Workshop: Union Leadership 101

Nuts & Bolts of Contract Enforcement

Monday, January 23, 2012
8:00 to 9:30 p.m.
Wolfinsohn Room

This workshop is open to all faculty members in the Collective Bargaining Unit (CBU) at Longy. It is the first of what will be an occasional series of workshops. The goal is to build our collective knowledge and capacity to keep our union strong. Although we have been very successful in our union election, in contract negotiations, and in building our membership, we are still new at this process and we have much more to learn. At this workshop, we will learn some contract enforcement basics such as:

• How to investigate troubling situations that may constitute contract violations
• How the grievance procedure works
• “Duty of fair representation”: the duties and obligations we have as a union to uphold contract rights
• Good rules of thumb for union members and leaders to protect our rights in the contract

Diane Frey, our AFT-MA field representative and invaluable member of the Negotiating Committee, will conduct the training session. Participants should bring some paper, a copy of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), and your work-life experiences at Longy and elsewhere. If you do not have a copy of the contract you can print one out from the LFU website here, and we will also have a few on hand at the workshop. If possible, CBU members who wish to attend the training should send an email in advance to longyfacultyunion@gmail.com.

Teaching Ideas and Ideals:
Longy’s Dalcroze Education Program

Daclroze faculty member
Adriana Ausch

Dalcroze Eurhythmics, a teaching method developed by Swiss music educator Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, has been a vital part of Longy’s curriculum since the school opened its doors in 1915. Renée Longy, the daughter of the school’s founder Georges Longy, taught Longy’s first Dalcroze classes as part of a program dedicated to developing well-rounded musicians. Today, Dalcroze Eurhythmics — which teaches concepts of rhythm, structure, and musical expression through movement — remains a pillar of Longy’s curriculum. Certified and licensed Dalcroze faculty members teach Eurhythmics, solfège, and improvisation.

Dalcroze classes are offered in all parts of the School. In Community Programs, the Preparatory Studies Division offers a sequence of classes for children ages one through seven; there is a new Dalcroze Eurhythmics for Seniors class offered in the Continuing Studies Division at Longy’s satellite Cadbury Commons; and the Conservatory requires Performance majors to take a class in Dalcroze Eurhythmics, and offers two teaching credential programs: the Dalcroze Certificate (for those who teach children and adult beginners), and the Dalcroze License (for those who teach adults beyond the beginner level). Longy also boasts the only Master of Music Degree program in Dalcroze Eurhythmics in the world.

Faculty member Adriana Ausch has been a part of the Longy community since 1994, when she entered the school as a Master’s degree student. She went on to earn both a Dalcroze Certificate and a Dalcroze License, and she has been teaching in Community Programs since 1998 and in the Conservatory since 1999. In a recent conversation with LFU News, Ausch detailed the intense training that is involved in becoming a certified and licensed Dalcroze teacher, describing the rigorous study of Eurhythmics, solfège, improvisation, and other Dalcroze teaching methods that is required in order to pass the final examination.

The ideal time to begin study of Dalcroze Eurhythmics, Ausch continued, is as a young child. “The body needs to explore making music as soon as possible. With children, their body is the first instrument to feel the music.” By listening to the music carefully, children learn how to react in the most musical way possible.

Longy's Dalcroze classes for children

Dalcroze instructors use musical games and props to teach children how to listen and develop their musical ear. For instance, they might play a game in which children move in a way that follows the music. When there is a rest in the music or the character of the music changes, the children have to change their activity to express this change. “The music tells them what to do, not the teacher,” explains Ausch.

The benefits of Dalcroze education from a young age carry through into later years. Students who receive private instrumental instruction, who also have a Dalcroze Eurhythmics background often seem to have a very natural way about their playing. Ausch notes, “You don’t have to explain phrasing, the flow of music, not stopping at the bar line, etc.” She’s noticed that this has already been established within these young players, resulting in organic music making.

Dalcroze education is music education through experience. Children “need to translate the music through their own body and with their own movements. Later, this transfers over to their musical instrument. Young children absorb this. Dalcroze education is the best accompaniment for young musicians as it supplies the experience of understanding music.”

It is not too late to register for Dalcroze classes this semester! For further information about Longy’s Dalcroze classes, see Longy’s website. Information about Dalcroze classes for children is here. Music teachers, instrumentalists, singers, conductors, composers, actors, dancers, and music therapists can take advantage of the Dalcroze Institute in the summer. Those interested in obtaining a Dalcroze Certificate or License in the Conservatory, see here. Those simply wishing to experience a taste of Dalcroze Eurhythmics can attend events throughout the year including open classes, workshops, parent evenings, family concerts and the department’s Spring Performance Festival (contact Community Programs office at 617-876-0956 x1650).

Faculty Artist Recital: Elizabeth Anker

with The Mockingbird Trio

and guests

Thursday, January 26, 2012, at 8:00 p.m.
Edward M. Pickman Hall
Admission FREE

Program

Elizabeth’s Anker’s 50th birthday concert at Longy was a few years ago, but she is still reaping the wonderful benefits of a dozen new songs that were written for the occasion. From that single concert was born an ensemble: The Mockingbird Trio (contralto Anker, violist Scott Woolweaver, and pianist John McDonald). The trio had two pianists at the first concert — Wayman Chin was the other.

Since its founding, The Mockingbird Trio has premiered several new song cycles, and now librettist/composer Francine Trester has written a charming new opera for them: 334 Bunnies. The opera tells the tale of a woman who has too many bunnies, and of the police officer who comes to shut her down. Their musical sparring touches on a variety of themes: individual freedom, civil disobedience, and the nature of love itself.

The upcoming premiere performance of 334 Bunnies will be fully staged. The opera, approximately one hour long, is geared toward adults but appropriate for school-aged children. The program will be repeated in Jamaica Plain on Saturday, February 4, and in May in Shirley, Massachusetts (see elizabethanker.com for details).

Liz writes: “This project has so many Longy connections. I met the composer, Fran Trester, when she was teaching at Longy, and John McDonald used to be co-chair of our piano department. I met Scott Woolweaver when we were both guests on a faculty recital many years ago here, and all these folks are great supporters of our Longy Faculty Union. It is a delight to be singing something so fun—and funny—at Longy.”

Liz joined the Longy faculty in 1987 and taught both adults and conservatory students at the School for many years. As a result of the faculty “realignment” that took effect in the fall of 2010, she now serves only on the faculty of the Community Programs division of the School. You can find out more about Liz and her upcoming performances at her website elizabethanker.com

Second Anniversary: LFU Election

Two years ago on January 20, faculty members came to Longy to vote in a special election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). There was exactly one question on the ballot:

“Do you wish to be represented for purposes of collective bargaining by - AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS MASSACHUSETTS, AFL-CIO?”

The NLRB determined that the appropriate Collective Bargaining Unit (CBU) at the School comprised 88 faculty members who were eligible to vote in the election. Of these eligible voters, 83 (94%) turned out to cast simple “YES” or “NO” votes. Shortly after 9:00 p.m., the NLRB counted the votes in front of a number of witnesses from both sides of the question: 51 faculty members (58%) had voted in favor of forming the Union, and 32 (36%) had voted against the Union. The Union was launched!

Since the vote, more than 75% of CBU faculty members have joined the Longy Faculty Union, and we, as a Union, negotiated our first-ever Collective Bargaining Agreement, which now helps to guide the relationship between faculty and administration. We look forward to developing that relationship on a mutually constructive and productive path. The vote to unionize was a pivotal and positive moment in Longy’s history.

Personal notes

• We send condolences to Olivia Cheever, who teaches Feldenkrais Method® at Longy. Her father, Daniel S. Cheever, died at the age of 94 on November 29, 2011. Olivia writes: “Dad was a lover of music and of Longy. One of my fondest memories was taking Longy students to my father's assisted living facility, to the delight of my father and his friends, for a concert as a part of the Longy Experiential Education Program in November, 2009.” You can read Daniel Cheever’s obituary here.

Upcoming meetings

• Monday, January 23, 2012, 8:00-9:30 p.m., Leadership Development Training, Wolfinsohn Room
• Monday, February 6, 2012, 12:45-2:45 p.m.,
  ­Executive Board Meeting, Room 21