Board Meeting December 1, 2014

The regular meeting of the Board of Directors’ of the Cincinnati Musicians’ Association was called to order on December 1, 2014 at 5:30PM.

Carol Dunevant was absent but will be present for the General Meeting.

The minutes of the November 24, 2014 were approved.

 

NEW MEMBERS: None

GOOD STANDING FROM OTHER LOCALS

NEW MEMBERS: None

REINSTATE: None

DECEASED: None

RESIGNED: None

ERASED: None

 

OLD/CURRENT BUSINESS:

I. President’s Report

  • Letters from AllClear should be mailed any day now. There was a slight holdup due to international addresses.

II. CCO

  • The contract is in the final stages of ratification.
  • The Committee sent orchestra members a copy of their old CBA with the newest changes marked in red, and are using Survey Monkey to evaluate members opinions of the revision.
  • Nat Chaiken is the one to collate the results and there will be someone to oversee Nat’s impartiality.
  • The agreement would last until December 2015.

 

III. CSO

  • The CSO is evaluating the use of Horan and Associates. H&A manage the musicians’ health care funds and investments. There are high front-load fees with H&N so the CSO is interested in looking for a no-load option.
  • Horan began serving the needs of the orchestra in 1987 when the CSO wanted a 3rd party to hold and care for the funds. The CSO has begun looking around at other companies, but they need a minimum amount to transfer and some members do not want to change. Some of the alternatives have no Vanguard option for investments. There will be a meeting with the orchestra to discuss the alternatives to change where their investments are kept.
  • The Principal Clarinet audition was held Monday-Tuesday. There were 17 semi-finalists. The field was narrowed to 8 finalists who were heard Tuesday night. The list was then narrowed to 3 for final-finals. Of the Conductor’s 3 names only one was the same as the committee’s, but Langreé compromised and they were able to arrive at 3 to hear in the last round. Jonathan Gunn was declared the winner, and played his trial week starting the next day; he passed unanimously by the end of Friday concert. This decision now opens Jonathan’s vacated associate-principal clarinet position for audition. It may not be a priority because Ben Freimuth has been satisfactorily filling this position.
  • The CSO is considering the possibility of having another violin audition but it must be decided soon so that an ad can be submitted to the IM.
  • The need for the 2nd trombone and tuba positions continues as both have been filled by one year renewing contracts for several years now.
  • Management is currently attempting to raise money to add two more fully funded weeks to the calendar. The question is whether the orchestra players would rather see that money go to fund more players.
  • The possibilities for the additional weeks could include expanding the piano competition to a full week; more ballet weeks (the orchestra is not enthusiastic about this).
  • One consideration, not yet made public, is that they are looking at the 2016-2017 season for the closing of the hall for renovations. There are concerns that they might lose subscribers with a change of venue. Many groups would be inconvenienced, not to mention the touring and special events that occur there, and it will also mean closing Memorial Hall.
  • The CSO is considering something like a Beethoven cycle that year, or using smaller sized orchestra events. The Cincinnati Opera would be held at the Aronoff.
  • Contract negotiations start in January (contract expires September 2015). Trey is hoping for a 5-year agreement, so renewal time doesn’t coincide with a year out of the hall. Paul anticipates challenges negotiating with the current committee. Some members are inexperienced and may be a little unreasonable.

IV. IMA

  • Ray Hair is advocating a media strike involving live recordings during concerts. This is a concern for the CSO as they have a media project planned for January. Drawing up a document with the lawyers to even consider this would cost a fortune and still may be construed as a wildcat action on the musicians’ behalf.
  • Most orchestra representatives are not for this action in any way. Managements belong to Electronic Media Association (EMA). Symphonic collective bargaining is now bargained as a national agreement. Cleveland wanted to make theirs only a local agreement and sued to withdraw, the ruling was for keeping it a national media agreement.

NEW BUSINESS:

I. Agenda for the General Meeting.

  • Winding down Accent Music. Dismantling it to save costs. We will keep the Accent number active, and we can still do referrals for requests.
  • Paul has activated and used the office debit card. We had to obtain a card in order to do on-line banking.

 

THE FOLLOWING VOUCHERS WERE ORDERED PAID:

See attached B 24868 – 24885

Next meeting scheduled for December 15 at 3PM.

Meeting adjourned at 6:42PM.

Minutes taken and submitted by Barbara Lambert

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