Category: Blog

The California State Assembly recently passed AB-5, which is an act to amend the Labor Code, relating to employment and independent contractors. This bill is now awaiting the signature of Governor Newsom. AB-5 has expanded since its inception.  It is a very dense piece of legislation and there will be many court challenges. Of concern […]

Do you teach music lessons privately or at a school? Then this is the workshop for you!  THE BUSINESS OF TEACHING Monday, April 8, 2019 11:00am – 1:00pm – FREE Call (415) 575-0777 or email alex@afm6.org to reserve your seat. Learn: Business planning Curriculum Development People Management Measuring Success 1099 vs W2 reporting Carrie Campbell studied […]

Play Like a Pro: How to Turn Stage Fright Into Magnetism with special guest teacher Holly Shaw  Find yourself sabotaging live performances with nervousness or freezing up up when you step into a recording booth?  Are you frustrated because you can totally kill it in when you rehearse alone, but for some reason choke right […]

El Sistema Founder Dies by Josephine Gray Changing the trajectory of children’s lives: Music education and its benefits. I want to pay tribute to a personal hero, a dreamer, a visionary, an economist and most importantly a music teacher and conductor. José Abreu, the award-winning founder of a project that saved thousands of Venezuelan children […]

If It Sounds Too Good To Be True…  by Alex Walsh A few days ago I received an email saying that I had been invited to play at a Blues and Jazz festival in England. One of the headliners had mysteriously cancelled and I was selected to fill in and I could bring a band. […]

By Jo Gray, Board of Directors February 12 1958 – August 25 2017 It’s with great sadness that we acknowledge the passing of our dear friend and colleague Randy Keith. Such a goofy, lanky, soft spoken, gentle giant, a fine musician, teacher, mentor, friend, husband, uncle,brother and son. I’ve been reflecting on his life and […]

Report on ROPA conference Westin Phoenix Downtown Hotel Phoenix, AZ August 1-3, 2017 By Gigi Dang, Delegate for Symphony Silicon Valley and the Monterey Symphony David Granger, Substitute Delegate for the Oakland Symphony Laurien Jones, Delegate for the California Symphony Andrew Lewis, Delegate for the Santa Rosa Symphony The ROPA conference ran from August 1-3 […]

We Are All Cookie Monsters Now by Alex Walsh Victory is a cookie. Yes, Sesame Street was saved from the Congressional budget axe. Whew! That was close. Thank you everyone who wrote in, signed the petition, and continued eating your cookies. It worked. But only through September. What? Here’s a letter from AFM President Ray […]

How Did You Pick Your Instrument? by Alex Walsh Every musician has a story on how they picked their instrument. Some people get their’s handed to them in elementary school and never change. Some have to fight for it. For me, I received a harmonica as a present. I was thirteen and living in Ocean […]