Musicians

A brief item rather cutely titled "A Cycle Built for 2" in the Jan. 6 Weekend Forecast section informs readers that "Los Angeles Philharmonic music director Esa-Pekka Salonen and pianist Mitsuko Uchida team up for their first survey of Beethoven's piano concertos." Nowhere is there any mention of any other musicians involved in these programs that included three symphonies by Haydn. All these years I was under the apparently mistaken impression that a large group of musicians called an "orchestra" is needed, in addition to a pianist, to perform concertos and symphonies.

While one must applaud the work Buddy Arnold is doing, the article ("Buddy's New Gig: Erasing the Connection Between Music and Addiction," Jan. 5) was one-sided and presents a needlessly bleak and inaccurate picture. I have been a professional musician since 1965. On a typical day, I arise at 6 a.m., eat a nutritious breakfast (the most important meal of the day), exercise vigorously for 40 minutes to 45 minutes, attend to personal hygiene concerns and drive my four-door sedan to one of L.A.'s many fine recording studios, where I work for seven hours (including a one-hour lunch break spent at a health-food restaurant)

IN his article "Making It Easier to Get Your Phil" [March 17], Scott Timberg states that "musicians' unions have been an impediment to recording American orchestras" and that "their efforts to share in any profits" -- what James Jolly, former editor of Britain's Gramophone magazine, calls " 'a stranglehold' -- might also hold back orchestras' move to downloadable music." This indignation is extremely well placed but grossly understated. Really, how dare those pesky musicians expect to be paid for what they created?

It was the day after Christmas, and Eric Castro, a lawyer who also sings professionally, was warming up his baritone by running through trills and hums. After working hard right up to the holiday, wasn't he eager to have a day off? "To tell you the truth, it's a complete pleasure and honor to do this," said Castro as he prepared to sing arias inside a crowded living room where "jam session" took on a whole new meaning. Each Boxing Day since 1998, the Spanish Colonial Revival house at the end of a cul-de-sac off Los Feliz Boulevard has vibrated with the sounds of Handel's "Messiah," performed by as many as 125 choristers and orchestral musicians.

Broadway musicians, who staged a four-day strike in 2003 that cost New York City's economy about $10 million, agreed to a three-year contract with producers, both sides announced Tuesday. The contract requires producers to increase contributions to the musicians' health plan and expands the number of musicians eligible to participate. In return, musicians gave up two wage increases over the course of the deal.

A musicians union has filed a federal lawsuit against the producers of "American Idol," claiming musicians were underpaid because the show's live music was re-recorded for reruns. The American Federation of Musicians filed the suit seeking unspecified damages Thursday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, alleging that American Idol Productions Inc. and its subsidiary Tick Tock Productions Inc. violated a collective bargaining agreement.

Orchestra musicians reached a contract settlement with the San Francisco Opera that includes pay cuts for the members of the pit. A three-year deal struck Friday between the San Francisco Opera Assn. and American Federation of Musicians Local 6 will save the opera $1.3 million between now and 2006. Base salaries for the 69 musicians in the pit will fall 5.48%, from $66,910 last year to $63,246 for the current season. The new contract also trims the number of work weeks from 25 to 23.

The City Council went along with a former mayor's call to keep Santa Cruz "weird" by easing new downtown rules for street musicians. The council took the first step Wednesday toward approval of a measure that would reduce from 14 feet to 10 feet the distance that musicians and other street people, including those espousing political causes, must stay from doorways, kiosks and outdoor dining areas. The council also will look at the creation of exemption zones to encourage free speech and music.

— Singer-songwriter Erin Barra shelled out around $4,000 to travel to the Sundance Film Festival this month. The 26-year-old had to pay her own way from New York City, plus cover expenses for her tour manager and the two musicians who accompanied her to Utah. She hired a publicist to help her get local press, even though only one of the six shows the Salt Lake City native booked in her home state was a paying gig. "If I can meet somebody out there who puts music into film and we develop a relationship, then the investment of going to Utah could pay off tenfold," said Barra, whose lawyer and business manager also attended the festival on their own dime.

The British Musicians' Union said Tuesday that rules introduced this month after a suspected plot to blow up aircraft between Britain and the United States could have a "devastating impact" on musicians, who are being forced to put delicate and valuable instruments into aircraft holds.