For the past decade, the EMF faculty artists tried to communicate our concerns about the stewardship of EMF. There was unnecessary downsizing of faculty during this period, affecting the student experience, and the festival was straying more and more from founder Shelly Morgenstern’s original vision of what EMF had successfully built over six decades. Our concerns were consistently ignored, and our requests to have more of a voice in the vision of the festival were rebuffed as well. After a decade of no raises, no job security, and witnessing the diminishment of a festival that we love so dearly, the Faculty Artists of EMF voted to join the AFM (American Federation of Musicians), local 342 in the fall of 2023.
WE ARE SEEKING A COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT BECAUSE:
Faculty members were cut year after year, with the most significant losses coming after the Covid-19 pandemic. Musicians who had taught and performed for years, if not decades, were not invited back. None of them received so much as phone call. Most found out from someone other than management.
Over the course of 10 years, the Faculty Artists’ compensation was increased by only $200 - this was in 2021, when most of our colleagues were let go unceremoniously. Not only did this fail to keep up with inflation, but the dismissals caused our workload to increase substantially.
Faculty Artists have never been given a housing stipend, although conducting fellows, orchestral fellows, conductors, counselors, and staff were offered free housing. Faculty Artists paid an average of $800, with some paying up to $1100 per person to live in campus housing, as well as paying for all meals and travel expenses.
WHAT ARE WE ASKING FOR?
We are asking to keep our faculty of 61 teacher/performers intact, with the hope of increasing our faculty in the future as the festival grows. We do not want any more faculty cuts in the name of “sustainability”.
We want job security once we have completed a probationary period. We want to be able to count on working for EMF; we feel that after being loyal to EMF for decades, we should not have to worry that we could be fired without cause at any time.
Housing Stipends: Faculty should be supported with the same respect shown to conductors, fellows and staff—through stipends that make it feasible to live and teach in Greensboro while maintaining financial obligations at home.
We are seeking compensation that keeps pace with the cost of living, especially in light of significant inflation over the past several years. Ensuring that salaries retain their value over time will help EMF continue to attract and sustain the exceptional faculty who are essential to the festival’s artistic and educational excellence.
Improving Fundraising: We urge EMF leadership and the Board to take a more proactive and effective approach to fundraising. The long-term health of the festival depends on robust development efforts and a clear commitment to investing in its artists. True growth and stability come not through austerity or reduction, but through strategic fundraising that reflects the value of the institution and the people who bring it to life.
Most importantly, we are committed to preserving the model of Eastern Music Festival that has thrived for 64 years, with a professional orchestra at its core and two student orchestras of equal ability. We want to model for our students what it’s like to be a professional musician. We want to invite select students to join us on stage along with our Orchestral Fellows as we play large scale works under our music director, Gerard Schwarz.
THIS IS FALSE:
We absolutely DO NOT wish to prevent students from performing with us. We LOVE teaching our students when we sit side by side with them. We know students learn from performing next to “the pros”. However, our core orchestra must remain intact for students to be able to gain experience playing with the professionals.
We absolutely DO NOT wish to take away programming or hiring decisions. We simply want to retain our excellent Faculty Artists from year to year, inspiring students to apply to EMF with the hopes that they can study from experienced, reputable musicians.
We absolutely DO NOT want an EMF that cuts its faculty down by a THIRD (as management proposed for 2025), much less down to 27, as they have asked for the “flexibility” to do. We also cannot abide the COMPLETE ELIMINATION of the faculty orchestra, as was proposed to us. We know the community does not want this either. Any further diminishment of faculty will continue to increase the workload for those remaining musicians, and would actually DECREASE their pay. The low student-teacher ratio is what has always made EMF special and unique. We are not a festival where teachers teach 10-15 students a week. We develop relationships and have incredibly focused one on one lessons, enabling us to model and mentor students in a supportive, nurturing environment.
This is what the Faculty Artists see as the embodiment of Shelly Morgenstern’s vision and mission. Yes, we unionized - but the union is not some third party exerting control over us. WE are the union. We’re the same people who have always given our best to this institution, merely asking to bargain collectively. Almost every orchestra and music festival across the country does this. In this aspect, we are not unique! But our beloved festival IS unique and we are fighting to keep it, and we are fighting for the soul of the festival.
