a fraudulent referendum. A finding that the
Membership has been irreparably harmed is sufficient
grounds for seeking trusteeship of Local 47.

Finally,  President Hair, it is unclear to me that my
letter of February 16, 2016, was ever presented to
the International Executive Board at its March meeting
as I was lead to believe.  I contacted Ken Shirk for the
Minutes of that meeting to confirm that my letter was
included and whether any action had been taken by
the Board as a whole.  Mr. Shirk answered me that the
Minutes would be posted in July.  I need to know about
any formal action or non action taken at the March
meeting before July. This is not an unreasonable request.

Sincerely,

MEMBER
Local 47 AFM/Club 47

[EC: The text of this letter included 19 footnotes, including
13 exhibits. Predictably, the AFM and the IEB did nothing.
The misconduct was and is clear, but the AFM closed their
eyes and stayed loyal to their overseers, or those doing
what the overseers wanted.]

=====================================
II. MEMBER COMMENTS RE – BUILDING SALE

I voted to stay put! I’m only still a member because I like the
credit union. The Musician’s Union actually does nothing else
for me, and If the new location isn’t convenient, I’ll probably
resign and take my money elsewhere.

——————————

So obviously no ‘recording studio’ at the new location… right
next to the Bob Hope Airport. Probably not so hot for
rehearsing either. Jeeze!

——————————-

It’s apparently on the east end of the airport. The flights take
off to the west and southwest.

——————————–

And which way do they land from?

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

 

III. EVENTS

———————————–

DEAN AND RICHARD


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

————————————-

LA WINDS JAZZ KATS 584
NO COVER, NO MINIMUM.
Every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month at
Viva Cantina
7:30-10:00.
900 Riverside Drive, 
Burbank.

Free parking across the street at Pickwick Bowl.
Come hear your favorite charts played the way
they 
should 
be. 

We are in the back room called
the Trailside Room. 


Come on down.

Guaranteed to swing.

 

———————————————-
1/21/16
SFV SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Jan. 21, 2017 –
Tutor Family Center at Chaminade West Hills
Schumann: Manfred Overture
Mendelssohn: Symphony #3 in A minor (Scottish)
Belling: Music Madly Makes the World Go Round
Inaugural Performance
Cary Belling, violinist
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Other concerts in the series
Mar. 18, 2017 –
Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community Center
Tuttle: By Steam or By Dream Overture
Inaugural Performance
Prokofiev: Symphony #1 in D major (Classical)
Ben-Haim: Pastorale Variée for
Clarinet, Harp and Strings
Geoff Nudell, clarinetist
Beethoven: Romance for Violin and Orchestra
Ruth Bruegger, violinist

May 13, 2017 – Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community Center

Saint-Saens: Bacchanale from “Samson and Delilah”
Tchaikovsky: Orchestral Suite No. 2 in C major
Egizi: Orchestral Suite 
“In Memoria di Mio Padre”
Inaugural Performance

Programs subject to change
——————————————
You can read all previous offerings at:
http://www.responsible47.com
UNTIL NEXT TIME,

THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47

12/9/16

I. LOCAL 47 ICONIC BUILDING SELLS, Apparently.
II. ASMAC/L.A. JAZZ SOCIETY HOLIDAY LUNCHEON
III. MEMBER COMMENT
III. 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. LOCAL 47 ICONIC BUILDING SELLS, Apparently.

It was reported from Local 47 that the Local 47 Building has been
sold for 24.75 Million.

In November, 2016 the Musician’s Club voted to open escrow on a
Burbank property different than the property initially used as a
possibility while promoting the referendum…and 3 million dollars
over the stated projection (Total cost – 13 million) The original

asking price on the current building was 12 million in May,

though we offered 13 million.

 

Why the extra? According to sources, the present owner knows

the Burbank Airport will be expanding and feels the building

will be worth more than listed.

Also, apparently the Club has spent money (our money) hand over fist
in lawyers fees. They had to. What did they know about anything?
Was there anybody on the board with any kind of expertise?

PROPERTY TAXES

Property taxes are a fixed expense. In the promoting of the referendum,
the membership was told that the initial property had three tenants
that would cover the property taxes, (more than three times what
we pay now). The new property does not appear to have that benefit.

Here is a link to the proposed building:
LoopNet internet listing.
According to LoopNet there is a sublease listed until 2019.
How does that affect us?

http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/19886399/3220-Winona-Ave-Burbank-CA/

Couldn’t the local have given us all this info in the email blast?
Of course they could, but why give the full picture when they
can keep members in the dark. After all, who needs transparency.

THE COMMITTEE

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

II. ASMAC/L.A. JAZZ SOCIETY HOLIDAY LUNCHEON,

SUNDAY DECEMBER 11th, Catalina’s

Join us for a very special holiday event — in addition to terrific
entertainment and great food – we will also present the first
Van Alexander Scholarship to a worthy young recipient. Don’t
miss this special day. RESERVE NOW ! Call the ASMAC office…
or download the form and email or fax it in!

The musical entertainment will feature:

Chuck Berghofer, bass

Terry Trotter, piano

Peter Erskine, drums

with special guests

Mark Miller and Tierney Sutton, vocals.

 

Catalina’s Jazz Club

6725 West Sunset Blvd., Hollywood

(enter parking on McCadden

11:30 am Cocktails/Silent Auction

12:30 pm Brunch

1:15 pm Program/Entertainment

 

LAJS and ASMAC members $50 (max 2)

Non-members $60
Entertainment and Dessert only – check-in at 12:45 – $20 each.
for more info please call
818 994-6181 or [email protected]
818 994-4661 or www.asmac.org or www.lajazz.org

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

III. MEMBER COMMENT

RE: COLORADO SYMPHONY

So this orchestra (COLORADO SYMPHONY) is blocked from coming
up with an agreement that works for them. Blocked from an agreement
tailored to their needs in their marketplace.

Meanwhile in Ray Hair’s backyard, the Dallas Bach Society, The
Richardson Symphony, The Dallas Pops, and the Fort Worth Symphony
are all on the AFM international unfair list.

These groups are all in the jurisdiction of Local 72-147 Dallas-Fort
Worth where Ray Hair was elected president of the Fort Worth local in
1983, merging with Dallas in 1991. The Philadelphia Orchestra just
got a new contract with their daring Wildcat walkout…Pittsburgh just
got a new agreement.

But we have this fustercluck going on in the president of the AFM’s
backyard!

NAME WITHHELD

 

[EC: We’d certainly like to learn more about the reasons all these

72-147 groups wound up on the unfair list. If you have info, please

share it here.]

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

IV. EVENTS
———————————–

DEAN AND RICHARD


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
————————————-
LA WINDS JAZZ KATS 584

NO COVER, NO MINIMUM.

Every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month at

Viva Cantina

7:30-10:00.

900 Riverside Drive, 
Burbank.

 

Free parking across the street at Pickwick Bowl.

Come hear your favorite charts played the way

they 
should 
be. 

We are in the back room called

the Trailside Room. 


Come on down.

 

Guaranteed to swing.

————————————–

12/10/16

VALLEY COLLEGE SYMPHONY
On Saturday night, December 10th at 7pm in the LA Valley College
MainStage theater (near the corner of Oxnard and Fulton, the Valley
College Symphony will present a program of Baroque Concerti.
5800 Fulton Ave
Valley Glen, CA 91406
The program will include:

The Vivaldi Piccolo Concerto in C – Jaun Antonia Rivera, piccolo soloist

Vivaldi Bassoon Concerto in F Major – Charles Fernandez, Bassoon Soloist.

Bach Brandenburg Concerto no. 2 featuring

Ljiljana Lukic, Flute

Kathy Gleasman Pisaro, Oboe

Angela Anderson, Trumpet
 and

Yi-Huan Zhao, Violin.
Other works will be included as well!…..
Please come if you can!
——————————–

12/11/16
Dearest Friends of MAHMA and the Classical Arts:

IT’S CHRISTMAS!!

The Malibu Friends of Music is proud to announce that our own
Maria Newman is scheduled to conduct Johann Sebastian Bach’s,
Christmas Cantata BWV 142 “For Us a Child is Born,” this Sunday
December 11th in two morning concerts, at the beautiful gothic-
style
Westwood Presbyterian Church
10822 Wilshire Boulevard on the Wilshire Corridor.

After a fashion, these morning concerts will emulate a European-
style holiday inside a beautifully decorated miniature hall church
as the Westwood Master Choir, brilliant vocal soloists and the
Westwood Chamber Ensemble perform Bach’s lovely cantata,
encapsulated within the traditional liturgy of the season.

Do not miss this unique experience!

We invite you to join us December 11th for the 8:45am concert
and/or the 11:00am concert. We look forward to seeing you there!

The concerts are FREE & parking is FREE.
Receptions will follow both concerts.

Safe and Happy Holidays to you all,
Scott Hosfeld

———————————————

12/11/16

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA JAZZ ORCHESTRA

Hello friends,

This is to let you know that my 22-piece big band,
the Southern California Jazz Orchestra, will be making
its debut at the Secret Rose Theater in North Hollywood
on Sunday, December 11th. We will be celebrating the
music of Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass as well as
presenting some of my new original arrangements.

Details below:

Charlie Ferguson presents
the Southern California Jazz Orchestra
performing live at

Secret Rose Theater
11246 Magnolia Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA 91601

Sunday, December 11th, 2016
7:00 – 8:30 PM (1 set)
Tickets $20 (now on sale; call 818-970-1703 for more info)

Saxophones/woodwinds: Kim Richmond, Dan Kaneyuki,
Billy Kerr, John Yoakum, Tim McKay
Trumpets: Stan Martin, Jon Papenbrook, Ron Barrows, Ron Stout
Trombones: Scott Whitfield, Andy Martin, Erik Hughes, Craig Ware
French horns: John Dickson, Suzette Moriarty
Piano: Charlie Ferguson
Guitar: Dan Ferguson
Bass: Chris Conner
Drums: Ralph Razze
Percussion: Billy Hulting, Linda Michelou
plus special guest Jacques Voyemant, trombone

There is plentiful parking on side streets in the area and in
lots near the venue. This will be a fun night of music so
make plans to join us.

Charlie

———————————————

1/21/16

SFV SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Jan. 21, 2017 –

Tutor Family Center at Chaminade West Hills

Schumann: Manfred Overture

Mendelssohn: Symphony #3 in A minor (Scottish)

Belling: Music Madly Makes the World Go Round

Inaugural Performance

Cary Belling, violinist

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Other concerts in the series

Mar. 18, 2017 –

Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community Center

Tuttle: By Steam or By Dream Overture

Inaugural Performance

Prokofiev: Symphony #1 in D major (Classical)

Ben-Haim: Pastorale Variée for

Clarinet, Harp and Strings

Geoff Nudell, clarinetist
Beethoven: Romance for Violin and Orchestra

Ruth Bruegger, violinist

 

May 13, 2017 – Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community Center
Saint-Saens: Bacchanale from “Samson and Delilah”

Tchaikovsky: Orchestral Suite No. 2 in C major

Egizi: Orchestral Suite 
“In Memoria di Mio Padre”

Inaugural Performance

 

Programs subject to change

——————————————
You can read all previous offerings at:

http://www.responsible47.com

UNTIL NEXT TIME,

THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47

11/25/16

I. COLORADO SYMPHONY LOOKS UP – AND SEES MORE CHALLENGES
II. BMI RESPONDS TO DOJ APPEAL OF FRACTIONAL LICENSING RULING
III. NACUSA COMPOSITION SUBMISSIONS FROM EAST COAST MEMBERS
IV. 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. COLORADO SYMPHONY LOOKS UP – AND SEES MORE CHALLENGES

Here is quite an interesting and wide ranging article about
the Colorado Symphony. We’re putting the section about
the Colorado Symphony vs. the AFM because of it’s import
the AFM Membership…

Excerpted from the article concerning the AFM:

The symphony plans to expand not only its concert
season, but its work in recording soundtracks and
background music, its work as a backup orchestra
for pop and rock musicians, and more.

The bad news? Well, the Symphony is mired in a
long-standing and complex dispute with the American
Federation of Musicians about these non-concert-hall gigs.

What do you want first – the good news? Okay. The
Colorado Symphony finally posted a budget surplus
for the first time in its history. It’s back from the brink
of death, with a growing multi-million-dollar endowment
and a raft of new and returning corporate sponsors. It’s got
a peppy new music director designate. The symphony plans
to expand not only its concert season, but its work in
recording soundtracks and background music, its work as
a backup orchestra for pop and rock musicians, and more.

The bad news? Well, the Symphony is mired in a long-standing and
complex dispute with the American Federation of Musicians about
these non-concert-hall gigs, for one. And the City of Denver’s going
to tear down the symphony’s home, Boettcher Concert Hall, and
shunt it into a new venue which is half the size and which the
symphony must share with other arts groups. Given these challenges,
can the symphony sustain its successful momentum?

The orchestra is awaiting the decision of an administrative
-law judge in the wake of a September 14 hearing concerning
points of contention between it and the American Federation
of Musicians union. Oddly, Colorado Symphony musicians
are on management’s side in the case. Much of the dispute
stems from the symphony’s desire to diversify its revenue
streams.
In its Consolidated Financial Statements of June 20, 2016,
the symphony characterized the dispute as follows:

“Our collective bargaining agreement with the American
Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada
(AFM) expired September 30, 2013, after which we attempted
to negotiate in good faith a successor agreement with
changes to certain terms governing the musicians’
compensation for work on SOUNDTRACKS, AUDIO/
VIDEO BROADCASTS AND OTHER ELECTRONIC MEDIA
(emphasis added), which were necessary to allow the
Symphony to take advantage of new and emerging
performance opportunities. We  were unable to reach
agreement with the AFM, and, therefore, we implemented
the changes in October 2014.”

“The American Federation of Musicians tends to foster
that ‘us versus them’ mentality,” says Kern. “It thinks
that it knows better what’s good for the organization
and the musicians. Management is viewed negatively –
but that’s not what goes on here. We have more of a
partnership with the musicians than any orchestra
in the United States.”

Meanwhile, Michael Allen, president of AFM Local 20-623,
writes that “Everything I know about this dispute fills
up four 1.5-inch three-ring binders.” The allegations
involved include unfair labor practice charges, employer
domination and refusal to furnish information. Colorado
Symphony musicians are also looking to EXIT AFM
REPRESENTATION (Emphasis added.), but this idea can’t
be pursued legally until the prior litigation is ended.”

[COLLEAGUES: Reading the above makes it clear that the
Colorado Symphony wants to begin recording for
Soundtracks and Video, but the AFM is trying to block
that (You can guess whom they are working on behalf of
here). So much so that the orchestra is trying to find
a way to free itself from the AFM, much as Seattle did.]

“ . . .The matter currently before the administrative law
judge is regarding the unfair labor practice charge and
NOT the issue of representation,” Allen writes, “though
the outcome of the hearings will certainly have on
impact on the issue of representation.”

THE ARTICLE IN FULL:

Denver’s symphony orchestra has always ridden a sine wave of ups
and downs. It originated as the Civic Symphony Orchestra, a
volunteer community ensemble. In 1934, the group professionalized
itself under the name of the Denver Symphony Orchestra. As such,
it persisted until March 1989, brought low by financial woes.
DSO musicians Terry Smith and John Weatherill led the initiative
to regroup, and the Colorado Symphony sprang to life in the
DSO’s place in May 1990.

However, the Colorado Symphony eventually faced financial
hardships. A spate of financial problems threatened the
organization in 2000. Eleven years later, a renewed shortfall
of revenue triggered the cancellation of concerts and the
resignation of two-thirds of the symphony’s board of trustees.
The emergence of Jerry and Mary Rossick Kern, current
co-chairs of the board, over the past fifteen years as
problem-solvers led to the symphony’s newfound
financial stability.

“It’s great to have cash in the bank,” says Jerry Kern, who
serves as the symphony’s CEO as well. “The place was never
adequately capitalized and adequately supported by the
community. We have come a long way toward resolving that.”

On June 30, 2015, the symphony ended the season with
$7,000 in cash – just enough to buy a 2006 Honda Civic,
in theory. On June 30, 2016, the surplus stands at more
than $1.7 million. Any organization, particularly an arts
organization, that can demonstrate a higher net worth
enjoys a more solid financial position and inspires greater
interest from potential contributors.

“Erasing the deficit expands the prospective donor base,”
Kern says. “It’s like the stock market. It takes money to
make money.”

Kern’s speech has the crackle and tang of old-school
New York, where he plied a successful career as a lawyer
(he’s now in his late seventies). Extensive work with
nonprofits and performing-arts organizations gives
him a unique amount of experience and insight as
to what works and what doesn’t in what is, after all,
a branch of showbiz.

“We make music and that’s it,” he says. “We feel that
it’s our obligation to create the best of whatever music
is out there. We happen to make the best music in
the state of Colorado.”

Much of the symphony’s success can be attributed to
its adaptability. Kern was quoted in the Denver Post
on October 12, 2011, as saying, “’The 21st-century
orchestra is not going to be the same as the 19th-
or 20th-century orchestra.’” Like many other symphony
orchestras across North America, the Colorado Symphony
has diversified its offerings to include a much greater
portion of contemporary fare.

A flip through the symphony’s 2016-2017 season calendar
tallies a near-even split between what would traditionally
be considered “serious” concert-hall fare and crossover events –
collaborations with contemporary groups and artists such
as Elephant Revival, Stewart Copeland and Ben Folds, pop
and jazz excursions and holiday shows. There is a Symphonic
Tribute to Comic Con, The Music of Michael Jackson, and
Pokemon Symphonic Evolutions. The symphony’s upcoming
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: In Concert sold out
its first two performances, then added a third and promptly
sold that out.

So what’s wrong with being popular? All of Denver’s
symphonic leaders of distinction to date have been dedicated
to popularizing the organization. Saul Caston, DSO music
director from 1945-1964, took the orchestra on tour,
initiated school outreach plans, and performed outdoors
at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Brian Priestman, a beloved
and ebullient Brit, led the orchestra from 1970 to 1979,
garnering the greatest amount of community support to
date. (Classical station KVOD and dry-goods giant May
D & F used to raise money through a weekend-long
annual marathon. The orchestra even used to have a
kissing booth at the People’s Fair.) Marin Alsop, a disciple
of Leonard Bernstein, scheduled new work, led engaging
outreach programs, recorded extensively with the
orchestra for the Naxos label, and effectively evangelized
for the local classical scene from 1993 to 2005.

Now the musical directorship will transfer to the present
associate conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, 37-year-old
Brett Mitchell, who takes up the position formally on July
1, 2017. Is Mitchell the kind of committed, charismatic
leader the symphony needs?

Kern is a staunch supporter, of course. “When you look at
a guy like Brett Mitchell, who’s committed to spending no
less than 25 weeks a year in Denver, to move here with his
wife, well, we haven’t had that since Marin Alsop,” he says.

“It’s not my first rodeo,” says Mitchell, who’s currently braving
Denver’s insane housing market. In a short span of years, the
conductor has accumulated a significant amount of experience,
ranging from opera to leading the Cleveland Orchestra’s
Youth Orchestra. He’s excited about the challenge ahead,
praises the musicians (“They’ve been doing their part in
this place for so long that it’s a labor of love”) and looks
forward to conducting the full range of concert offerings.

“Hey,” the Seattle native says, “I am not the guy who did
nothing but listen to Mozart growing up.” He confesses to
playing a little alto sax à la David Sanborn – “Hey, it was the
’80s!” – but he didn’t really feel the impulse to conduct
until his freshman year in college.

“At first I thought I would be a band teacher,” he says.
“Mr. Holland’s Opus.” Once he determined his career path,
he studied extensively with such prominent conductors
as Alsop, Kurt Masur and Lorin Maazel. However, he
doesn’t disdain the popular fare.

“I think that, having been a staff conductor, I’ve played just
about every kind of music there is for orchestra, and I love
it all,” Mitchell continues. “I want to do the pop shows and
the movies. My interest is to appear on every series, not
just the masterworks. Those works need to be performed
with the enthusiasm they deserve because they mean
something. I mean, John Williams [composer of Star Wars
et al.] was my intro to orchestra. That’s a gateway.
Developing a broad footprint, having enormous diversity
and variety — those are gateways.

“With an audience, you need to develop relatability,”
he goes on. “If you are doing the same thing over
and over again, people can shut you out. The way
that we have it is not as a museum, but as part of
a continuum. How do you make music that opens
ears in a new way that doesn’t make it intimidating?
We want to be responsive, not reactive. We’re not
dumbing down anything at all. The presentation is
managed differently, and there’s more salesmanship
to it. We’re just trying to have fun and share these
extraordinary experiences.”

So far, so good. All is not beer and Skittles for the
symphony, however.

The orchestra is awaiting the decision of an administrative
-law judge in the wake of a September 14 hearing concerning
points of contention between it and the American Federation
of Musicians union. Oddly, Colorado Symphony musicians
are on management’s side in the case. Much of the dispute
stems from the symphony’s desire to diversify its revenue
streams.
In its Consolidated Financial Statements of June 20, 2016,
the symphony characterized the dispute as follows:

“Our collective bargaining agreement with the American
Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada
(AFM) expired September 30, 2013, after which we attempted
to negotiate in good faith a successor agreement with
changes to certain terms governing the musicians’
compensation for work on soundtracks, audio/video
broadcasts and other electronic media, which were
necessary to allow the Symphony to take advantage of
new and emerging performance opportunities. We
were unable to reach agreement with the AFM, and,
therefore, we implemented the changes in October 2014.”

“The American Federation of Musicians tends to foster
that ‘us versus them’ mentality,” says Kern. “It thinks
that it knows better what’s good for the organization
and the musicians. Management is viewed negatively –
but that’s not what goes on here. We have more of a
partnership with the musicians than any orchestra
in the United States.”

Meanwhile, Michael Allen, president of AFM Local 20-623,
writes that “Everything I know about this dispute fills
up four 1.5-inch three-ring binders.” The allegations
involved include unfair labor practice charges, employer
domination and refusal to furnish information. Colorado
Symphony musicians are also looking to exit AFM
representation, but this idea can’t be pursued legally
until the prior litigation is ended.”

“ . . .The matter currently before the administrative law
judge is regarding the unfair labor practice charge and
NOT the issue of representation,” Allen writes, “though
the outcome of the hearings will certainly have on
impact on the issue of representation.”

Then there’s Boettcher. It was the first symphony hall
in the round in the United States when it was built in
1978, and since it opened, its innovative design was
constantly overshadowed by acoustical problems and
a lack of attendance. A $40 million project to upgrade
the facility, funded by a 2007 bond issue, was scrapped
by the city, and the funds were diverted to other projects.

Now the city plans to demolish Boettcher and relocate the
orchestra to a new music hall, “supporting the Symphony
and also a diverse range of other musical groups and
forms. This hall replaces Boettcher Concert Hall, offering
a better and more intimate experience, appropriate in
size and form for traditional and contemporary groups,”
according to the Executive Summary of the city’s Arts &
Venues Department’s Next Stage plan.

Next Stage is a massive revitalization plan that intends
to rework the cultural center in and around 14th and
Champa Streets into an integrated, mixed-use neighborhood,
leaving the Denver Center Theatre Complex, the Ellie Caulkins
Opera House and the Buell Theatre unchanged, but making
over practically everything else. Three newly designated
“opportunity sites” will sandwich arts venues between
ground-level retail spaces and commercial towers above.

“The new image of the Arts Complex is that of a community
living room,” announces the 88-page Next Stage prospectus.
“DPAC’s fortress-like enclosure should become a place that
is always open and always active with informal programming.”

The symphony and the city have been at loggerheads on
the issue since the plan was first rumored in 2014. The
city points to the low seat counts, “changing demographics
that have different cultural consumption patterns,” and
the “declining audiences for traditional performing arts,”
going so far as to cite the complex’s present “economic
and racial inaccessibility” – a long way of saying its
events are geared toward rich white folks.

Architect Hugh Hardy, who designed Boettcher and whose
company is on board with the Next Stage plan, was more
explicit. “The specific character of the Arts Complex
will come from its emphasis upon use by the largest
possible cross-section of the community, amateur
and professional alike, and not upon the use by a
favored few,” he writes. “The true innovation of the
Music Hall will similarly lie in the fact that it is being
built to encourage the citizens of Denver to share in
the making of music. Such an idea is quite different
from using the hall as a device for furthering the
remote presentations of a musical aristocracy.”

In response, Kern has termed Next Stage “poor civic
planning.” Boettcher has 2,362 seats. The new music
hall is slated to have 1,200. There sits the practical
crux of two differing visions. If the symphony’s
revival continues and ticket sales and subscriptions
rise — where will the patrons sit?

“We would like to see more seats, maybe 1,500.
It’s a little unclear, or a lot unclear, what shape
the Next Stage plan will finally take or how long
it will take,” says Kern. “Right now, it’s a
construct of the consultants.”

Bran Kitts, director of marketing and communications
for the city’s Arts & Venues Department, says: “We
are now in the post-conceptual, pre-practical stage.
Recommendations on financing and governance are
due to the mayor’s office by the end of the year.”

“One of the down sides of the performing complex,”
Kitts continues, “is that it’s busy on show nights,
but not particularly inviting on dark nights. We are
looking to make the area a focal point, to have good
community facilities there, so that people feel they
have a standing invitation to visit.”

As to the need to tear down Boettcher, Kitts identifies
problems such as its flawed acoustics, staging and
setup problems, and lack of attendance.

“If they’re not full to begin with now, you scale them
down,” Kitts says. “You take some of these complaints
into account, and you also look into the future. What
does the technology look like? That factors in. We
have to think about younger audiences, not just
older audiences, and not just the musicians, but
the patrons and fans.”

Kern says, “We need a home. We are happy to
cooperate with the city – as long as people
continue to listen to us and recognize our needs.”

The city states that “it is envisioned that the Boettcher
Concert Hall will remain operational until after the
construction of the Music Hall . . . at 14th and
Arapahoe.” Whether the city is simply trying to
monetize its underused property with its Next Stage
plan, or whether it will trigger a new flowering of
the symphony, a fresh intersection between the arts
and all of the city’s inhabitants, remains to be seen.

In the meantime, the symphony will continue to
implement its own revitalization program, playing
in the aging confines of its once-state-of-the-art
home, waiting to see what its new digs will look like,
hoping that its labor disputes will end, freeing it
up to monetize new, non-standard musical opportunities.

And what about the traditional repertoire? Is the
great orchestral music of the past doomed to fade
out of the cultural conversation? Given the new
political climate, the future looks bright for neither
the arts nor the sciences. Is the concert hall, like
the movie palace, merely a lingering cultural remnant
where dwindling audiences still fetishize their antiquated
cultural ceremonies?
Says Mitchell, “We are always lamenting that this tradition
is going away, but it’s not. Did you know that TIME
magazine pronounced the death of classical music?
They did! — in 1961.”

It appears that the Colorado Symphony will continue
to roll with the punches.
========================
II. US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TO APPEAL 100% LICENSING AGREEMENT

The US Department Of Justice has confirmed it will appeal the
impromptu court ruling that overturned its decision on whether
or not American collecting societies BMI and ASCAP must
operate a 100% licensing system.
All you consent decree fans out there will remember that
when the DoJ reviewed the regulations governing the
collective licensing of song rights by American performing
rights organisations BMI and ASCAP, it concluded earlier this
year that both societies should be offering 100% licences.
But the two societies, and pretty much every American
songwriter and music publisher, insisted the government
department had got it wrong, wrong, wrong.

Under a BMI licence, 100% licensing would mean that a
licensee would be able to use any song in the society’s
catalogue, even if BMI only controlled a slice of said song.
Traditionally the licensee would need a separate license
from whichever entity or entities controlled the other
slices of a co-owned work, which might be ASCAP or
smaller American PROs SESAC or GMR. Under the 100%
licensing system, BMI would receive all the royalties and
would then need to pay the other societies their share.

As soon as the DoJ confirmed its conclusion on this point,
ASCAP said it would lobby Congress on the issue, while
BMI took the matter to court. In September, at what was
expected to be hearing to discuss the time tabling for
that court case, the judge who oversees the BMI consent
decree, Louis Stanton, reached an immediate surprise
judgement, ruling in BMI’s favour. The DoJ had got it
wrong with all that 100% licensing nonsense, and BMI
was perfectly entitled to operate the opposite system,
aka fractional licensing.

The DoJ’s appeal means that Stanton’s interpretation
of BMI’s consent decree will now be considered by the
Second Circuit court. BMI said on Friday that the
government agency’s decision to appeal the ruling
was “disappointing” but not a surprise. BMI boss Mike
O’Neill added: “While we hoped the DoJ would accept
Judge Stanton’s decision, we are not surprised it
chose to file an appeal”.

He went on: “It is unfortunate that the DoJ continues
to fight for an interpretation of BMI’s consent decree
that is at odds with hundreds of thousands of
songwriters and composers, the country’s two
largest performing rights organisations, numerous
publishers and members of the music community,
members of Congress, a US Governor, the US
Copyright Office and, in Judge Stanton, a federal
judge. We believe Judge Stanton’s decision is
correct and look forward to defending our position
in the Court Of Appeals for the Second Circuit”.

Rival PRO ASCAP backs BMI on this issue, the
assumption being that if a court rules in BMI’s
favour on 100% licensing, the same principle
will have to be applied to its consent decree.
Its CEO, Beth Matthews, said this weekend: “The
Second Circuit’s ruling in this case will affect the
rights of more than a million American songwriters
and composers, thousands of whom have expressed
strong opposition to the DoJ’s position, and we are
hopeful the court will affirm Judge Stanton’s decision”.

She concluded that “ASCAP looks forward to resolution
of this matter as we continue to advocate for modernising
the consent decrees for today’s world”.

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

III. NACUSA COMPOSITION SUBMISSIONS FROM EAST COAST MEMBERS

Plans are being made to sponsor one concert in New York City during
the 2017 spring season. The event will mark and celebrate NACUSA’s
84th season.

The program will feature works by composers who are current members
of the East Coast Chapter of the National Association of Composers, USA.

Composers interested in participating in these programs are invited
to submit scores for consideration to:

MAX LIFCHITZ
Chair, Program Committee
P.O. Box 5108
Albany, NY 12205-0108

The deadline for the receipt of scores is Thursday, December 1, 2016.

Compositions for voice, solo instruments and/or chamber ensembles will
be considered.

All scores should be clearly labeled with the name, address, current
phone number and e-mail of the composer.

Please submit xerox copies of scores only. Do not send parts. Include
a brief up-to-date biographical sketch. If available, please also send
a CD recording of the submitted work(s). Submitted materials cannot
be returned.

Composers will be responsible for engaging and paying their performers.
Composers will also be responsible for supervising rehearsals and
performance of their work. The East Coast Chapter of NACUSA can only
assume responsibility for expenses involved in renting the hall,
printing programs and publicity.

Current members of NACUSA‚s East Coast Chapter will be considered for
inclusion. Only members who have paid their dues for 2016-17 will be
onsidered. Scores should be accompanied by a check for $30 to cover
East Coast Chapter dues.

Please make check payable to the National Association of Composers,
USA. In the lower left corner of the check, please indicate that
it is for East Coast Chapter dues.

Prospective members are encouraged to submit works, but should do
so with accompanying membership fee.

Composers whose works are selected will be notified by January
15, 2017.

The National Association of Composers, USA will celebrate its
84th anniversary during the 2016-17 season. Founded by composer/
conductor Henry Hadley, it began its activities in New York
City during the 1932-33 season.

Max Lifchitz
http://www.music-usa.org/nacusa
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11/11/16

I. BMI RESPONDS TO DOJ APPEAL OF FRACTIONAL LICENSING RULING
II. PACIFIC SYMPHONY
III. NACUSA CONCERT NOVEMBER 15th
IV. 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. BMI RESPONDS TO DOJ APPEAL OF FRACTIONAL

LICENSING RULING

Dear BMI member,
As you know, on September 16 federal Judge Louis Stanton

issued an order rejecting the U.S. Department of Justice’s

(DOJ) recent interpretation of the BMI consent decree,

concluding that BMI is free to engage in the fractional

licensing of musical works. As we expected, the DOJ

filed a motion today to appeal that decision. Rest assured

that BMI is well prepared to once again defend our position

in court.

I would like to share my statement to the press regarding

the appeal:

“While we hoped the DOJ would accept Judge Stanton’s

decision, we are not surprised it chose to file an appeal.

It is unfortunate that the DOJ continues to fight for an

interpretation of BMI’s consent decree that is at odds

with hundreds of thousands of songwriters and composers,

the country’s two largest performing rights organizations,

numerous publishers and members of the music community,

members of Congress, a U.S. Governor, the U.S. Copyright

Office and, in Judge Stanton, a federal judge.

 

We believe Judge Stanton’s decision is correct and look

forward to defending our position in the Court of Appeals

for the Second Circuit.”

 

As always, I will continue to update you on further happenings

on this front. In the meantime, please know that we are

approaching this development in the same way that led us

to our initial victory – by fighting to protect your rights

and maximize the value of your music.

Mike O’Neill

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

II. ANOTHER PACIFIC SYMPHONY ARTICLE

As the music industry changes, the Pacific Symphony tries to keep up
Michael Hiltzik

Subscribers to the Pacific Symphony’s 12-concert classical series are
marking their calendars for the next performance later this month,
featuring the distinguished Spanish pianist Joaquin Achucarro in
the Grieg Piano Concerto. They should mark it with an asterisk,
because the orchestra is talking about going on strike.

The group’s 84 musicians (four more seats are currently vacant)
have been working without a contract since Aug. 31, when their
last four-year contract expired. They rejected management’s last
contract offer on Oct. 23. No talks are currently scheduled, and
the players are getting anxious about what happened last time,
when the negotiations stretched over a year and a half.

“Time is of the essence,” says Adam Neeley, a violist and head
of the bargaining committee for the players, who are members
of the American Federation of Musicians. “We have a clear
mandate from the members that we’re not going to keep
playing and playing without any negotiations.”

Labor unrest seems to be sweeping through the U.S. symphony
corps, with a strike at the Pittsburgh Symphony entering its second month
and a work stoppage at the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra causing
the cancellation of concerts through December. A two-day strike
staged in September by musicians of the storied Philadelphia
Orchestra — who hoped to recover some of the pay they lost
during the orchestra’s 2011 bankruptcy —  forced cancellation
of its season-opening gala.

These tensions reflect the challenges generally facing performing
arts groups in the U.S., including an aging audience and more
tightfisted donors. Unlike employers such as manufacturing or
service companies, these groups have few options to stem rising
costs.  “There are no opportunities for productivity gains in the
performing arts,” says Robert J. Flanagan, an emeritus labor expert
at Stanford business school who analyzed the economics of 63
U.S. orchestras, including the Pacific Symphony, for his 2012
book, “The Perilous Life of Symphony Orchestras.” The size of the
workforce is mandated by the demands of a performance piece:
a first-class orchestra can’t trim costs by having six violinists
on stage when a symphony requires 12 — at least not without
sacrificing artistic standards.

“Composers determine the labor costs of their works forever,”
Flanagan says. “Technological changes aren’t going to help much.”

On top of that, the Costa Mesa-based Pacific Symphony has
challenges all its own. Its musicians are trying to force a
fundamental change in its business model from part-time
to full-time, salaried employment.

The musicians say they’re trying to get the organization to
adapt to changing realities in the Southern California music
business; its management responds that the old model has
served it well, allowing for “slow and steady expansion over
the last three decades that sensibly matched our artistic
offerings with our community’s demonstrated appetite for
classical music,” as its president, John E. Forsyte, told me in
an email.

The Pacific may be overshadowed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic,
whose $117-million budget outstrips that of any other U.S.
symphony by a sizable margin. But it shouldn’t be overlooked.
The Pacific’s annual budget of $20 million ranks roughly 22nd
in size among U.S. orchestras, just behind the Indianapolis and
San Diego symphonies ($24 million each) and ahead of the
Milwaukee and Oregon symphonies (about $16 million each).

Unlike those orchestras, however, its musicians are paid per-
“service,” a catch-all term designating rehearsals and performances,
rather than salaried.

“They’re the only orchestra that size with a per-service model,
and they’re twice the size of any other per-service orchestras,”
says Drew McManus, a Chicago orchestra consultant who
writes a daily blog about the business.

In a sense, the Pacific is a prisoner of its own history. Founded
in 1978 at Cal State Fullerton, the orchestra became a favored
artistic side gig for Southern California’s army of studio musicians,
a relief valve from the film scores and commercial jingles from
which they chiefly earned their livelihood. They were happy with
its part-time nature because it allowed them maximum scope
to pursue more lucrative studio gigs.

“For a long time, at the negotiating table musicians tried to
get more flexibility in scheduling,” says Robert F. Sanders,
a former Pacific musician who is president of the Orange
County Musicians Assn. and participated in numerous
bargaining sessions.

In that environment the Pacific Symphony thrived. Its
ensemble comprised some of the finest musicians in
the country, it attracted world-class virtuosi as soloists,
and in 2006 it moved into the glittering Cesar Pelli-
designed Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa. Its
artistic reputation was strong. Several alumni have
graduated to permanent jobs at major orchestras around
the country; Neeley, a Northwestern-trained performer,
recently auditioned for a chair at the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra and remains on-call as a member of its substitutes
roster.

But film, TV and commercial work has been disappearing
locally. Film scoring has moved to London and other
overseas locations; TV commercial producers abandoned
jingles and now rely more on licensed pop tracks. “When I
moved here,” Neeley told me, “part of the plan was to break
in at the studios, with the orchestra giving me a somewhat
livable base while I started a freelance career. Four years
later, I haven’t played a single gig at a major studio. That’s
because the work is not available.”

Consequently, the orchestra has become the principal source
of income for many members; the “flexibility” its musicians
once craved now imposes an undesirable uncertainty on their
annual income. That’s especially true because the symphony
doesn’t guarantee musicians a minimum number of services
per year.

The musicians say the Pacific can’t maintain its artistic quality
under the old model, as its average pay will shrink in relation
to competing orchestras. Its musicians can earn about $44,400
in the current season if they attend every available service,
according to the musicians union, but the average member
of the orchestra probably gets enough credits to earn $31,400.

By contrast, the rapidly-expanding San Diego Symphony, which
has an annual budget of about $24 million, recently reached
a five-year contract with its 82 salaried musicians that will
pay an average of about $70,000 in its first year, rising to
$80,000 in 2021.

“What we’re arguing for is not only in our best financial interest,”
says Neeley, “but is in the artistic interest of the organization
itself. If we continue to offer compensation that doesn’t begin
to compete with our peers, we’re going to see people leave the
orchestra, and fewer people auditioning for the orchestra.”

The symphony’s management has made some tentative steps
to meet the union’s “concerns about the predictability of work
and annual wages,” Forsyte says, but the musicians consider
these half-hearted. The symphony is willing to guarantee 185
services, according to the union, but with conditions that
could erode that figure over a year.

The question confronting the Pacific boils down to whether
it’s a $20-million orchestra that happens to employ part-time
musicians, or a part-time employer that happens to have a
$20-million budget. At the moment, it’s suspended between
those two models.

What both sides agree on is that the symphony has made
itself an indispensable part in Southern California’s artistic
landscape. It’s not the musicians’ fault, or management’s,
that the landscape has changed under its feet, but that
makes the symphony’s transformation into a full-time
orchestra more necessary, even urgent.

Read the rest of this entry »