Historical/Biographical Note
The American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) was founded March 11, 1936 by a prominent group of solo musical artists including Lawrence Tibbett, Alma Gluck and Jascha Heifetz. Tibbett was to serve as AGMA's president and Heifetz and Gluck as vice-presidents. Among the founding members were Kirsten Flagstad, John McCormack, Andres Segovia, George Gershwin, Fred Waring and Paul Whiteman. The advisory board included Walter Damrosch, Lauritz Melchoir, Ezio Pinza, and Lily Pons, among others. By joining together, these pioneers hoped to eliminate unfair practices and abuses that were all too prevalent in their profession. Often artists would perform without being paid, or would play out of town and be stranded without transportation back home; rehearsal time was unpaid and there was no limitation on the number of performances an artist could be called upon to give each week. AGMA negotiations came to include pay, terms of employment and workplace conditions, as well as the efforts by the union to promote common aims and interests of the artists, and to foster the musical arts and musical culture in general.
In August 1937, AGMA became an affiliate of the Associated Actors and Artistes of America (known as the 4A's), a federation of AFL-CIO theatrical unions. At that time, the organization merged with an older union, the Grand Opera Artists Association, which previously had held the 4A's charter. In the spring of 1938, AGMA also incorporated the Grand Opera Choral Alliance, an organization that represented opera choristers and had already established a bargaining relationship with the Metropolitan Opera. Thus strengthened, AGMA signed its first collective bargaining agreement with the Metropolitan Opera in August 1938 and became the Met artists' sole bargaining agent.
During the 1940s, AGMA expanded its jurisdiction, negotiating contracts with numerous opera companies throughout the United States. Sick leave and social security benefits were among the goals of the organization, and the union established its own Relief Fund to assist aged and disabled members; the Fund was financed by the Theatre Authority, for many years a clearing house for theatrica benefit performances and other fund-raising. With solid gains having been made in larger opera companies, AGMA turned in the 1950s to the growing field of regional opera as well as to popular professional touring choral groups.
During the 1960s, AGMA was highly visible in lobbying efforts for federal support for the arts, an important feature of both the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. To accommodate performers at the New York World's Fair a "guest status" category was developed and later offered to foreign touring companies like the Moiseyev Dance Company. In 1964 a landmark agreement was negotiated with the Metropolitan Opera guaranteeing 52 weeks for the entire shop. Union contracts were also designed for summer apprentice programs with companies like the Lake George Summer Festival, the Santa Fe Opera, the Chautauqua Institute, and the Central City Festival.
With ballet emerging as a popular entertainment form during the early 1960s, dancers in smaller touring and regional dance companies sought union protection. By the late 1960s the importance of dance to AGMA's jurisdiction was growing, as new dance companies (some representing innovative, non-traditional forms of dance) were being organized in many locales across the country. By the 1980s, ballet dancers comprised about 50 per cent of AGMA's membership and the ballet and dance fields have continued to expand steadily. In 1986 AGMA had 5,500 members, 3,000 of whom were based in New York City. There were ten area offices located throughout the United States, negotiating contracts and handling local problems within their regions. Although AGMA's jurisdiction did not extend to Canada, the association has maintained an office in Toronto to serve as a liaison with Canadian Equity.
Performing arts administration in both opera and dance has becoming increasingly corporate in its outlook and goals in recent years, with less professional theater experience represented in management. By 1990 there were fewer than ten opera companies in the United States that presented more than twelve productions a year; the rest staged from one to six productions.
Membership in AGMA is open to all interested parties, regardless of prior experience, affiliation or nationality. Many performers hold joint membership in other 4As-affiliated unions such as AFTRA, SAG, and Actors' Equity.
Return to topScope and Content Note
Series I: Convention Proceedings, 1944-1962. This series is available, along with AGMA Governing Board Minutes, 1936-1980, and Choral Committee Minutes, 1944-1948, on microfilm (Reels 7427/1-49). Researchers must use microfilm; consult archives staff.)
Series II: General Files, 1918-1993, comprises the bulk of the collection. The vast majority of General Files contain material from the New York AGMA office, including bargaining files, arbitrations, member correspondence, and communications with regional offices, with managers, with venues and companies, and with other unions. They also contain background or research material on related organizations, events, and notable individuals. There is a small amount of Board of Governors meeting minutes, 1938-1944 (partially duplicating minutes available on microfilm; see note under Series I), as well as agendas for board meetings, 1947-1955. General correspondence is filed by year and includes incoming and outgoing letters; these files document the administrations of AGMA presidents Lawrence Tibbett, John Brownlee, George London, Cornell MacNeil and Gene Boucher, with a few files dating from a later period. The records of two predecessor organizations, the Grand Opera Choral Alliance and the Grand Opera Artists Association of America, are located alphabetically within the General Files and represent some of the earliest material in the collection.
Series III: Guest Status Fees, c.1965-1991 (mostly 1970s), contains standard paperwork required of foreign dance companies wishing to perform in AGMA's jurisdiction.
Series IV: Oversize Scrapbooks and Ledger, 1936-1951, consists of a scrapbook of publicity clippings, 1936 and 1950-1951; a ledger of cash receipts (dues), 1938-1940; and a scrapbook containing dues cards, c.1936-1940, filed alphabetically.
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Arrangement |
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| Series I and IV are arranged chronologically; series II and III are arranged alphabetically. | ||
| Organized into four series: | ||
| I, Convention Proceedings (These files have been microfilmed.) | ||
| II, General Files | ||
| III, Guest Status Fees | ||
| IV, Oversize Scrapbooks and Ledger | ||
Related Material at the Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Records of the American Guild of Variety Artists. (Wagner #95)
Records of Actors' Equity Association. (Wagner #11)
Records of Associated Actors and Artistes of America. (Wagner #110 )
Return to topSeparated Material
A few photographs and graphic items were separated to the Non-Print Department of the Tamiment Library.
Return to topRestrictions
Access Restrictions
Open for research without restrictions.
Use Restrictions
Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the:
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
Phone: (212) 998-2630
Fax: (212) 995-4225
E-mail: gail.malmgreen@nyu.edu
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Administrative Information
Provenance
The AGMA records were donated to the Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University by the American Guild of Musical Artists, via an agreement with president Linda Mays, in 2002.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date (if known); The American Guild of Musical Artists Records; Wagner #209; box number; folder number;
New York University Libraries; New York University Libraries
Container List
[The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.]