Musicicians' Organization

The Musicians' Association of Seattle, Local 76-493 is a membership organization, administered by elected officers and an elected board of directors. We are musicians. Our goals are to communicate to each other about workplace needs, professional desires and collective power; educate each other about our rights, responsibilities and union power; to facilitate obtaining those rights in our lives; to organize for collective bargaining; and to raise the publics’ awareness of the value of music and musicians.

ASSOCIATION OFFICERS

Motter_cornicello_130107.jpgMotter Snell

President
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Motter is a professional harpist. She graduated from the University of Washington School of Music. She has performed with the Seattle Symphony, Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra and Seattle Opera. She was principal harpist with the Bellevue Philharmonic Orchestra for eight years and with the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra for ten years. Motter has been president of the Seattle Musicians’ Association since 2001. Prior to her election as president, she served as the local’s secretary-treasurer for seven years. She is also a trustee for the King County Labor Council and has served on it's executive board for the past eight years.

Joan_cornicello_130107.jpgJoan Sandler 

Vice President
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Ms. Sandler, violinist, performed with the Charlotte (NC) Symphony while still in high school. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and did graduate study at American University, Washington, DC. Further training includes lessons with Irwin Eisenberg of the Philadelphia String Quartet. She has played in orchestras in Washington, DC, the San Francisco Bay Area; and Seattle. She freelances in the Puget Sound Area, specializing in chamber music. Since 1996, she has been a member of the Musicians Association of Seattle and has served in a number of capacities heading up diverse projects, such as managing and selling real estate for the Local and steering a bill through the WA State Legislature. In 2012 she was appointed to the Seattle Music Commission.

warren_cornicello_130107.jpgWarren Johnson

Secretary-Treasurer
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Warren has served as Secretary-Treasurer of Local 76-493 since 2003 and prior to that as the Village Theatre Representative to the Board of Directors. During his tenure as an elected officer, Warren has been a delegate to the Northwest Conference of Musicians, the Western Conference of Locals of the American Federation of Musicians and the American Federation of Musicians Convention where he has twice served on the Election Committee. Warren is presently serving his first term as Trustee of the Martin Luther King Junior County Labor Council. Warren earned a B.A. and teaching credential in music from the University of Washington where he studied trumpet with Roy Cummings. He has performed professionally in a variety of musical settings including orchestras, theaters, chamber ensembles and folk ensembles and he has taught in schools and privately.

OFFICE STAFF

KIRSTEN JAMES

Business Representative, Kirsten James  has been a member of the Local 76 staff since 2009. Principal flutist for the Bellevue Philharmonic and piccoloist for the Bellingham Festival Orchestra, Kirsten has also played principal flute and piccolo for the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra, piccolo for the Seattle Opera Orchestra and principal flute for the Auburn Symphony. Additionally, Kirsten doubles on the saxophone and has played shows at the Paramount Theatre and the 5th Avenue Theatre. Kirsten was the personnel manager for the Bellevue Philharmonic for 12 years, is currently a contractor for the Seattle Choral Company orchestra and has been on the negotiating committees for the 5th Avenue Theatre, Paramount Theatre, Bellevue Philharmonic and Tacoma Symphony. When she’s not playing music, Kirsten is an avid hiker, wild mushroom hunter and huckleberry forager.

MONICA SCHLEY

Office Secretary, Monica Schley has been a life-long musician. Before moving to the West Coast ten years ago, she earned a BA from UW-Eau Claire (in her native Wisconsin) where she studied poetry and music. Her main instrument is harp, and she plays a range of genres for weddings, parties and funerals—as well as creative endeavors in performance halls and night clubs. She has had the pleasure to work and share the stage with the following musicians/ composers: Jim Knapp; Eyvand Kang; Jherek Bischoff;  Evan Flory-Barnes (Threat of Beauty); Greg Sinibaldi; Sam Mickens; Samantha Boshnak (Reptet); Butch Morris; Secret Chiefs 3; Joshua Kohl; Scott Teske; Bill Horist; Kanye West; Lori Goldston; Rosalyn DeRoos; Jesse Sykes; Damien Jurado; Ahamefule Oluo and with the bands Hey Marseilles, Parenthetical Girls and The Dead Science. She plays in the band Pretty Abandoned and is the leader of the dance/music/poetry ensemble, Black Eden, a group named after a book of poems she wrote of the same name. She is currently working on songwriting and recording an album of her music and spoken word.

Executive Board

DELEGATES

KING COUNTY LABOR COUNCIL

Warren Johnson

Joan Sandler

Bob Barnes

WASHINGTON STATE LABOR COUNCIL CONVENTION

Joan Sandler

Susan McLain