Please be aware that effective Oct. 1, 2014, Kaiser self-pay medical plan rates will increase. Enrollees will be soon be receiving a notice in the mail about this increase from French Cormany Insurance Services.
To review the new rates and access the updated member packet, please log in to your member account.
Horn player Brian O’Connor received the Tenacious Bravery Award at UCLA’s Golden Portal Awards July 12, where the two-time brain tumor survivor performed two of the horn solos he originally played on the TV series “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and “Star Trek: Generations.” Photo: Vince Bucci
Renowned horn player, two-time brain tumor survivor Brian O’Connor receives Tenacious Bravery Award from UCLA Medical Center
by Marie Matson and Linda A. Rapka
Internationally recognized French horn player and teacher Brian O’Connor boasts an impressive career. He has recorded more than 2,400 films, numerous television shows and records during his career as a first-call L.A. studio player. He served for seven years as president of the Recording Musicians Association of Los Angeles, and taught French horn at UCLA for 11 years.
But most impressive of all is the strength and bravery O’Connor has shown in overcoming a brain tumor and surgery — twice. Continue reading
The next General Election of the AFM Local 47 Executive Board, AFM Convention Delegates/Alternates and Hearing Board takes place Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014.
Nominating petitions for the upcoming General Election are available from the Secretary/Treasurer’s office as of Aug. 1. All completed nominating petitions must be delivered to the Secretary’s Office, in exchange for a signed and dated receipt, no later than Monday, Sept. 15, 2014.
See full nominating petition requirements and more election information on page 11 of the August 2014 Overture (member login required).
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PASADENA, CA (July 31, 2014) — The American Federation of Musicians Local 47 is proud to host the 30th annual conference of the Regional Orchestra Players’ Association (ROPA).
Each year, regional orchestra musicians from throughout the United States gather each year in a unique host city for an annual conference. A representative organization within the American Federation of Musicians, ROPA pursues activities conducive to the general welfare and artistic well-being of member orchestras and their musicians, and serves to enhance communications among those orchestras and with the AFM and individual Locals. Local 47 ROPA member orchestras include the California Philharmonic, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Los Angeles Opera Orchestra, New West Symphony, and Pasadena Symphony and POPS.
The opening ceremony for the 30th annual ROPA conference takes place Friday, Aug. 1, at the Pasadena Central Library. Guest speakers include U.S. Representative Judy Chu (D-CA, 27th District), Los Angeles County Federation of Labor Executive Secretary-Treasurer Maria Elena Durazo, and Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) Deputy Director James Elmendorf. Continue reading
Brian Tyler scores big on the new “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” movie
The latest reboot of the classic “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” film series boasts an orchestral score by Los Angeles composer Brian Tyler and a 70-plus piece orchestra contracted by Peter Rotter.
On the famed Eastwood scoring stage on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, the scoring sessions took place over several days in June.
Read more and check out photos from one of the recording sessions at listen-la.com!
Big Jay McNeely made some of the biggest waves on the 1940s R&B scene with his screaming tenor sax and still reigns supreme
His mighty tenor sax squawking and bleating with wild abandon, Cecil “Big Jay” McNeely blew up a torrid R&B tornado from every conceivable position — on his knees, on his back, being wheeled down the street on an auto mechanic’s “creeper” like a modern-day pied piper. As one of the titans who made tenor sax the solo instrument of choice during rock’s primordial era in the late 1940s, McNeely could peel the paper right off the walls with his sheets of squealing, honking horn riffs.
Big Jay had been retired from full-time music for 20 years, but in 1983 he returned to performing and hasn’t looked back. He is still tearing it up at venues around the world and knows how to delight and entertain an audience of any size, from small clubs to stadium crowds. He speaks here with Linda A. Rapka about his incredible musical career.
You became known as “the king of the honkers” as much for your skill on your instrument as for your flamboyant stage presence.
“I first started playing in Clarksville, Tennessee, a small little country town down south. People didn’t respond to our music. After intermission I was trying to figure out what I could do, so I got on my knees and laid on the floor. The crowd went wild. After that I said lemme try this again. I laid down anywhere I could get the suit clean the next day. When I got to L.A. a couple sax players started copying my act.” Continue reading
On July 19, 2014, the AFM International Executive Board adopted a policy regarding dual capacity Federation members’ participation in Local and International union meetings open to the general membership concerning Federation collective bargaining agreements and campaigns. Read the full policy here.
Courtesy of the Television Academy
Today’s hottest TV music came to life at Royce Hall May 21 with the Score! concert, presented by the Television Academy in its first live showcase of television music as performed by a full orchestra and choir led by the composers themselves.
The unprecedented musical event boasted an orchestra of more than 70 of Los Angeles’s top musicians, contracted by David Low and featuring many of the same musicians who originally recorded the scores. Sharing the stage was the 40-voice LA Chorus directed by Steve Lively, and conducting the performances of today’s iconic television themes were the very composers who wrote them.
Local 47 offices will close early at 1 pm Thursday, July 3, and will be closed all day Friday, July 4 in observance of Independence Day.
Have a safe and happy 4th of July!
