Twenty-nine members and six board members attended DMA's September 29 General Membership Meeting to discuss and ultimately adopt substantial changes to Article III (Duties of Officers) and Article IV (Salaries and Remuneration) of our DMA Bylaws. This meeting was yet another step in a two-year, multi-meeting process of necessary dues increases, cost-cutting and restructuring that have now brought DMA's budget closer to balance than it has been in decades.

Salary adjustments for the President, Vice-President and Secretary-Treasurer were a hotly-debated subject throughout the evening, as they should be. Per the Boards proposal salaries for these three positions are increasing, but only because of a realized 20% cost savings since the DMA no longer providing health benefits. Job descriptions and duties are also changing to bring greater efficiencies with office administration while simultaneously ramping-up our focus on organizing and member recruiting.

The Board Proposal was presented on Three Ballots so that officer duties, board duties and officer salaries could be debated and voted on separately and anonymously. Voting results were as follows:
Ballot 1 (Duties of Officers) YES: 25; NO: 3
Ballot 2 (Duties of the Board of Directors) YES: 28; NO: 4
Ballot 3 (Salaries and Remuneration) YES: 24; NO: 7

Several members asked in advance if the right to vote on these proposals could be extended to the entire membership via email or electronic ballot? Unfortunately a general ballot is not possible in this example because the outcome must be decided at an open meeting that allows for rigorous discussion as well as possible amendments. In this example we saw both. So, not only is a live meeting required, but it becomes essential when there are many moving parts that require discussion and airing of opinions that will certainly influence the outcome.

Most importantly, your elected officers need this opportunity to listen to you. We hear your request to make membership meetings more accessible so they can accommodate varying teaching and work schedules. For this reason we ask DMA members to respond to this brief SURVEY to see if there are better days, nights, mornings or afternoons that will make our meeting more accommodating. This survey will likely continue as a fixture in this bulletin through the rest of this year, so please take a brief moment to respond.

If you can't attend membership meetings we then encourage you to attend and bring your concerns to DMA Board meetings which will now occur [at least] monthly. These meeting times will be posted in this bulletin and on the DMA website. Our next board meetings are now scheduled for Monday, November 17 at 1:00 PM and Tuesday, December 30 at 1:00 PM. Be sure to stay for our Holiday Party that will go from 4 to 8 PM on December 30.

In my view the most important question of the evening was "what are you [DMA officers] doing to recruit young members"? The DMA and all of organized labor will have an uncertain future unless we address this issue in a very big way. There is no question that young professional musicians are reluctant to join and this is a serious problem across the AFM. However, this generation of professionals are quite resourceful and have taken notice of DMA's ongoing efforts to press for accountability with public funding, collective bargaining and even our 100 years of establishing and defending prevailing wage.

These efforts have a reach and benefit that extends well beyond our membership, and thankfully, a substantial group of twenty-something musicians took notice in the Fall of 2013. They came to us after the DMA pressured the Downtown Denver Partnership to "pay something" to the 100 bands that performed earlier that year for Make Music Denver. We opened our doors to them and subsequently hosted multiple meetings with this group through last winter.

We now hope to reconvene these meetings in November. I've asked Luke Leavitt to again serve as the chairperson (see below to read Luke's latest commentary Westword). Our initial goal is for DMA to assist in the building of a collective business model, both locally and nationally, for this next great generation of professional musicians. Please call the DMA or contact me directly if you have friends, students or relatives who may be interested in joining this focus group.
 

Please click on the following link if you wish to view the Meeting Minutes. In closing, THANK YOU to all who attended our 9/29 meeting and please come again!

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PRINCIPAL HORN
DATE: Saturday, November 1, 2014

2ND TROMBONE
DATE: Saturday, November 1, 2014

VIOLIN
DATE: Sunday, November 2, 2014
Section - 3 positions
Assistant Concertmaster
Assistant Principal 2nd *one year position possibly permanent

BASS
DATE: Sunday, November 2, 2014
Assistant Principal
Section

APPLICATION DEADLINE FOR ALL AUDITIONS: Monday, October 20, 2014

For more information and to request an audition time for any of the above openings email a ONE PAGE resume to:
April Johannesen, Orchestra Personnel Manager
fcsmanager@gmail.com 

Please include current address, email address and phone number.
Communication via email is preferred, but you may also mail to:

Fort Collins Symphony
Attn: April Johannesen
PO Box 1963
Fort Collins, CO 80522

Information and repertoire may be found at:
www.fcsymphony.org/contact/jobopportunities.html


Please note: The DMA has no agreement with FCSO with respect to wages or working conditions

Announces auditions for:

Audition is scheduled for Monday, November 17, 2014

Position to start at winning candidate's earliest availability

Highly qualified applicants mail or FAX a one-page resume to:

Larry Brezicka, Personnel Manager

THE COLORADO SYMPHONY

Boettcher Concert Hall - 1000 14th Street, #15

Denver, CO 80202

FAX: 303-293-2649

Application/resume must be received by October 15th, 2014

NO PHONE CALLS or EMAILS

*The Colorado Symphony is an Equal Opportunity Employer*