Alan Gordon, the newly named executive director of the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) called his 4,000-member union of opera, concert, and ballet artists "stodgy and out-of-date," and declared to Back Stage "it's my job to change that, and to make AGMA more aggressive in defense of its members' rights. These members do really beautiful work, and yet they're at the bottom of the totem pole in the performing arts-the most poorly paid and badly treated."
Gordon, a 25-year veteran of the Directors Guild of America (DGA), only last month assumed a post that had been vacant for two years. Most recently at the DGA he was Eastern Executive Director. Earlier in his career he was a labor attorney for the Textile Workers Union of America.
"AGMA represents the men and women who keep America's operatic and ballet heritage vibrant and accessible," he said. "My mandate is to help these artists share in the rewards of their superb work."
Even in the few instances where AGMA members are "paid and treated really well, such as at the Metropolitan Opera, my focus is to make good contracts even better."
While most of AGMA's membership is made up of freelance opera and concert singers, both soloists and chorus members, dancers comprise "a smaller percentage (about 16 percent)," Gordon said. "A still smaller proportion are stage managers and crew members at opera houses and concert halls."
Most of the AGMA contracts "are with opera and dance companies, but there is a whole industry of concert singers who are hired to sing for philharmonics around the country; that's a very freelance business."
Therefore, "another priority is to try to expand AGMA's membership base among the world's most low-paid performers. And it's my job to remind them of the fact that someone's being a beautiful dancer doesn't put bread on the table."