AGMA will close starting on Wednesday, December 23, and will reopen on Monday, January 4, 2021.
We are very excited to return and shift our momentum into the new year. On Wednesday, January 27, at 8:00 p.m. EST, AGMA will host a State of the Union webinar during which we will review the many obstacles and achievements of 2020 and look ahead to the future. Please mark your calendars, we will send a registration link in January.
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.
2020 was a year none of us expected or would ever ask for. With one crisis after another, we are all mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted. And yet, we also saw innovation, resiliency, solidarity, and JOY during these trying nine months (and counting). We saw Misty Copeland dancing with Elmo on Sesame Street and John Holiday doing a magnificent job on NBC’s The Voice. We saw dancers and singers protesting proudly in the streets, turning their sewing machines into mask creators, making the great outdoors their new stages, providing master classes, and launching their own digital series. AGMA Artists have remained in the spotlight on a regular basis, advocating for our industries and spreading hope at a time we need it most. Most recently, in a touching example of union solidarity, several members have stepped forward with offers to pay, or “sponsor,” the basic dues of AGMA members in need. We are in the process of determining how to manage this administratively. We will develop a more streamlined process for this and share it with you in the New Year.
We cannot end the year without acknowledging the AGMA Artists who have become unbelievable advocates for the AGMA Relief Fund during a time you yourselves are directly impacted as well. We once again thank Renée Fleming, honorary chair of this year’s Holiday Drive. And, to the many, many other Artists who linked the AGMA Relief Fund to their live streams or social media posts, the Fund has received donations because of your efforts. Thank you. You all inspire us.
2020 is, without a doubt, a year we are all ready to leave behind. We mourn the losses of this difficult period, but we look toward 2021 with hope – hope that we will get COVID-19 under control; hope that society will return to some level of normalcy, and hope that we can soon return to the joy of sharing our art with live audiences.
From all of us at AGMA, we wish you a healthy, safe, peaceful, and hopeful holiday season and New Year.
In solidarity,
Len Egert, National Executive Director
Ray Menard, AGMA President