Mark Tetreault, Director of Symphonic Services for the Canadian Federation of Musicians, Principal Tuba in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and ex officio member of the Orchestras Canada board of directors, was asked to address the federal Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, as part of their current review of the Canadian Music Industry. (You can read more about the study here.) He has shared his presentation with us, and we’re delighted to share it with you, too!
Good Morning, My name is Mark Tetreault. I am the Director of Symphonic Services for the Canadian Federation of Musicians. As well, I have been the Principal Tuba in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra since 1986. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. I had the good fortune of being in Ottawa performing last night at the National Arts Centre with the TSO.
“The Canadian Federation of Musicians, “CFM”, is the professional association for musicians in Canada. The CFM is recognized under the Federal Status of the Artist Act as the sole bargaining representative on behalf of all musicians and musical performance in Canada. CFM is part of a bi-national association. We are the Canadian division of the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada. The CFM Office is located in Toronto and has 25 Local Chapters coast to coast, across Canada and has a membership of 17,000 musicians. Our organization not only ensures artists are paid for live performance, but also for broadcast and digital-media. We provide access to an excellent multi-employer pension plan for musicians
I am here today to address some issues of global concern to the CFM, and then to discuss my sector of the music industry in particular.
The Canadian Federation of Musicians fully supports ACTRA Recording Artists’ Collecting Society testimony, which asked the Standing Committee to recommend modernizing the private copying regime, improving broadcast royalty distribution procedures and reintroducing income-averaging for artists under Canadian tax law.
By strengthening the copyright laws across all media platforms, we will make great strides in ensuring that Canadian artists continue to be fairly paid for the use of their music, and can ensure a standard of living for themselves and their families. The CFM feels strongly that it can make unique and valuable contributions to the important consultations and discussions around copyright and royalty issues.
CFM asks that Members of Parliament urge the government to sign and ratify the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Bejing Treaty on Audio/Visual Performances. The Bejing Treaty outlines global standards recognizing the right of audiovisual performers to be fairly compensated for their creative contributions. The recognition of performers’ moral rights is equally critical. As performers our public image is at the heart of who we are. Thanks to the Bejing Treaty, performers will finally have the ability to protect their images and performances from being used in ways they would never choose or agree to.
My work with the CFM involves symphony orchestras. I assist CFM Locals in collective bargaining, dispute resolution and other problem-solving. It is a cash-strapped industry, but we work together to find solutions and slowly grow.
Canadian orchestras are a vital and important part of Canadian communities, large and small, in every corner of the country. They are:
• Economic drivers, creating jobs. Canadian orchestras spent over $175 million in 2012-13, with over 70% percent of these expenditures going directly to people in wages and fees.
• The artistic anchors of their communities, creating and enriching opportunities for civic celebration and recognition, from sporting events to Remembrance Day ceremonies.
• Valued cultural partners, working with other organizations and institutions.
• An important part of our educational infrastructure.
• Effective Canadian ambassadors to the world.
Symphony musicians are a unique workforce. The symphony musician is a highly trained skilled professional. The intensity of concentration is extreme, the expense comparable to educations in law, medicine, or business.
Symphony musicians provide and maintain their own very expensive instruments. We are one of the very few industries where the worker is required to provide such expensive tools.
Symphony musicians are elite endurance athletes, who often suffer injuries during their career. We rarely have extended medical benefits as part of our jobs and thus have often have the burden of paying for physio-therapy, dental work and prescription medications
Unfortunately, in Canada symphony musicians are generally low-wage workers. Most are forced, out of necessity to be cultural entrepreneurs. Canadian symphony musicians supplement their income by work as music teachers, performers in other classical ensembles, players in the recording industry, performers in other genres, artists in other disciplines, and workers in other industries.
Some symphony musicians are forced to collect EI during the off-season. Recent changes to EI payments to seasonal workers have a serious negative impact on these musicians. CFM would like to see these changes re-examined with respect to symphony musicians.
The cutbacks to the CBC have had a very negative effect on the symphonic industry. Far fewer of our concert are recorded or broadcast. Having a strong national broadcaster meant significant income to musicians. It also meant that we could share our talents with all Canadians, no matter how remote their location, as well as across the border in the northern US.
Symphony musicians have been effectively frozen out of broadcast royalty payments, because we do not neatly fit the requirements to claim payments. There is a large pool of money, which consists of royalties for broadcasts of our recordings, which we cannot access because of the awkward and complicated system set up by the Copyright Board. We find this quite frustrating.
Canadian symphony orchestras are active in education. Performances are done for students in our venues and in the schools. One of the most successful new ideas in music education is El Sistema (“The System”), an orchestral youth training initiative firmly rooted in two core ideas: That music is for everyone regardless of income and background; and that quality music education provides a head-start in life and a model of community harmony. Orchestras from New Brunswick to Vancouver have established El Sistema programs which provide daily after-school coaching and rehearsing, often to disadvantaged youth. leading to exciting performances and a sense of pride and accomplishment.
The range of outreach and educational activities done by Canadian orchestras is quite remarkable. In the materials I am leaving with you the is an article that I wrote for our association’s newspaper, the International Musician, which goes into a bit more detail about these activities.
Canadian orchestras are recognized for their artistic excellence around the world, proudly displaying Canadian cultural achievement. We are ambassadors, showing some of the best of Canadian culture.
I have been privileged to travel many places around the world with the TSO. Our orchestra has partnered with business leaders looking to expand their markets or bring investment to Canada. These leaders travel with the orchestra and bring prospective clients to our concerts to show off the excellence of Canadian artists and to demonstrate that Canadians care about things that are important to their quality of life.
As I mentioned earlier, last night I was performing at the National Arts Centre. Being in that building reminds me of the celebrations in 1967 and the enthusiasm Canadians showed towards our Arts and Culture. In 2017, we have our 150th anniversary. I believe that this would be an excellent time to have cultural events across the country, reinvigorating our well-earned pride in Canadian Arts, and that orchestras could play an important leadership role in such events.
Thank you once again for this opportunity to speak to you. I look forward to answering your questions.