Month: November 2025

Membership Meeting Scheduled New Member Orientation Meeting Schedule Meetings are virtual via Zoom and links will be sent in advance. New members are encouraged to join us and all members are welcome! The meetings will be brief and will offer a question-and-answer period. Links will be included in the monthly newsletter.

Cellist Iris van Eck has passed away at age 70. Van Eck was a member of Local 655 since 1985, and served as Director from 2009-2017 and as Vice President from 2017 to 2024. She was born in the Netherlands and studied both flute and cello before continuing her studies in the United States. As READ MORE

Did you know that if you are at least 65 years old and have been a member of the AFM for at least 35 years, you can become a Life Member at a reduced rate? Last month we notified four members that they will be eligible for Life Membership in 2026, and another three that READ MORE

AFM Entertainment, the AFM’s Online Booking and Referral Service AFM Entertainment is now accepting registrations from AFM members who are solo artists or leaders of self-contained bands and ensembles. AFM Entertainment, our new online booking and referral service, will handle all communications with a potential purchaser (e.g. the father of the bride). Every gig will READ MORE

California has passed a law allowing drivers for ride-hailing apps, who are often classified as independent contractors, to collectively bargain through a union. Massachusetts passed a similar law last fall, and in California 800,000 drivers will now be eligible for union representation. AFL-CIO unions are calling for a day of mass action on International Workers READ MORE

Volusia County has eliminated its decades-old cultural grant funding program. $611,000 was to be funded this year, but the funding was voted down because of a production of Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Deland Athens Theater and two drag pageants in Lake Helen. Notably, all of these productions were rentals produced by outside organizations READ MORE