Archive for February, 2017

FI-CORE / BLOOMBERG ARTICLE / EVENTS

Friday, February 24th, 2017

2/24/17
I. FI-CORE

II. MORE POTENTIAL PROBLEMS: BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK

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. FI-CORE

Thinking of going FI-Core? Tired of looking over your shoulder
to see if Gordon Greyson is taking pictures or harassing members,..
or one of his minions?

If you do decide to go Fi-Core, this is a letter you might get:

Re: American Federation of Musicians, Local 47 – and – ———–
(Your Resignation letter of ++-++-20++

Dear ——,

This letter responds to your letter of ++-++-20++ to my office.
First, this letter acknowledges receipt of your correspondence
and your request to resign you (misspelled in the letter) membership
in American Federation of Musicians, Local 47 (“Local 47”) as well
as the American Federation of Musicians (the AFM). As of today’s
date, Local 47’s records reflect that you are no longer a member
in good standing of Local 47 and, instead, you have opted to pay
Local 47 a representation fee in accordance with the United States
Supreme Court decision in Communication Workers of America
vs. Beck and the opinion of the National Labor Relations Board
in California Saw and Knife.

Local 47 further understands that, in accordance with the Beck and
California Saw and Knife decisions, you are not objecting to the payment
of full Local 47 dues. Rather, you are merely resigning your membership
in Local 47 and, thereby, forfeiting all rights and membership therein.

We have also forwarding your resignation request to the AFM. You will
receive a separate correspondence from the AFM with regard to your
request to resign from the AFM as those matters are processed directly
by the AFM.

Next, enclosed you will find the following:

1. A written “Certification” of Local 47’s Agency Fee Calculations, for
calendar year 20++, executed by Bernard Kotlin and Co., Local 47’s
outside auditor. As you can see from the text of the Certification, the
current calculation for chargeable expenses, with respect to the
Agency Fee obligation, is currently set at 81.2% of Local 47’s regular
membership dues and work dues.

2. A copy of Local 47’s current Agency Fee policy, which (a) describes
the categories of expenses that Local 47 had deemed chargeable/non-
chargeable and (b) sets forth the manner and method by which those
persons wishing to do so may object to Local 47’s calculations of chargeable
and non-chargeable expenses.

Should you have any further questions regarding the matters set forth in
the enclosures contained in this letter, please direct them to my office.

Very Truly yours,

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

Secretary-Treasurer
American Federation of Musicians, Local 47, AFL-CIO

———–

Colleagues,

In case you might not be aware, the whole purpose

of the initial lawsuit was because a member did not

want his dues going to a particular politician. He

wanted that portion of his membership dues back.

In 1968, the Communications Workers of America

(CWA) used union members’ dues, in part, to support

Vice President Hubert Humphrey’s campaign for President

of the United States[54] and Senator Joseph Tydings’

re-election campaign.[45] Harry Beck was a maintenance

worker with the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co.

(C&PT) in Maryland and a CWA organizer.[54][55] Beck

protested the use of his union dues for a political cause

in which he did not believe and asked for a refund.[54]

The CWA refused, arguing that using union dues for

political expenditures was appropriate and legal.[45]

 

In the early 1970s, after disagreeing with national CWA

officials over a union organizing drive in suburban

Baltimore, Maryland, Beck resigned from the union

and began to pay the $10-a-month agency fee.[54][55]

Beck continued to protest the use of his agency fee for

political purposes, and asked the CWA to provide a

more accurate accounting of how much money it spent

on politics.[55] The union refused.[55]

In June 1976, Beck and 19 other non-union members

of the CWA’s bargaining unit at C&PT sued the union

for a refund.[45][51][54][55][56] The National Right to

Work Legal Defense Foundation provided legal counsel

and support to Beck and the other 18 workers.[45][54][55]

Beck quit C&PT in 1979 and moved to Oregon, where he

worked at CWA-organized job at American Telephone &

Telegraph and continued to pay his agency fee.[55]

For more info and history please see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Workers_of_America_v._Beck#cite_note-33

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

II. MORE POTENTIAL PROBLEMS: BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK

The article below is from BloombergBusinesweek.
by Josh Eidelson
February 16, 2017

UNIONS ARE LOSING THEIR DECADES LONG ‘RIght-to-Work’
fight.

Mandatory fees are endangered at the Supreme Court,
statehouses. and Congress.

Last year the total share of U.S. workers who belong to a union
fell to 10.7 percent, a record low. That number could go a lot
lower in the next few years. Following decades of declining
membership, unions face an existential crisis as right-to-work
laws being pushed at state and federal levels would ban
their ability to collect mandatory fees from the workers
they represent, a key source of revenue for organized labor.

Once largely confined to the conservative South, right-to-work
is encroaching on unions’ longtime strongholds in the North
and Midwest and, pending a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, could
soon cover a majority of the unionized workforce in the U.S.
Following a 47-year lull, six states in five years have passed
right-to-work laws. “The South is clearly winning this particular
civil war,” says University of California at Santa Barbara
historian Nelson Lichtenstein.

In their first weeks in office, the new Republican governors of
Kentucky and Missouri have already signed right-to-work laws,
making them the 27th and 28th states, respectively, to ban
mandatory union fees. By Feb. 16, New Hampshire’s House
of Representatives will vote on a proposal, endorsed by the
state’s Republican governor and already approved by its Senate,
to become the first right-to-work state in the Northeast. In Iowa,
where right-to-work is already the law, Republicans are looking
to further curb unions’ power with a bill restricting public
employees’ collective bargaining rights.

“Organized labor—it’s really the man behind the curtain in
The Wizard of Oz,” says Matt Patterson, who directs Americans
for Tax Reform’s Center for Worker Freedom, an anti-union
nonprofit. “People aren’t scared of them the way they used
to be.” Right-to-work is now the law in almost every state
where Republicans control the governorship and the state
legislature. The only exception other than New Hampshire
is Ohio, where a sweeping anti-union law was successfully
overturned by a referendum in 2011.

The most expansive change is likely to come from the
Supreme Court, whose 5-4 conservative majority will be
restored if the Senate confirms Neil Gorsuch to fill Justice
Antonin Scalia’s seat. Before Scalia’s death last year, unions
were bracing for a likely defeat in Friedrichs v. California
Teachers Association, a case brought by teachers and
conservative groups who argued that mandatory union
fees violate government employees’ constitutional rights.
Without Scalia, that case deadlocked at 4-4, but several
similar suits are pending in lower courts.

Labor leaders expect the issue could reach the Supreme
Court in time for a ruling this year, making right-to-work
the law of the land for the entire public sector, which
employs about half the 14.6 million U.S. union members.
“There’s not a doubt in my mind that the clock is ticking
on that one,” says Greg Junemann, president of the
International Federation of Professional & Technical
Engineers. Service Employees International Union President
Mary Kay Henry, who before Scalia’s death said her
union was preemptively “preparing to become a voluntary
organization,” sent staff a memo after Donald Trump’s
election win announcing that the union would plan for a
30 percent cut in its budget, almost all of which comes
from dues and fees.

Unions have been trying to get ahead of the challenge. Since
2013 staff members and activists from the 1.6 million-strong
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees
have conducted 600,000 one-on-one conversations with
workers covered by AFSCME contracts. AFSCME officials say
they reached a sobering conclusion in 2015 about how the
workers it represents might behave under right-to-work:
While roughly 35 percent would likely pay dues no matter
what, about half could be “on the fence.” The remaining 15
percent or so would likely not pay dues under right-to-work.
“We’ve found that at times we were treating all of our 1.6
million members as if they were activists, and they aren’t,”
says AFSCME President Lee Saunders. “We were taking some
things for granted.”

AFSCME says it’s overhauled how it communicates with
workers, including targeting its e-mails and Facebook
ads so those who are lukewarm on the union are more
likely to get information about obtaining a free associate’s
degree through the union than to see a call to action
with an upraised fist.

The unionization rate in right-to-work states is
less than half the rest of the country’s. Organizers
say letting workers decline to pay fees defunds unions,
diverts staff resources that could otherwise be devoted
to growth, and divides workers—just as Congress
intended when it passed the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act
allowing states to pass right-to-work laws. By 1964,
20 states had banned mandatory fees. After that the
map stayed nearly static for almost half a century,
with just three more states passing right-to-work and
one repealing it.

Then, after the 2010 midterm elections, unions’ flagging
political clout and Republicans’ newfound dominance
in state government ushered in a surge of right-to-work
laws, beginning in 2012 in Indiana and spreading to onetime
union bastions Michigan and Wisconsin. Each new law lets
conservatives in neighboring states claim they need to follow
suit to compete for business. And labor’s failure to deliver
on promises to oust right-to-work backers has helped
embolden Republicans elsewhere.

Republicans in Congress have introduced a bill to make
the nation’s entire private sector right-to-work. Although
it’s unlikely to pass unless Republicans abolish the filibuster,
private-sector unions like the Communications Workers
of America say they’re preparing for the potential loss of
mandatory fees. Mark Mix, president of the nonprofit
National Right to Work Committee, says he jokes with
his staff members about updating their résumés. Once
right-to-work is a nationwide policy, he says, the 62-y
ear-old organization will have completed its mission.
“As soon as we pass this bill,” says Mix, “we’re clearing
house.”

The bottom line: Right-to-work laws are encroaching
on unions’ longtime strongholds in the North and Midwest.

————————-

Colleagues,

Everyone who is a member of the AFM knows

how membership has atrophied over the last few

years, and NOT because of right-to-work. The

reason the AFM membership has been reduced

so drastically is because the AFM does not

represent ALL members, but only the Elites in

Recording and in Orchestras under a CBA.

In 1983, the Los Angeles local has in the area

of 13,000 members. Now? The membership

is little more than 6,000. Why? The Local

concentrates it’s efforts on recording musicians

to the exclusion of everyone else. Work has left,

and the union knows full well what has to be

done to get it back, but rather kiss the ring

of the RMA, as the IEB does as well.

If you want to know who to blame for the

work loss, there are many reasons, but locally

look no further than the board of your AFM

Local, OR the fact that their hands are tied

by the control of the RMA over the AFM.

Let’s be clear, the COMMITTEE fully supports

an honest union, a union that DESERVES the

support of the rank and file, which Local 47

does not.

If we didn’t care, why would we still be here?

If we  didn’t care we’d have wiped are hands

of this corrupt local long ago.

THE COMMITTEE

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

III. 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.

——————————

2/24/17

DON’T MISS THE
THE PHIL NORMAN TENTET
AT THE
NEWPORT BEACH JAZZ PARTY

February 23rd thru February 26th
Marriott Hotel & Spa
900 Newport Center Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660

Tentet’s performance
Friday, February 24th @ 2:30pm

For Tickets: 949-759-5003
www.newportbeachjazzparty.com

Remembering the classic sounds & variations of
12 jazz legends to include:

The George Shearing Quintet
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
The Modern Jazz Quartet
The Cal Tjader Quintet
the Ahmad Jamal Trio
Miles, Dizzy and more

——————————————

3/1/17

FREE ADMISSION GLENDALE NOON CONCERTS

Info about upcoming programs through JUNE 2017
at the Free Admission Glendale Noon Concerts series
(concerts every first & third Wednesday at 12:10-12:40 pm)
are listed at http://www.glendalenoonconcerts.blogspot.com

Jacqueline Suzuki
Curator, GNC
818 249 -5108

On Wednesday MARCH 1, 2017 at 12:10-12:40 pm
the Free Admission Glendale Noon Concerts will feature
viola d’amore player Adriana Zoppo, flutist Sherril Woods
and cellist Alexa Haynes-Pilon performing Telemann and Quantz
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.

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.

Thank you!
Jacqueline Suzuki
Curator, Glendale Noon Concerts
818-249-5108

————————————–

3/18/16
SFV SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Other concerts in the series

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

——————————————

3/1/17

ASMAC ‘First WEDNESDAYS’
presents:

———-
Legendary and Award-winning Recording Engineers

Al Schmitt, Joel Iwataki,

and Tommy Vicari

Moderated by: Renowned harpist  Gayle Levant

Wednesday, March 1, 2017!–
Meet & Greet: 7 pm   •   Program: 7:30 pm

Musicians Union Local 47
817 Vine Street, Hollywood, CA 90038

ASMAC is excited to present THREE world famous
recording and mix engineers as they discuss
their insight on working with arrangers,
composers and orchestrators.

Topics include:

Tips and tricks for arrangers, composers and orchestrators.
How a recording engineer can help you.
How you can help an recording engineer.
Preparing for a recording session.
Technology and acoustic recording.
Combining various orchestral and electronic elements.
When is instrument separation important –
when should it be avoided.
Working with virtual orchestras and sample libraries.
The final mix process and preparing stems.
Virtual plugins.

Much Much More !!!

Wednesday, March 1, 2017!–
Meet & Greet: 7 pm  •   Program: 7:30 pm

$10 Admission
SCL Members – $5
FREE for ASMAC & Local 47 members

Musicians Union Local 47
817 Vine Street
Hollywood, CA 90038

For more information on ASMAC and upcoming events:
(818) 994-4661 www.asmac.org

————————-

3/5/17

Song of the Angels Flute Orchestra
in concert!

Our next concert, “Celebrating Spring” is quickly approaching!
Conductor: Charles Fernandez

Concert location:
Pasadena Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church,
310 N. Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena 91103

Tickets are now available online at the usual location:

Concert Tickets

Concert program includes:
•    Gounod – Petite Symphonie (1st movement only)
•    Bloch – Prayer for a Jewish Life (David Shostac)
•    Blavet – Concerto (1st movement, Debbie MacMurray)
•    Mozart – Flute and Harp Concerto (David Shostac & Naomi Alter)
*** Intermission ***
•    Vaughan Williams – Thomas Tallis Theme
•    McIntosh, – Romance for Bassoon (Charles Fernandez)
•    Alter – Introspective Blues (David Miller)
•    Gluck – Dance of the Blessed Spirits (Frederick Staff)
•    Fernandez – Quiet House and a Mouse
•    Selden – When I Fall in Love (Fred Selden)
•    Encore: Fernandez – Closer Walk with Thee

—————————

3/25/17

The Musicians at Play presents
Patrick Williams Big Band Live at the Moss
with special guests Arturo Sandoval and Peter Erskine
Saturday- March 25th, 2017 8:00PM


Click “Buy Tickets” to reserve your tickets up to 12:00 p.m. on the
day of the show (Remaining tickets will be available at door at show time.)

Award-winning composer Patrick Williams presents The Big Band Live!
featuring special guests Arturo Sandoval and Peter Erskine.

VIP – Doors 7:00 p.m. early entry – refreshments

General & Premium – Doors open 7:30 p.m.

Concert starts: 8:00 p.m. (there will be a brief intermission)*

www.musiciansatplay.org

——————————————

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

ASMAC MASTERCLASS / EVENTS

Saturday, February 18th, 2017

2/11/17
I. ASMAC MASTERCLASSES
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. ASMAC MASTERCLASSES presents “Steve and Julie Bernstein”
on Music for Animation!

Join us Thursday evening, February 23rd
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Valley College
5800 Fulton Ave., Valley Glen

A MASTER CLASS
with

Julie Bernstein and Steve Bernstein

Music for Animation

Reserve Now
Pay in Advance or at the Door
to guarantee sufficient hand-out materials.

Join ASMAC THURSDAY EVENING – February 23rd-  for an informative
Master Class with two Emmy Award winning composers of the hit
series Animaniacs, Pinky & the Brain, Freakazoid, Histeria! and
Baby Looney Tunes, to name a few. Discover what is involved in
writing music for animation, including effective spotting, thematic
development, musical vocabulary, song parodies and much more.

Four-time Emmy-award-winning composer JULIE BERNSTEIN has
worked in animation as a composer, orchestrator, arranger,
conductor, singer and producer. Animated series include Animaniacs,
Pinky and the Brain, Freakazoid, Histeria!, Tiny Toons, Baby Looney
Toons, Make Way for Noddy, the feature Wakko’s Wish, theatrical
short “Carrotblanca” and CDs Yakko’s World, Animaniacs and Tweety’s
High-Flying Adventure. Her work has been played by the Cleveland
Youth Orchestra, the Kentucky Symphony and the COTA Symphony.
Julie has written numerous arrangements for string quartet and voice,
the most recent having just been recorded in Paris by Natalie Dessay
and members of the Paris Mozart Orchestra. Julie’s arrangement of
“Little Green” by Joni Mitchell, written for the Turtle Island String
Quartet and Tierney Sutton, can be heard on Ms. Sutton’s Grammy-
nominated album “After Blue”.

Collaborations with her husband, composer Steve Bernstein, include:
Make Way for Noddy, Tom and Jerry: Blast Off to Mars, Baby Looney
Tunes (for which they were Emmy-nominated), Disney’s One Saturday
Morning, main title songs for Dig Into History and Steven Spielberg
Presents: Toonsylvania, a CD of songs commissioned by Kid Rhino
Records inspired by the feature Tweety’s High-Flying Adventure, as
well as numerous independent films. Julie and Steve co-wrote “Snapshots”
for oboe, cello and soprano, commissioned by the Young Musicians
Foundation for YMF’s “Living the Legacy” award. They recently wrote
the orchestrations for the very popular Animaniacs Live!, premiered
by the Colorado Symphony.

STEVEN BERNSTEIN is a five-time Emmy-winning composer whose
commercial music spans genres from horror to cartoons. His music
is heard in such hit television series as Animaniacs, Pinky and the
Brain, Freakazoid, and Tiny Toon Adventures, along with the
collaborations listed above with his wife Julie. Recent film scores
include the grisly horror films Pernicious andBlood Lake: Attack of
the Killer Lampreys. He is currently scoring the feature documentary
Mr. Fish: Cartooning From the Deep End.

As an accomplished conductor, orchestrator, arranger and producer,
Steve has worked on numerous motion pictures, TV productions,
popular video games and recordings. His orchestrations can be heard
in the films Skyfall, The Amazing Spiderman, The Spiderwick Chronicles,
Millions, Windtalkers, City by the Sea, How the Grinch Stole Christmas,
The Perfect Storm, Supernova and numerous others. He wrote the
arrangements and produced the album FOREVERMORE for singer-
songwriter Aron Celnick and co-produced the album Tweety’s High-
Flying Adventure with Julie, performing and writing music and lyrics
for many of the tracks. As part of the resurgence of interest in cartoon
music, he has guest-conducted for the Cleveland Youth Orchestra,
the Colorado Symphony and the Kentucky Symphony, performing
several of his own scores live to picture.

Steven has written extensively for the concert hall, receiving several
commissions for large-scale works, both choral and orchestral, and
for various chamber ensembles. He has also been active in the
preservation of classic film scores, from such films as The Wizard of
Oz, Gone With the Wind and The Bride of Frankenstein;  reconstructing
music which had been lost or destroyed,.

Don’t Miss this very special opportunity to learn from the Bernsteins!

Valley College – Music Building
5800 Fulton Ave., Valley Glen, CA
Corner of Fulton & Oxnard

Thursday evening
February 23rd
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
(Check-in & Refreshments – 6:30 pm )

Free parking in lot on corner of Fulton and Oxnard.

ASMAC Members and Students – $25
Non-Members – $40

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

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.

——————————————

2/19/17

Elizabeth Farnum, soprano
Claudia Schaer, violin
Max Lifchitz, conductor
The North/South Chamber Orchestra

premieres by

Arthur Gottschalk, David Maves,
Winnie Yang , Margarita Zelenaia

Sunday, February 19 at 3 PM

Christ & St Stephen’s Church
120 West 69th Street (bet Bway & Columbus)
New York City

Free Admission (no tickets necessary)

http://www.northsouthmusic.org/calendar.asp

The North/South Chamber Orchestra celebrates winter on
Sunday afternoon February 19 performing a free-admission
concert featuring four listener-friendly works by American
composers.

Soprano Elizabeth Farnum and violinist Claudia Schaer will
appear as soloists while the ensemble’s founder Max Lifchitz
will conduct.

The program will introduce New York City audiences to recent
compositions by Arthur Gottschalk, David Maves, Lan-In Winnie
Yang and Margarita Zelenaia.

The event is part of the Composers Now Festival.

It will take place at the intimate and acoustically superior
auditorium of Christ & St Stephen’s Church (120 West 69th
Street) on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The free-admission
event will start at 3 PM and end around 4:30 PM. The auditorium
is ADA accessible.

No tickets or reservations needed.

The composers will be in attendance and will introduce their
works to the audience. Composers and soloists are available
for interviews and media events. They may be contacted
through our office.

ABOUT THE COMPOSERS AND THEIR MUSIC

Arthur Gottschalk is active as composer and arranger for feature
films, television and commercials in the Houston area. A long-time
Rice University faculty member, his musical style has been described
by the international press as “rapturous, argumentative, prickly and
fascinatingly strange.” A winner of the Charles Ives Prize of the
American Academy of Arts and Letters, Gottschalk’s works have
received multiple performances in Europe and the US.

His Imagenes de Cuba (Cuban Images) was inspired by frequent
visits to the Caribbean island as well as by memories of his time
as a trombonist in salsa bands. The work is in three movements:
Manisero, a playful examination of an ancient peanut vendor’s
cry heard to this day in the plazas of old Havana; Guajira, a
typically slow movement which deconstructs the unofficial national
anthem of Cuba and Timba, a boisterous colloquy between the
members of the ensemble displaying a  panoply of salsa and
pachanga rhythms.

David Maves served as Composer-in-Residence for the College of
Charleston in South Carolina, for over 30 years. His catalogue
includes symphonies, concertos and an opera based on Federico
García Lorca’s Bodas de Sangre (Blood Weddings).

Inspired by John Donne’s poem Lovers’ Infinitennes, Maves’ song
cycle The Captive is music envisioned as “….the poet’s lover
reading the poem aloud with wonder; in awe, deeply moved, and
yet perhaps a bit frustrated as conditions pile up as the poet
attempts to construct an imaginary but air-tight intellectual edifice
within which the lovers are inextricably bound to each other —
forever.” Soprano Elizabeth Farnum will deliver the solo voice part.

Active as composer and pianist, Lan-In Winnie Yang has appeared
on concert stages throughout Asia, Europe, and the United States.
Trained at Oberlin, the Manhattan School and Stony Brook University,
Yang serves as Music Director for the Taiwan-NY Music Guild. Her
works have been performed by distinguished soloists and ensembles
including pianist Gilbert Kalish and violinist Philip Setzer. Her many
awards include first prizes from the Taiwan National Composition
and Piano Competitions.

Yang’s Transfiguration is a single movement composition for solo
violin and string orchestra written especially for violinist Claudia
Schaer. Dramatic and powerful, the music is built around mutations
of the four-note gesture heard at the outset. The demanding
writing provides the soloist and ensemble with ample opportunity
for technical display.

Margarita Zelenaia has received grants from the Lower Manhattan
Cultural Council; the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance; and the
American Composers Forum. In her native Russia, her compositions
have been heard as part of the Moscow Autumn Festival; the Young
Peoples’ Arts Festival; and the Moscow Spring Festival. Musical
commentators have observed that “without prejudices and stereotypes
in her writing, Zelenaia possesses a rare ability to infuse her music
with humor and lyrical tenderness, while also producing works of
tremendous depth and seriousness.”

Her work I Believe “aims to convey my hope for world harmony and
peace. It is based on three prayers each representing a different
faith: Jewish, Russian and American gospel.  Prayers have that
natural course of movement, where both the music and the text are
joined at a certain level of vibration.”

MEET THE PERFORMERS
Elizabeth Farnum has been praised for her “lovely soaring soprano,
great agility and beautiful tone.” She has appeared at Lincoln Center,
the Library of Congress, London’s Institute for Contemporary Art,
the American Academy at Rome and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
Her various interests have led her to performances on Broadway, at
the Metropolitan Opera, and to five continents on tour with diverse
ensembles, including early music groups Pomerium and the Waverly
Consort.

Canadian violinist Claudia Schaer trained at The Juilliard School
before earning a doctorate from Stony Brook University. Described
by the press as a “rock-solid performer” and praised for her
“outstanding musicianship,” Schaer has appeared as soloist at the
Thy Chamber Festival in Denmark; the Berlin Philharmonic’s Opera
Barga Festival in Italy; the Luzerne Festival in Switzerland; and China’s
Nanning Festival.

Conductor Max Lifchitz was awarded first prize in the 1976
International Gaudeamus Competition for Performers of Twentieth
Century Music held in Holland. The San Francisco Chronicle described
him as “a composer of brilliant imagination and a stunning, ultra-
sensitive pianist.” The New York Times praised him for  “clean,
measured and sensitive performances.”

For the complete Winter/Spring concert series schedule please visit

http://www.northsouthmusic.org/calendar.asp

To stream, download and/or purchase the more than 60 compact discs
released on the North/South Recordings label
please go to

——————————

2/24/17

DON’T MISS THE
THE PHIL NORMAN TENTET
AT THE
NEWPORT BEACH JAZZ PARTY

February 23rd thru February 26th
Marriott Hotel & Spa
900 Newport Center Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660

Tentet’s performance
Friday, February 24th @ 2:30pm

For Tickets: 949-759-5003
www.newportbeachjazzparty.com

Remembering the classic sounds & variations of
12 jazz legends to include:

The George Shearing Quintet
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
The Modern Jazz Quartet
The Cal Tjader Quintet
the Ahmad Jamal Trio
Miles, Dizzy and more

——————————————

3/1/17

FREE ADMISSION GLENDALE NOON CONCERTS

Info about upcoming programs through JUNE 2017
at the Free Admission Glendale Noon Concerts series
(concerts every first & third Wednesday at 12:10-12:40 pm)
are listed at http://www.glendalenoonconcerts.blogspot.com

Jacqueline Suzuki
Curator, GNC
818 249 -5108

On Wednesday MARCH 1, 2017 at 12:10-12:40 pm
the Free Admission Glendale Noon Concerts will feature
viola d’amore player Adriana Zoppo, flutist Sherril Woods
and cellist Alexa Haynes-Pilon performing Telemann and Quantz
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.

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.

Thank you!
Jacqueline Suzuki
Curator, Glendale Noon Concerts
818-249-5108

————————————–

3/18/16
SFV SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Other concerts in the series

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

——————————————

3/25/17

The Musicians at Play presents
Patrick Williams Big Band Live at the Moss
with special guests Arturo Sandoval and Peter Erskine
Saturday- March 25th, 2017 8:00PM


Click “Buy Tickets” to reserve your tickets up to 12:00 p.m. on the
day of the show (Remaining tickets will be available at door at show time.)

Award-winning composer Patrick Williams presents The Big Band Live!
featuring special guests Arturo Sandoval and Peter Erskine.

VIP – Doors 7:00 p.m. early entry – refreshments

General & Premium – Doors open 7:30 p.m.

Concert starts: 8:00 p.m. (there will be a brief intermission)*

www.musiciansatplay.org

——————————————

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

RESPONSE / COMMENT / EVENTS

Sunday, February 12th, 2017

2/11/17
I. RESPONSE TO THE LAST BLOG

II. 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. RESPONSE TO THE LAST BLOG

I am perplexed why this blog hasn’t generated ANY discussion.  First,
the letter from Charles Fernandez warrants a discussion about the
ongoing persecution by the AFM of a select group of working musicians
here in Los Angeles. I say “select” because some people are being
brought up on charges while others are still getting away with playing
dark dates.

I’m sure most of us are aware of it happening, but I worry that many
people still feel that if they simply keep their heads down it won’t
happen to them. Maybe that was true 10 years ago, but it is definitely
not true today. Why doesn’t this make people mad???  I was one of
those people – until I was brought up on charges by AFM.

I too had to hire an attorney to help me navigate through the Answer
/Rebuttal/Surrebuttal process only to suffer the indignity of learning
that the IEB met behind closed doors, found me guilty and expelled me.
I was never granted a hearing nor did they ever answer my questions
or address my concerns!

That is not only a direct violation of the AFM By-laws, it is a violation
of my constitutional rights. Thankfully, I had already been granted
Fi-core status so I am free to perform both union and non-union work.
Things need to change here in LA if working musicians ever want to be
able to work freely without fear of repercussion.  The answer is simple.

Until California becomes a “Right To Work” state, musicians need to
strongly consider declaring their Fi-core/Beck status in order to do
both union and non-union work out in the open.

The second letter in the blog should also get people’s attention.
This letter was written in 2008 by a member of Local 802 accurately
describing and predicting the demise of the film music recording industry.

That was NINE years ago!

It is now 2017 and we have lost the majority of our recording contracts
to overseas orchestras.  Why isn’t this generating discussion?  Why
doesn’t this make people mad as hell and want to change the situation?

Los Angeles has a plethora of amazing musicians who are ready, willing
and able to play these sessions.  What is it going to take to get enough
people to speak out so that change can begin to happen?

I am perplexed.  I simply do not get it.  I hope this will generate some
discussion.  (Be careful what you wish for, right?)

——————————————

I don’t see how Local 47 can charge someone for conducting a non-union
date when conducting isn’t listed in the bylaws as a position that must
be a union position. They have no grounds for this and if they did,
ALL CONDUCTORS of non-union sessions MUST be treated the same,
getting the same harassment and ridicule. It’s a shame that Local 47
continues to be a bottomless pit for wasting musicians’ money this way.
Wouldn’t it be wiser if they invested those funds/time/energy on
bringing NEW WORK to LA?!

——————————————–

Charles Fernandez doesn’t need a lawyer, he needs an ARMY!! Who
else has the cajones to join us? Unjust treatment and harassment
should not be condoned or dismissed. It’s called aiding and abetting.
Doing nothing is just as bad as what the union is trying to do:
unlawfully attacking one of its own.

———————————————
And commentary from Charles Fernandez on the comments above:

Is it that they (members) don’t care?, Are fine as long as it’s not them?,
Or are they scared to speak up, even as there is so little work left it’s not
as though they’ll lose work they don’t have a chance in hell of getting
in any case? OR,… is it that they’ve long ago given up on this corrupt
group and are simply apathetic, expecting nothing better.

—————

For any member to be summarily expelled without a chance to defend
themselves,… in effect guilty until proven innocent, is breaking labor
law and the spirit of our “innocent until proven guilty” history. These
folks have no shame, even as they expel other members for doing what
they themselves do.

Despicable, inexcusable and what you would expect from a dictator,
cult or mafia, not a union.

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

II. MEMBER COMMENT

Dear Editor,

Now that the Local 47/Club has millions of dollars in
the bank….the BOD is planning to produce an “Awards
Show” along the lines of SAG-AFTA…Grammys, Golden
Globe.  They were discussing a name for it…they should
just call it the RMA Awards. Sickening!

N.B. = Nota Bene
The graveyards are full of people who thought they
were indispensable! Can’t blame the BOD for dancing
with the ones that ” brung em”.
(three hour min…check every Friday…)

Long Time Member in Good Standing

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

III. 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.

—————————————–

2/12/17

PALISADES SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Conductor Joel B. Lish

Sunday, February 12,  2016, 7:30 p.m.
Mendelssohn: “Hebrides” Overture
Mozart: Clarinet Concerto – Helen Goode-Castro, Clarinet Soloist
Schumann: Symphony No. 4
Admission is free; open seating
Palisades Lutheran Church
15905 Sunset Boulevard
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272

—————————————–

2/12/17

LATIN LOVE – AMOR LATINO
Songs of Love and Longing from Spain and the Americas

Celia Castro, soprano
Anna Tonna, mezzo – soprano
Celeste Mann, alto
Max Lifchitz, piano

art songs by

Clotilde Arias, Chiquinha Gonzaga, Max Lifchitz,
Miquel Ortega, Claudio Santoro & Joaquín Turina

Sunday, February 12 at 3 PM
National Opera Center
330 Seventh Ave (7th FL)
New York, NY 10001
Free Admission (no tickets necessary)

Vocalists Celia Castro, Anna Tonna and Celeste Mann
join forces with pianist Max Lifchitz the afternoon of
February 12 for an afternoon recital featuring art songs
about love and longing by composers from Spain
and the Americas.

The intimate, one-off a kind program, will highlight
songs with texts in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian by
Brazilians Chiquinha Gonzaga and Claudio Santoro;
Peruvian Clotilde Arias; and Spaniard Joaquín Turina.

Of special interest, will be the premiere of a song cycle
especially written for the occasion by Barcelona-based
Miquel Ortega and one by Max Lifchitz inspired by the
poetry of Mexico’s muse – the 17th century intellectual
and women’s rights activist Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.

The free-admission concert will start at 3 PM and will
be held at the National Opera Center’s Marc A. Scorca
Hall located at 330 Seventh Ave (FL 7) in New York City.
It will be streamed live starting at 3 PM (EST) through
youtube.com/NatOperaCenterLive

The event is possible in part with public funds from the
NYS Council on the Arts and the NYC Department of
Cultural Affairs as well as grants from the Women’s
Philharmonic Advocacy and the Zethus Fund.

Event part of the Composers Now Festival.
For the complete Winter/Spring concert series schedule please visit

http://www.northsouthmusic.org/calendar.asp

To stream, download and/or purchase the more than
60 compact discs released by the North/South Recordings
label please go to

North/South Recordings

http://www.northsouthmusic.org/calendar.asp
streamed live at starting at 3 PM (EST) through
youtube.com/NatOperaCenterLive

—————————————–

2/15/17

FREE ADMISSION GLENDALE NOON CONCERTS

Wed. FEBRUARY 15, 2017 at 12:10-12:40 pm at the
Free Admission Glendale Noon Concerts:

The Music of Scott Joplin featuring
violinist Yvette Devereaux, with
bassist Kevin O’Neal.

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.

Thank you!
Jacqueline Suzuki
Curator, Glendale Noon Concerts
818-249-5108

——————————————

2/16/17

THE ORCHESTRE SURREAL
February 16th 8:00
El Portal Theater

The Orchestre surreal will be performing and filming
our up coming concert at the historic
El Portal Theater in North Hollywood.
This is a special event.
If you are receiving this email then you are on our special list.
We want to recognize your loyalty and connection
with the Orchestre and offer you 1/2 price tickets.

For 1/2 price tix
Use the Code Word
ELVIS.
Here is the link
https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/961811/prm/ELVIS

——————————————

2/24/17

DON’T MISS THE
THE PHIL NORMAN TENTET
AT THE
NEWPORT BEACH JAZZ PARTY

February 23rd thru February 26th
Marriott Hotel & Spa
900 Newport Center Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660

Tentet’s performance
Friday, February 24th @ 2:30pm

For Tickets: 949-759-5003
www.newportbeachjazzparty.com

Remembering the classic sounds & variations of
12 jazz legends to include:

The George Shearing Quintet
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
The Modern Jazz Quartet
The Cal Tjader Quintet
the Ahmad Jamal Trio
Miles, Dizzy and more

——————————————
3/18/16
SFV SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
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
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Other concerts in the series

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

——————————————

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

LETTER FROM CHARLES FERNANDEZ / 802-2008 / LETTER / COMMENT / EVENTS

Friday, February 3rd, 2017

2/3/17
I.  LETTER FROM CHARLES FERNANDEZ

II. FROM THE 802 ARCHIVES – 2008

III. MEMBER LETTER

IV. 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. A LETTER FROM CHARLES FERNANDEZ

Colleagues,

No doubt some will give each other high-5’s that the local is using
all it’s resources to financially damage a single member who has tried
to make the local more responsive, accountable and transparent for the
rank and file against it’s will.

Here is a letter I have submitted to the Overture. In anticipation of
there refusal to publish it, I share it here.

If you would like to respond, please either respond directly to me,
[email protected] or through the responsible47.com site.
Pro or con is of course welcome, and all comments will be published
unless you request it not to be, your name will of course not be included.

As of this date, they still are not giving up on these bogus charges. Perhaps
if enough members call them out they will do the right thing.

I thank you in advance,

Here is the Letter:

To the Editor,

My name is Charles Fernandez. I’ve been a Local 47 member and Emmy/Annie nominated composer/orchestrator/conductor/bassoonist since 1983. I am being targeted for conducting on an educational demo for an English music university. They brought students to Los Angeles to record with Los Angeles musicians. I arranged a connection with a contractor and left it to them. I was at the session to help students in whatever way they needed as an employee of the company. A couple of them needed me to conduct.

Though I am being charged with conducting, conducting is NOT a union craft. The word “conducting’ does not appear in the local’s bylaws. The charges are baseless.

Two former employees informed me that they were told to include a conductor on a contract only IF they wanted to be. We all know why. If they had to enforce a non-existent rule about conducting they’d have to charge a former RMA President who has worked in London countless times. In fact, he’d have a stack of fines a foot high.

Members of the executive board, trial board, all committees, orchestrators, “a” list members and copyists work non-union. They have no choice. My targeting is selective enforcement and designed to hurt me financially.

The lawyer fees I have had to pay are above $10,000 at this point. The letters first came from Gordon Grayson, but now the letters are coming from Louis Levy’s Law Firm.

That means the Local is paying the hourly fees of a professional law firm out of member’s money to target, not a company, nor a studio, nor an orchestra, nor a band, but to target a single member.

A union member who actually played on the session was told they would be charged UNLESS they signed a letter stating they saw me specifically conduct. That is targeting.

While one of the duties of the AFM is to protect members from warrantless harassment and targeting, the AFM has slow walked the process as much as the Local. I cannot get a fair hearing at the local OR the national.

This is the type of conduct our local engages in if you dare speak up. They should be ashamed and are doing nothing but guaranteeing a counter suit for damages.

If you find this as unacceptable as I do, please contact the Local.

Thank you.

Charles Fernandez
Local 47 member since 1983

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

II.  FROM LOCAL 802 ARCHIVE

{EC: Colleagues, Considering how bad things have gotten, this
letter from an 802 member from 2008 should let you how
bad it’s was even 9 yeas ago….)

Archive: Volume CVIII No. 10 October, 2008
Readers Speak Out!
The Musicians’ Voice: Recording at a Crossroads
The Musicians’ Voice is an open forum for discussion about the state of union affairs. The letters published here do not necessarily express the views of Local

802. Letters must be 300 words or less.

RE: RECORDING AT A CROSSROADS

To the Editor:
I’d like to ask my fellow musicians a few questions. How many union film sessions have you done in the last year? Of those sessions, how many do you realistically think will pay any back end? One more question: Who is recording all the low-budget, indie, made-for-cable and foreign film sessions? The bulk of that work, when it actually uses live musicians, is recorded nonunion.

We need to stop living in the good old days when every film was made in Hollywood and every session was with a major studio. Today’s films are made all over the world and even in home studios. Many production companies are put-together operations that don’t have full-time accountants to track secondary markets year after year.

There is a lot of work out there that we don’t have, and we will not get it unless we change the way we do business. I enjoy getting my special payments checks and I would push to strengthen those markets that are still healthy enough to support them. But we have our heads in the sand if we think that all of today’s markets are the same and that one contract fits all.

I am totally pro union. But we must be realistic and not repeat mistakes
made by other unions in the past.

Globalization is a reality. Do you have any idea how little European orchestras
charge for recording? These are orchestras with world-class musicians.

I strongly disagree with those who think that digging in our heels is
the answer. The strength of our union will be in its ability to adapt
with changing technology and its many markets, not with stubbornly
holding on to old practices that don’t work anymore.

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

III. MEMBER LETTER from Dr. Len Bergantino

Dear Local 47 Members,

I spoke with Don Vappie a few weeks ago about the selling of Local
47 buildings and properties. Don in my view is the best tenor banjo
player alive today. Wanton Marsalis calls him from New York to play
at the Lincoln Center for Dixieland Jazz.

As tradition  would have it, Don’s father played in the New Orleans
Local with Wynton’s father as did their grandfathers!

Don is aware of the special nature of Local 47. I visited the New Orleans
Local. Don had the following to say:

They sold he New Orleans Local Building which was on Esplanade Street
for One Million Dollars. Everybody was pissed. I hear they sold three
other Locals (he rattled off 3 cities which I do not recall, although I think
Chicago was one of them.)

Don and I both lamented about the tradition of Los Angeles and New
Orleans Locals having g the finest musicians in the world go through
their doors. From Louis Armstrong to my second trumpet teacher’s son,
the great lead trumpet player Conrad Gozzo whose picture was on the
wall of Local 47 doing the 16 years I was a member.

Sincerely,

Dr. Len Bergantino

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

IV. MEMBER COMMENT

The union only controls half of the pension fund fiduciaries.
It seem that the only recourse we have to this terrible
performance is to put pressure on them to resign and ask
Ray Hair to replace them with members who have knowledge
of capital markets.

We don’t have any control over the employer appointed
members, other than pressure as employees.
(more…)