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. […]
Star Spangled Controversies By Beth Zare, Local 6 Secretary-Treasurer September and October are the months that most of our Bay Area regional orchestras start their seasons. Many of those orchestras play the Star Spangled Banner (SSB) at the beginning of their first concerts. While both the Oakland Symphony and Sacramento Philharmonic chose to omit the […]
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 […]
Long Tail Blues by Alex Walsh When I first started playing gigs in my 20s I did not want to be one of those “50 year old white guys playing the blues in bars.” Well, I turned 50 last month and there I was, onstage in a bar, playing the blues. I have to say […]
My Life As A Digital Immigrant by Alex Walsh Someone told me recently that I am a digital immigrant. Young people are digital natives. This made total sense to me. I’ve always felt like I’ve been playing catch-up with the latest technology. I eventually do catch up but then things change again and I fall […]
Musicians Indivisible SF by Barbara Bogatin, Local 6 & San Francisco Symphony Symphony Member “…Indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,” a phrase we have all spoken countless times since we mindlessly memorized the Pledge of Allegiance in elementary school. These words have taken on new meaning since the 2016 election, as many of us […]
My Step-Mom, My Hero by Alex Walsh Yesterday I attended a ceremony at San Francisco City Hall honoring my Step-mother, Conny Ford, for Women’s History Month. She was nominated by District 6 Supervisor Jane Kim for her work spearheading the campaign for Free City College in San Francisco. Now I can go back to college for […]