• Dallas Symphony Orchestra
  • Musicians at the Park
  • East Texas Symphony Orchestra
  • Music Source DFW
  • Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
  • Memorial Day Music Fest
  • Dallas Opera Orchestra
  • Dallas Summer Musicals
  • Meet and Greet + Jam Sessions
  • Fort Worth Main Street Arts Festival
  • Denton Arts & Jazz Festival
Dallas Symphony Orchestra1 Musicians at the Park2 East Texas Symphony Orchestra3 Music Source DFW4 Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra5 Memorial Day Music Fest6 Dallas Opera Orchestra7 Dallas Summer Musicals8 Meet and Greet + Jam Sessions9 Fort Worth Main Street Arts Festival10 Denton Arts & Jazz Festival11


We are the largest local union of professional musicians in the Southwest United States, comprising a diverse community of musicians of all styles, types, and backgrounds, from the Orchestral stages of the Dallas and Fort Worth Symphonies, the pits of our cities’ opera and ballet companies, the presenters of Musical Theater touring productions, to the recording studios and clubs, restaurants, bars, hotels, and venues all across North Texas.
Musicians who perform and work in orchestras, ballets, and opera companies frequently find themselves working under contracts negotiated and administered by Local 72-147. In addition to the Major orchestras here in DFW – the Dallas and Fort Worth Symphonies – we have contracts with many or the area’s freelance ensembles. Groups such as The East Texas Symphony Orchestra, the orchestras of Garland, Las Colinas and Arlington, the Lewisville Lake Symphony, as well as ensembles across North Texas and Oklahoma with the Wichita Falls Symphony and the Lawton Philharmonic. We work to ensure that musicians have every opportunity to thrive, are paid fairly, receive health insurance and pension contributions, work under safe working conditions, and have some measure of job security. We work closely with orchestra committees to determine what works best for their orchestra members. Whether it’s a pit orchestra for a ballet or opera, a full symphony orchestra concert at the Meyerson or Bass Hall, we represent our musicians so that our music stays center stage.
Dallas and Fort Worth are homes to the best that American musical theater has to offer. Virtually every major touring show finds its audiences here in DFW at one of our state-of-the-art venues. From Dallas Summer Musicals to the Broadway series at both Bass Hall and the Winspear Opera House, our local musicians are there and covered by our contracts, bringing our local talent and artistry to these productions. Our local musicians also bring to life local productions in our acclaimed theaters – Casa Manana in Fort Worth for decades, and now Dallas Theater Center in its home in the AT&T Performing Arts Center.
Many musicians who perform or work on a one-time basis or non-repeating schedule work under our single engagement contract. This includes musicians who perform in Jazz, Latin, Club Dates, Hotels, and other performance venues. These contracts allow musicians who are working or performing on a non-repeating engagement to receive fair wages, pension contributions, and other union protections. By working under our locally agreed upon scales and utilizing these contracts, Local 72-147 musicians help to create the high standards that makes DFW’s music scene great. You can follow our Musicians with our Freelance Organizer Dana Sudborough our musicians on his new blog: On the Scene with Dana.
Our musicians literally bring professional standards to the award-winning music programs in North Texas, as they work with our music programs to teach and tutor our children. Alongside performance careers in venues across the area, they bring this expertise into the class rooms, making the school bands, choirs and orchestras some of the best in the nation. Many musicians also perform solo or maintain a private student studio to make a living. In order for these types of performances and types of work to qualify for pension contributions, many musicians may utilize our local contracts.
The AFM Department known as Electronic Media Services, administers and processes agreements and contracts pertaining to the recording and exploitation of music in digital media. Musicians in this field perform on recordings, both in studio as well as live performances that are recorded. They perform on film and video game scores, live and pre-recorded television shows, commercials for television, radio, and Internet, and album tracks, to name a few. Moreover, whenever a piece of music is used in a new broadcast medium outside of its original usage, musicians are paid a “new use” fee as well as additional benefits. AFM musicians also receive payment when their music is licensed for use in other formats, called “supplemental markets,” such as a network television program sold into syndication on basic cable, or a theatrical motion picture distributed to home video.