Discussion Panel

Nathan Kahn is a Negotiator for the Symphonic Services Division of the American Federation of Musicians. He has been with the AFM since 1988. In that position, he negotiates, advises and assists in the administration and negotiation of symphony orchestra contracts in the United States, and occasionally in foreign countries. He has negotiated hundreds of collective bargaining agreements on behalf of Locals of the AFM, including 6 comprehensive first-time collective bargaining agreements, and provided varying levels of assistance in the administrations of collective bargaining agreements to over 250 different bargaining units, nationwide and abroad. Nathan gives lectures to students at colleges and conservatories across the US on the subjects of symphony orchestra career preparation, and the role of the American Federations in those future careers. He also administrates the American Federation of Musicians Symphony Audition Complaint Hotline, assisting musicians internationally with difficulties they encounter in symphony orchestra auditions.

Nathan has been a member of the string bass section of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic (formerly the Colorado Springs Symphony) since 1991. Previously he was the Principal Bassist of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, and an active recording musician in Nashville, recording for such artists as Charlie Daniels, Roger Whittaker, Roy Clark, Sandi Patti, Dan Fogelberg, and many other recording, television and film productions. He was a faculty member of Tennessee Technological University and for 15 years at the Sewanee Summer Music Center. Prior to coming to Nashville, he was Principal Bassist with the Tulsa Philharmonic Orchestra, and also served on the faculties of the University of Arkansas, the University of Tulsa, and Oral Roberts University. He has, among others also performed with the Memphis Symphony, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, Chattanooga Symphony and Opera Orchestra, Colorado Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Aspen Festival Orchestra.

Prior to coming to the American Federation of Musicians, he was Founder and is President Emeritus of Regional Orchestra Players’ Association (ROPA).

He has written numerous articles for the International Musician and other national publications on musician and symphony orchestra related issues, and participated in national panels addressing a variety of problems related to these areas.

Nathan is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, with a degree in Music Education.

In his limited spare time Nathan enjoys hiking, cross-country skiing, bicycling, cooking and collecting pop music from foreign countries.

Carla Johnson was appointed President and Executive Director of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra in March, 2004. She spearheaded the strategic planning process, which resulted in the adoption of a five-year Strategic Plan in March 2005, and balanced the operating budget for the third consecutive year. Ms. Johnson oversaw the construction of the 2005-2006 season, which added three new series in the new Ferguson Center for the Arts at Christopher Newport University in Newport News; the new series helped push sales to an institutional record of over a million dollars in subscription sales. Having worked for over nine years with the Saint Louis Symphony Community Partnership Program, it is her particular goal to bring community engagement to Hampton Roads, and to that end she has begun a number of initiatives in schools, churches, and other community centers in the area.

Ms. Johnson is currently serving on the Collaborative Data Project Task Force and is an alumna of the Mellon Orchestra Forum.

Ms. Johnson received a B.A. in Honors Political Science and French Language, with an equivalent of a dance minor, from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Her Masters in Arts Administration is from Brooklyn College.

With husband John Hickox and daughter Zoë, Ms. Johnson resides in Norfolk, Virginia; son Ian is off at the University of Virginia. While Carla Johnson is completely devoted to music and organizations which make the music, her passion is gardening because plants either live or die, but they don’t negotiate.

Erich Graf is former principal flutist of the Utah Symphony. His teachers have included Nelson Hauenstein at the University of Michigan, Jean Pierre Rampal at the Académie Internationale in Nice, France, and Julius Baker at the Juilliard School. Previous to the Utah Symphony, Graf performed with the New York Philharmonic, the New Jersey Symphony, the Royal Ballet Orchestra, and the Stamford Symphony, among others.

Graf has appeared as soloist with the Utah Symphony, the Ann Arbor Symphony, and with the Arkansas Symphony. He has performed chamber music with Columbia University's Group for Contemporary Music, the Guarneri String Quartet and the Aeolian Chamber Players. He has performed at Avery Fischer Hall and Carnegie Hall with Julius Baker and Jean Pierre Rampal and in Utah with James Galway.

Mr. Graf's discography include a music video and two CDs featuring the works of Bach, Berio, Gaubert, Roussel, Prokofiev, Nobis, Borne, Varèse, Debussy, and Poulenc.

Outside interests include physical fitness, cooking, and writing. Mr. Graf is a published travel writer and restaurant critic, and served as President of Local 104, American Federation of Musicians from 1994-2011

Curt Long has served as Executive Director of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra since 1994. His tenure with the orchestra has seen the organization grow to unprecedented heights of artistic and business success and the 2003 opening of the magnificent Schuster Performing Arts Center.

Mr. Long holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Chicago and Master of Business Administration degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He played French Horn for eight years before electing to retire from performance, to the relief of audiences everywhere.

Before coming to Dayton, he served as Executive Director of the Delaware Symphony Orchestra in Wilmington. During 1991-92, he participated in the Orchestra Management Fellowship Program of the American Symphony Orchestra League, including residencies with the Los Angeles, Houston, and Grand Rapids orchestras.

Mr. Long’s initial foray into arts administration came as an intern in the Challenge and Advancement Programs of the National Endowment for the Arts. Prior to that he was Director of Finance for Shafer Event Management, a California company specializing in the development and operation of Formula One and Indy Car automobile racing events.

He lives with his wife and two children in Beavercreek.

Robert Levine has been the Principal Violist of the Milwaukee Symphony since September 1987. Before coming to Milwaukee Mr. Levine had been a member of the Orford String Quartet, Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Toronto, with whom he toured extensively throughout Canada, the United States, and South America. Prior to joining the Orford Quartet, Mr. Levine had served as Principal Violist of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra for six years. He has also performed with the San Francisco Symphony, the London Symphony of Canada, and the Oklahoma City Symphony, as well as serving as guest principal with the orchestras of Indianapolis and Hong Kong.

He has performed as soloist with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Oklahoma City Symphony, the London Symphony of Canada, the Midsummer Mozart Festival (San Francisco), and numerous community orchestras in Northern California and Minnesota. He has also been featured on American Public Radio's nationally broadcast show "St. Paul Sunday Morning" on several occasions.

Mr. Levine has been an active chamber musician, having performed at the Festival Rolandseck in Germany, the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Palm Beach Festival, the "Strings in the Mountains" Festival in Colorado, and numerous concerts in the Twin Cities and Milwaukee. He has also been active in the field of new music, having commissioned and premiered works for viola and orchestra from Minnesota composers Janika Vandervelde and Libby Larsen.

Mr. Levine was chairman of the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians from 1996 to 2002 and currently serves as President of the Milwaukee Musicians Association, Local 8 of the American Federation of Musicians, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the League of American Orchestras. He has written extensively about issues concerning orchestra musicians for publications of ICSOM, the AFM, the Symphony Orchestra Institute, and the League of American Orchestras.

Mr. Levine attended Stanford University and the Institute for Advanced Musical Studies in Switzerland. His primary teachers were Aaron Sten and Pamela Goldsmith. He also studied with Paul Doctor, Walter Trampler, Bruno Giuranna, and David Abel.

He lives with his wife Emily and his son Sam in Glendale.

Nathan Kahn is a Negotiator for the Symphonic Services Division of the American Federation of Musicians. He has been with the AFM since 1988. In that position, he negotiates, advises and assists in the administration and negotiation of symphony orchestra contracts in the United States, and occasionally in foreign countries. He has negotiated hundreds of collective bargaining agreements on behalf of Locals of the AFM, including 6 comprehensive first-time collective bargaining agreements, and provided varying levels of assistance in the administrations of collective bargaining agreements to over 250 different bargaining units, nationwide and abroad. Nathan gives lectures to students at colleges and conservatories across the US on the subjects of symphony orchestra career preparation, and the role of the American Federations in those future careers. He also administrates the American Federation of Musicians Symphony Audition Complaint Hotline, assisting musicians internationally with difficulties they encounter in symphony orchestra auditions.

Nathan has been a member of the string bass section of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic (formerly the Colorado Springs Symphony) since 1991. Previously he was the Principal Bassist of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, and an active recording musician in Nashville, recording for such artists as Charlie Daniels, Roger Whittaker, Roy Clark, Sandi Patti, Dan Fogelberg, and many other recording, television and film productions. He was a faculty member of Tennessee Technological University and for 15 years at the Sewanee Summer Music Center. Prior to coming to Nashville, he was Principal Bassist with the Tulsa Philharmonic Orchestra, and also served on the faculties of the University of Arkansas, the University of Tulsa, and Oral Roberts University. He has, among others also performed with the Memphis Symphony, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, Chattanooga Symphony and Opera Orchestra, Colorado Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Aspen Festival Orchestra.

Prior to coming to the American Federation of Musicians, he was Founder and is President Emeritus of Regional Orchestra Players’ Association (ROPA).

He has written numerous articles for the International Musician and other national publications on musician and symphony orchestra related issues, and participated in national panels addressing a variety of problems related to these areas.

Nathan is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, with a degree in Music Education.

In his limited spare time Nathan enjoys hiking, cross-country skiing, bicycling, cooking and collecting pop music from foreign countries.

Carla Johnson was appointed President and Executive Director of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra in March, 2004. She spearheaded the strategic planning process, which resulted in the adoption of a five-year Strategic Plan in March 2005, and balanced the operating budget for the third consecutive year. Ms. Johnson oversaw the construction of the 2005-2006 season, which added three new series in the new Ferguson Center for the Arts at Christopher Newport University in Newport News; the new series helped push sales to an institutional record of over a million dollars in subscription sales. Having worked for over nine years with the Saint Louis Symphony Community Partnership Program, it is her particular goal to bring community engagement to Hampton Roads, and to that end she has begun a number of initiatives in schools, churches, and other community centers in the area.

Ms. Johnson is currently serving on the Collaborative Data Project Task Force and is an alumna of the Mellon Orchestra Forum.

Ms. Johnson received a B.A. in Honors Political Science and French Language, with an equivalent of a dance minor, from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Her Masters in Arts Administration is from Brooklyn College.

With husband John Hickox and daughter Zoë, Ms. Johnson resides in Norfolk, Virginia; son Ian is off at the University of Virginia. While Carla Johnson is completely devoted to music and organizations which make the music, her passion is gardening because plants either live or die, but they don’t negotiate.

Erich Graf is former principal flutist of the Utah Symphony. His teachers have included Nelson Hauenstein at the University of Michigan, Jean Pierre Rampal at the Académie Internationale in Nice, France, and Julius Baker at the Juilliard School. Previous to the Utah Symphony, Graf performed with the New York Philharmonic, the New Jersey Symphony, the Royal Ballet Orchestra, and the Stamford Symphony, among others.

Graf has appeared as soloist with the Utah Symphony, the Ann Arbor Symphony, and with the Arkansas Symphony. He has performed chamber music with Columbia University's Group for Contemporary Music, the Guarneri String Quartet and the Aeolian Chamber Players. He has performed at Avery Fischer Hall and Carnegie Hall with Julius Baker and Jean Pierre Rampal and in Utah with James Galway.

Mr. Graf's discography include a music video and two CDs featuring the works of Bach, Berio, Gaubert, Roussel, Prokofiev, Nobis, Borne, Varèse, Debussy, and Poulenc.

Outside interests include physical fitness, cooking, and writing. Mr. Graf is a published travel writer and restaurant critic, and served as President of Local 104, American Federation of Musicians from 1994-2011

Chris Durham began violin study at age 4-1/2 in the first United States Suzuki class under the tutelage of Dr. John D. Kendall. Other teachers include David Cerone, Ronald Gorevic, George Moradian, Frederyk Sadowski and Robert Vernon.

Chris attended the National Music Camp at Interlochen, the St. Louis Conservatory of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music. He was a member of the St. Louis Municipal Theatre (MUNY) orchestra from 1977-1989 and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra from 1979-1991.

Durham's work as an activist began in Columbus in 1980. He served for many years as chairman of the orchestra committee and Vice-President of Local 103. In 1984 he was elected to the first Executive Board of ROPA. From 1991-1994 he was the Secretary and then Secretary-Treasurer of Local 2-197 (St. Louis MO.). Durham has served with all the directors of the Symphonic Services Division of the American Federation of Musicians since 1989. during this time he also was Trustee of Local 11-637 (Louisville KY.)