Traverse City’s professional orchestra just became a union shop.
Nearly 80 musicians of the Traverse City Philharmonic will be represented by the American Federation of Musicians Local 56, based in Grand Rapids. The overall local represents about 320 musicians across west Michigan, mid-Michigan and northern Michigan.
Violinist Kaylee Erlewein said the Traverse City musicians have concerns about the orchestra’s operations. Those include a smaller upcoming season, less time to rehearse for each concert and fewer musicians brought in to play.
Erlewein has been involved in the Traverse City Philharmonic (previously the Traverse Symphony Orchestra until a rebranding effort two years ago) since she was 11 years old. In the announcement from the union that the musicians had organized, she refers to it as her “home.”
“We understand the finances. We get that there are situations,” she told IPR. “We just want better communication, and we feel like this is where we could say, ‘Hey, we’ve been saying this for a while, but we’re not feeling like we’re heard.’”
Erlewein said 86 percent of the musicians voted on whether to unionize, and of those, 94 percent voted in favor.
TC Phil Executive Director Kedrik Merwin sent a statement to IPR.
“Many of our musicians, as Kaylee mentioned, consider the TC Phil to be their musical ‘home’ and that shows in the extraordinary professional performances of the TC Phil,” it read. “We look forward to continuing to work positively together with the Players’ Committee of the TC Phil, and their union representatives.”
Right now, musicians have what’s called a “master agreement” that runs through the end of August 2027. Erlewein said the contract they’re about to negotiate will have the backing of law and more force and would take effect in September of 2027.
