Organizing Task Force

2020 Educator Award Winner: Meghan Yost; Violist

As the new school year begins and music educators face a difficult semester, our Local Executive Board and Organizing Task Force are extremely proud to present our Second Annual Educator Award to Local 148-462 member Meghan Yost.

Nominated by her peers within the Local throughout last Spring, Meghan was selected as the winner for her dedication to music education and her pursuit of professional development to be a true example of excellence for her students. Meghan approaches teaching by seeing the future of her students and giving them the musical tools to push through its challenges, be it during practice or in life.

As part of the award, Meghan was gifted a prize of $500 to be put toward a music education cause of her choice. With this award, she specifically chose to work with Atlanta Music Project, an organization dedicated to intensive, tuition-free music education for underserved youth in Atlanta, to set up a scholarship fund to sponsor students going through their annual AMP Summer Series.

Learn more about Meghan and this year’s award by .

If you would like to donate to Meghan’s scholarship fund, please , and designate “AMP Summer Artistic Excellence Scholarship “ in the “Anything Else We Should Know” memo box.

Secretary-Treasurer's Notes

Electronic Media Agreements Remain Flexible Amid Shifting Working Conditions

By Christina Ottaviano

Recently, the AFM and the Electronic Media Association reached agreement on a side letter to the Integrated Media Agreement for the 2020-21 season, this agreement takes into account the unique challenges of the COVID work environment.

The side letter offers expanded streaming rights for orchestras committing to a percentage of their usual live compensation for the year. The Integrated Media Agreement is the primary Agreement used by Symphony Orchestras for recorded media. In our Local, the Atlanta Symphony, the Atlanta Ballet, and the Atlanta Opera work under the IMA, and all are considering special recording projects for the coming year.

Unsurprisingly, electronic media is taking a central role across the industry at the moment.

Several non-symphonic streaming agreements are also available as detailed in the July Podium, and for this year only, the Music Performance Trust Fund is offering grants for projects meeting specific criteria streamed live through their Facebook feed.

For more information, or to apply for one of these grants, contact the Local office. For more information on the range of Electronic Media Agreements available through the AFM, don’t miss the excellent primer in this month’s .

Secretary-Treasurer's Notes

Shifting Local Operations Off-Site but Continuing Relief Efforts

The last couple of months have brought extraordinary change to the music industry. While there is much yet unknown about what lies ahead, the Atlanta Federation of Musicians is making every effort to adapt and prepare for an uncertain future. Office operations continue as usual, albeit remotely, with the dual goals of directing resources to the immediate needs of our membership and emerging from this crisis stronger than ever!

Among the initiatives we’ve been pursing is an earmarked fund for COVID relief for Georgia Musicians within MusiCares. To date, over $10,000 has been contributed to the fund with $5,000 of that being matching contributions from Local 148-462. If you’d like to contribute to this fund, you may do so at www.gofundme.com/GeorgiaCOVID-Musician-Relief-Fund. If you are in need of aid, you can apply for these funds by filling out the application at www.grammy.com/musicares.

In conjunction with the national office, we’ve been working with Local employers to establish a path forward in this new landscape. The American Federation of Musicians’ Electronic Media department has been working hard on solutions for this unexpectedly abrupt transition to digital performance, and talks are underway throughout the country to help our members and employers continue work in the digital realm. While there is no knowing what the timeline will be, The AFM is prepared to continue these conversations through the transition back to the concert hall.

As we continue to address the challenges of the present, we also have an eye toward the post-pandemic world. 2020 is an election year for Local 148 -462, and we encourage all of you to consider running for the office of your choice. Your voice is more important than ever in determining the direction of our Local. Nomination notices will be in your mailboxes later this month with more information on how you can participate.

A new website launch is on the horizon for late this summer. We are very excited to be rolling out an entirely new interface, complete with a repaired and improved directory, and a more intuitive and informative member portal. You may have noticed the Logo update in the header of this Podium, which is a small part of this project.

While in many ways this is a time with more questions than answers, our membership is working together to chart a course. There is no shortage of energy, creativity, and initiative among us, and one way or another, the music will play on.