🙉 Hearing protection in any group of musicians is vital to be able to perform at the highest standards expected of us. For the first time in the Met’s history, our Orchestra Committee has secured hearing protection for our orchestra members. Learn more in this article from September’s International Musician magazine.🎧 “An August 2021 collective bargaining agreement between the Metropolitan Opera (Met) and Local 802 (New York City), representing musicians of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, included a groundbreaking provision on hearing protection. The new agreement is not without precedent for classical musicians. It’s common knowledge that rock and roll performers have suffered severe hearing loss after being subjected to excessive volume levels on stage—but in 2012, a professional orchestral musician in the UK suffered career-ending hearing damage during the Royal Opera House’s rehearsal of Richard Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries.” A subsequent court case revealed that the brass section sitting directly behind him had generated sound pressure levels of over 135 dB SPL. For comparison, metal band Manowar holds the Guinness World Record for the loudest live performance for a 1984 show that measured 130 dB SPL. Local 802 member Stephanie C. Mortimore, principal piccolo with the Metropolitan Opera and new chair of the Orchestra Committee, was part of the team that negotiated the new union contract for the Met’s musicians.” - International Musician ➡️ “We were able to get the Met to commit to providing audiology visits and custom earplugs for every musician covered by the four-year contract,” she says. “In addition, if recommended by an audiologist, musicians can get active ambient earphones for the life of the contract.” - Stephanie Mortimore To read the full article: ➡️ https://internationalmusician.org/met-opera-musicians-choose-asi-audio-3dme/ ...and to learn more about the ASI Audio Sensaphonics system, follow the link below: ➡️ https://asiaudio.com/ #METOrchestraMusicians #MetOrchestra #hearingprotection #hearingloss Local 802 AFM AFM - American Federation of Musicians