So the Vienna Philharmonic finally recognized that women really can play the violin (or whatever instrument) and appointed a woman as Concertmaster. In honor of this occasion, which shouldn’t really have to be an occasion (if the Vienna Philharmonic lived in the same decade, or even century, as the rest of us), I asked a[…]
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The Dayton Philharmonic celebrated their 75th anniversary in 2008 and released an anniversary CD (featured here on our Spotlight), but their big celebration was in 2003, when they moved into the new Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center that March and started performing in the breath-taking Mead Theater.
Read MoreWe’ve published another article — about an amazing marketing success with a program that should have been hard to sell. Now, of course, our own Robert Levine, with Ilana Setapen, was featured on the first half playing the Mozart Symphonie Concertante, so that must have done it right there! But seriously (no offense meant, Robert…),[…]
Read MoreJulie Ayer, author of More Than Meets the Ear, How Symphony Musicians Made Labor History, a history of the founding of ICSOM and symphonic unionism, has written a very moving tribute to her mother and sister, both violinists in the Spokane Symphony. They overlapped in the orchestra for 12 years, and both held the 4th[…]
Read MoreWhile wandering through the local Barnes & Noble recently, I noticed a violin on the cover of a book called Devil’s Trill in the Staff Picks section. On reading the inside back cover, I saw that the author, Gerald Elias, is indeed the violinist I knew at Yale who left New Haven to join the[…]
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I hadn’t been to a Regional Orchestra Players Association (ROPA) conference in a long time. OK, since 2002 when I wasn’t re-elected President. So when Polyphonic suggested that we three Senior Editors cover our respective Players Conferences, I was a bit hesitant about going. OK, a lot hesitant. But I did finally decide to go and am very glad indeed that I did. I saw lots of old friends, made some new ones, and very much enjoyed both the conference presentations and the activities in Dayton. I also spent some time over at the Dayton Philharmonic office doing interviews for a Polyphonic spotlight on the DPO. (Check our Orchestra Spotlight section soon for more info about the DPO.)
Players conferences represent their member musicians to the national union (AFM) to facilitate communication and urge the union to provide necessary services to its members. They also hold a yearly conference for member musicians/organizations.
The International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM) was founded in 1962; see Laura Ross’ excellent article What Is ICSOM? for an overview and a brief history. ROPA was founded in 1984 to provide similar representation to smaller orchestras. There were 13 founding members at the 1984 conference in Columbus OH. Two other groups of musicians have also followed ICSOM’s lead and formed their own players conferences: the Recording Musicians Association (RMA) and the Theater Musicians Association (TMA). ICSOM’s Canadian members left ICSOM when the Organization of Canadian Symphony Musicians (OCSM/OMOSC) was formed in 1975.
This article is rather long, but it was a jam-packed three days. I’ve presented the information in chronological order so you can follow the agenda of the three days.
Tuesday morning began with welcoming speeches followed by a keynote address by Randy Cohen of America for the Arts.
Tuesday afternoon included ROPA officer reports and remarks by Tom Lee. Then the delegates attended breakout sessions.
Wednesday morning featured reports from SSD staff, remarks from representatives of the other three players conferences (ICSOM, OCSM and RMA), a presentation on analyzing orchestra finances by William Thompson from the Univ. of Louisville, and reports from troubled orchestras.
Wednesday afternoon and evening the delegates had a private tour of the beautiful Schuster Performing Arts Center, and then were treated to the ROPA 25th Anniversary dinner and celebration.
Thursday presented ROPA Counsel Patricia Polach talking about contract re-openers, Vinni LoPresti and Will Luebking from the AFM-EP Pension Fund, and David Nesmeth leading an Alexander Technique exercise.
Here’s my “Reporter’s Notebook” from the conference.
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Most American orchestras perform an outdoor concert during the July 4th weekend, even those orchestras that don’t have a summer season. Here’s a sample.
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Dan Trahey & José Antonio Abreu, founder of El Sistema
I hope that these postcards will expose my readers to the wonders of El Sistema and help invigorate educators, musicians, administrators, parents, students, and community members through the belief that we can create social change through music.
The National Symphony Orchestra left for China on June 6, 2009, and NSO cellist Yvonne Caruthers is sending us “postcards” from their trip.
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The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) has had a difficult history – formed in 1991 as a musician-owned collaborative orchestra after the bankruptcy and demise of the New Orleans Symphony. Their governance structure is unique among American symphony orchestras, and the hard work and dedication of the musicians finally resulted in a very successful organization. Then hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005 and nearly destroyed their city and their orchestra. Read about the amazing triumph of the LPO 3 ½ years after the storm.
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