This is OCSM’s first newsletter of the 2025-26 season, and it represents a bit of a shift. Moving forward, Una Voce will be a bit shorter (with three or four articles, rather than five or six) and more frequent, three or four issues a season.
We are also shifting to an online-only newsletter format. You will notice the opening of each article appears below, with a ‘read more’ link that will take you to the full article on OCSM’s website. We are no longer publishing a printable PDF format of the issue.
Why the shift? Mainly, to make Una Voce more timely and relevant. As editor, I want to spend less time creating PDFs and more time compiling interesting, useful content, then to get it translated and sent out sooner rather than later.
Speaking of which, you’ll find below:
- President Bob Fraser looks back on OCSM’s history, as we prepare for our 2026 Conference in Winnipeg (August 11-14).
- Settlement bulletins from around OCSM, compiled by our Delegates and hardworking negotiators. Improving standards and conditions is at the heart of what OCSM does.
- An infographic on tuning pitches, just in case you were curious. OCSM Delegates are frequently sharing all kinds of information, and I thought this was a fun example.
- Tamsin Lorraine Johnston writes about Screens vs. the Arts. Tamsin was OCSM’s 2nd VP until this past summer, and always has thought-provoking ideas and perspectives.
In fact, Tamsin’s article got me thinking about timely replies, in this world of snowballing digital communications. That could be the subject for a manners and etiquette column, which is not really what I want to write. I do think it can raise all sorts of interesting questions, however.
What are our expectations, for ourselves and our colleagues, when it comes to answering messages? We are not Monday-to-Friday, 9-5 type workers – should we be expected to answer emails at any hour, on any day? How do we balance our main duties, as musicians, with the secondary obligations we all have, and with the extra committee work that so many of us undertake on top of that? Or with the rest of our lives outside of music and email, for that matter? When is it better to say, “Let’s talk in person”?
Again, I don’t have the answers, though I tend to think we need some healthy boundaries. I’m old enough to remember a pre-email and text message era, the days of answering machines and the postal system. If you sent a letter, a reply in a week might seem pretty fast. If you left a voicemail, maybe you would hope to hear back in the next day or two. That world seems quaint, but it still informs my standards: a week or so for a well-thought reply to something lengthy; a day or so for a short response; a bit longer around weekends or holidays.
In practice, I often feel like the nature of digital communication can make standards less clear, and response times less consistent. I have certainly been guilty of unintentionally ghosting somebody: How did I not see that important message until right now? (Perhaps the other 17 communication channels I’m constantly monitoring had something to do with it!) I’ve also been ghosted myself.
I think we need a measure of forgiveness for these types of situations. Probably it’s okay to follow up, gently: “Did you get that message from three days ago? I’d really appreciate your response!” And maybe it’s alright to say, “Thank you, I got your message, and I need some time to think about this. I will get back to you in the next week or so.” (And then actually do that!)
In any case, time is the medium we all work within as musicians. None of us has enough of it for music, to say nothing of all life’s other demands. Let’s resolve to approach things with understanding, and also to put first things first! If you have thoughts on this or any other topic, please write a Letter to the Editor (speaking of quaint things). I will do my very best to reply.
- Matt Heller, Una Voce editor