AGMA will close on Wednesday, December 23, and will reopen Monday, January 4, 2021. We are very excited to shift our momentum into the new year. In 2021, AGMA will continue to make progress on our goals and continue to tackle the challenges facing AGMA as a labor union in the 21st Century. AGMA has fought for Artists for more than 80 years and will do so for as long as opera, dance, and choral work are performed in America. More to come in our End of Year message later this week! ... Read More -->

Dear AGMA Artists: The results of AGMA’s Constitutional Referendum are in and AGMA is very pleased to announce that the Board of Governors Revision of the Constitution has been overwhelmingly approved by you, the AGMA membership. The vote was 1,380 for the Board of Governors Revision, 512 for the Petition Amendments, and 75 for neither. Additionally, the Petitioners’ proposal to increase dues by raising and then eliminating the dues cap, along with a temporary reduction in the initiation fee, was rejected 1,316 to 636. With 1,981 total votes cast (some members did not vote on both questions), AGMA saw a record-breaking percentage of our membership take part in this referendum. Your voices were heard, and we celebrate this excitin... Read More -->

December 9, 2020 – In response to the lockout by the Metropolitan Opera against Local One stagehands, members of the Coalition of Broadway Unions and Guilds (COBUG) issued the following statement. As an affiliate of the Coalition of Broadway Unions and Guilds (COBUG), International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local One stagehands do not stand alone in the lockout by the Metropolitan Opera. All of the affiliates – many of whom are facing the same draconian, long term wage and condition cuts from the Met Opera management – stand united with our sisters, brothers, and kin in Local One. While workers are furloughed and waiting for live performances to safely return, the Metropolitan Opera has conditioned limited ... Read More -->

AGMA received notification today that the Metropolitan Opera has locked out the stagehands of Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. AGMA stands in solidarity with Local One. We encourage AGMA Artists to remain unified with their Local One colleagues as well.  COVID-19 is the most challenging period for the Arts in living memory, but it should not be an excuse for the Met to permanently undermine the contracts of its unionized workers. The Met's workers are the Met; there is no Met without a workforce that can support themselves and their families. We hope that the Met focuses on getting all of its unionized workers back to work, and coming to an agreement with all of its unions, including Local One... Read More -->

There are two weeks left to vote in AGMA’s Constitutional Referendum. We hope that you will make your voice heard on this important Referendum. On the ballot, which you should have received from Global Election Services via the email address helpdesk@voteges.com, you will have a choice to vote for either the “Board of Governors Revision” to the AGMA Constitution, the “Petition Amendments,” or neither. Additionally, you will be asked to vote on the Petitioners’ proposal to increase dues by raising and then eliminating the dues cap, along with a temporary reduction in the initiation fee. The choice is yours to make. In many ways, this vote is a choice between two different visions for our Union. The Board of Governors R... Read More -->

AGMA Artists have been out of work since March. Since then, the AGMA Relief Fund experienced a 2,000% increase in applications for assistance; more than it had ever seen in its 75-years of existence. Thankfully, the generosity of previous donors prepared the Relief Fund for a dark crisis such as this. With another wave of COVID-19, comes another wave of grant applications. We need your help so we can continue to provide grants to eligible Artists in danger of not having food, lodging, medication, and other life sustaining necessities. On this #GivingTuesday, there are a number of ways you can support the AGMA Relief Fund. 1)  Donate! Make a gift of any size to the AGMA Relief Fund 2) Shop! Purchases through AmazonSm... Read More -->

November 24, 2020 - The American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) and Lyric Opera of Chicago have reached an agreement to modify their currently existing multi-year labor agreement that extends through the 2020/21 Season. Lyric’s General Director, President, and CEO Anthony Freud cites, “Together, we have reached our goal of providing our artists with clarity and security, despite the loss of the full opera season, the devastating impacts of the pandemic, and this uncertain climate." “We are thankful that we could work together to focus on the health and well-being of the Artists whose talents create the art seen and heard on the Lyric Opera stage,” stated Len Egert, National Executive Director of AGMA. Lyric and AGMA are full... Read More -->

Dear AGMA Artists: You may have seen Friday’s article in The New York Times about the Met’s proposed cuts prompted by Mr. Gelb’s remarks to the Company. AGMA was quoted in the article and we wish to expand more on our thoughts and position. AGMA represents the choristers, dancers, soloist singers, stage managers, stage directors, and actors at the Met. Without all of these talented Artists and staging staff professionals, the Met would simply not exist, and no performances would be possible. The Met’s position, that this essential group of Artists agrees to substantial pay cuts, not just during the COVID-19 crisis but long after the return to normal box office revenue, is out of step with the rest of the Opera and Dan... Read More -->

We hope that you remain safe and healthy during these uncertain times. It is no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to worsen across the country. The number of positive cases in the US has surpassed 160,000 cases in one day. Some states are reevaluating their reopening plans and reinstituting restrictions, though there is great inconsistency in this from state to state. AGMA is closely assessing the situation and how it varies across the country. From the outset, AGMA’s main priorities have been the health, safety, and livelihood of our members. With no available vaccine, hospitals once again under strain, and deaths from the virus still on the rise, AGMA has recommitted to working collaboratively with our companies to mitigat... Read More -->

November 13, 2020 - The American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) has announced it will hold a Constitutional Referendum. For the first time in many years, the AGMA Constitution will be getting an update. This Referendum is the culmination of more than a year of work by AGMA’s elected member-leaders, who have been working to revise and fix AGMA’s Constitution since last fall. On October 28, the AGMA Board of Governors approved and recommended to AGMA’s membership the “Board of Governors Revision,” a comprehensive rewrite of the AGMA constitution designed to improve AGMA’s governance, increase transparency, and make AGMA’s foundational document more accessible to the membership. The Board of Governors Revision focuses o... Read More -->