Local and Industry News
Broward County has approved a $3.4 billion budget, which cuts $109 million in public services. The arts were the hardest hit, with a reduction in arts funding of $750,000.The Kennedy Center has announced a pilot "Any Given Child" program, which will link local arts groups with local schools to bring the arts to grades k-8. The Kennedy Center will be spending $500,000 to start the program in Sacramento, CA, and the program may be expanded to other cities in the future.
Recording
SAG and AFTRA have reached a tentative agreement with video game companies. The agreement, which would run through March 2011, would raise SAG rates by 3 percent to match AFTRA rates, and then raise all rates 2.5 percent in April 2010.
The home studio market is hurting commercial recording studios. While the number of recording studios is not tracked, NAMM has reported that home studio software sales have gone from $140 million in 1999 to almost $500 million in 2008.
Symphonic
The Cleveland Orchestra has announced a biannual residency at the Lincoln Center in New York. The residency will begin in 2011, and will likely include co-productions with the Vienna State Opera.
Musicians of the Florida Orchestra have ratified a modification to their collective bargaining agreement which reduces their scale by 5.5 percent. The concessions essentially keep the scale the same as the previous season, and also add two years to the term of the current agreement, restoring the cuts by the final year.
The AFM has presented Peter Nero with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Nero, Artistic Director of the Philly Pops, also served as pops conductor for the Florida Philharmonic and the Boca Pops.
Unfair labor practice charges have been filed against the Sarasota Orchestra. Musicians have been in negotiations with the orchestra since spring. In August, the orchestra requested mediation, and subsequently imposed its final offer which reduces season length, eliminates pension benefits, and imposes significant changes in work conditions. AFM Local 427-721 charges that the orchestra has failed to bargain in good faith.
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