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For more than a decade, Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) has operated as a producer and presenter of music at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. For many of their choral concerts, DCINY assembles choirs of amateur singers from around the world who pay a fee for the unforgettable experience of performing in one of New York’s top venues. DCINY then hires an orchestra, soloists, and conductors to give the choir members a concert of a lifetime.

While we, the musicians of the DCINY Orchestra, enjoy the work, it often involves unreasonably long rehearsals with inadequate breaks; intense, physically demanding performance days; and an atmosphere of fear due to frequent retaliation for voicing concerns to management. We do not have a contract, do not receive benefits of any kind and have no guarantee that we will be hired for future engagements. To address these issues, we came together with the support of Local 802 to negotiate a fair collective bargaining agreement that allows musicians to express our concerns without fear of retribution.

Management refused to schedule negotiations with the union for many months. This stalemate was finally broken after Local 802 won an Unfair Labor Practice charge against the company. Last season, management replaced the professional orchestra with a handful of musicians and a high school ensemble! Recently, musicians submitted to federal mediation to try to settle a fair contract — and the company still refused to budge.

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Take a photo or selfie of yourself and/or some fellow musicians holding a sign showing your support for #DCINYMusicians! You can download a support sign here or a fill-in-the-blank support sign here.