Summer 2022 Newsletter
President’s Message: Jim Moffitt
I am pleased to report that orchestra musicians and Local 677 have completed discussions with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra and have ratified a new, four-year Collective Bargaining Agreement, which will run through the 2025-2026 season.
With the leadership, involvement, and solidarity of the musicians, meaningful gains have been made with this new contract.
We began meeting a few months ago, and finalized the agreement on July 8, 2022. The Musicians’ Committee came up with creative ideas, and worked well with the HSO negotiators to find solutions and compromises that allowed us to reach the agreement. A terrific job by the HSO Musicians’ Negotiating Committee.
The HSO performed a variety of concerts this past season, including John Williams’ soundtrack to “The Empire Strikes Back,” concerts at Kailua District Park, performances of “Peter and The Wolf” at Manoa Valley Theatre, the Mission Auditorium, and Kawaiahaʻo Church, with narrations in Hawaiian, English, Pidgin, and Tahitian.
A variety of concerts were performed at the Waikiki Shell, including Holst’s “The Planets” and Gershwin’s Piano Concerto. Guest artists at the Hawaii Theatre concerts included Robert Cazimero and Raiatea Helm.
HSO recording and streaming performances were all covered under the AFM Integrated Media Agreement, assuring fair pay and benefits to the HSO musicians.
The musicians performing at the Diamond Head Theatre will begin negotiations for a successor CBA very soon. A committee is currently being assembled to lead the talks. We are confident that we will reach a positive settlement.
On another positive note, MAH has been gaining new and diverse members coming to us through TV, theatre, and film work, including “NCIS: Hawaii,” “Doogie Kamealoha MD,” and recent Diamond Head Theatre shows. We welcome new members and are happy to share information about the benefits of membership. Please feel free to have interested musicians contact us by phone (808-596-2121), email (members@musicianshawaii.com), or through our website, https://musicianshawaii.com/.
The freelance world is opening up and we are seeing an uptick in casual contract requests. It’s easy to request and get a contract to increase your credibility and protect your gig by calling 596-2121 or emailing your gig information to Robert Shinoda at sec-tres@musicianshawaii.com.
I wish you all a great summer. Stay safe and healthy out there.
From the Summer 2022 issue, Ke Ola O Na Mele