This summer will be fifty years since the first OCSM Conference, and the formation of its first Executive Board. That day-long event was held at the Hotel Triumph in Toronto on August 15, 1976. I can’t find much online about this hotel, which no longer exists, except that it had a disco attached to it called the “Canary Cottage” (I’m sure there’s a story to be told there).
OCSM was the third of the AFM Player Conferences to be established. The first was the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM), in 1962. Then the Recording Musicians Association followed, in 1969. By then, the Toronto Symphony were ICSOM members (hence ICSOM’s “International” name), but OCSM founders Ruth Budd and Sam Levine both felt that our unique orchestral scene in Canada needed a Canadian group. The beginnings of OCSM were day-long symposia held as part of the Canadian Conference of the AFM – the annual meeting of Local Officers from all the Canadian AFM Locals (which we now sometimes refer to as the CFM). Although these were successful, it was felt that a musician-driven meeting, held at a time when most of the orchestras were on summer hiatus, would be the way to go.
Many of you reading this weren’t born in 1976. I was ten years old, and it was around then that I had “first contact” with the professional orchestra nearest me, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Communications in 1976 were either on paper that had to be mailed, or telephone calls (conference calls did exist, but they were exceptionally rare and expensive, as was regular long-distance calling). It’s hard to imagine this world now, even though widespread use of the Internet only really goes back 30 years or less.
And yet, as the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. The following issues facing orchestral musicians were topics of discussion at the very first OCSM Conference, and the subject of articles in the earliest editions of the OCSM Newsletter, first published in December 1976.
- Musician involvement in decision-making at orchestras, especially artistic advisory committees and conductor search committees.
- Conductor evaluations
- The need for standardization of audition procedures
- Problems with musical instruments as carry-on luggage on airlines
- The tax status of orchestral musicians (self-employed dependent contractors vs. employees)
- The collection of what was then called “unemployment insurance” (now E.I.)
- The role of orchestra committees as representatives of the union
- Delays receiving the International Musician in Canada (this one made me laugh, as my wife’s print copy usually arrives 45-60 days late – much later than it did even in the 1990s).
- Of course, wages and working conditions. The Vancouver Symphony Delegate reported on their recent three-year settlement. The yearly income of a VSO musician in the 1975-76 season was $7,885.44 (36-week season). Using the CPI as a guide, that would be $40,786 in 2025. Their contract would bring them up to $13,115 by the end of three years – a whopping $52,019 in 2025 dollars (a 27.5% increase!)
So there you have it – some of these issues have been on the agenda since the beginning. I would like to think that a number of things have greatly improved in all these areas (except Canada Post) but given that we’re still discussing many of these issues today, there’s still work to be done. Kind of like maintaining technique on a musical instrument – it’s a life-long pursuit.
In future issues of Una Voce, I would like to offer some more historical context and underline the importance of keeping in touch with not only OCSM’s history, but the history of your own orchestras.
I am hoping your seasons are going well, and I am looking forward to your mid-season reports.
- Bob Fraser, Victoria Symphony, OCSM President