Kira at Tanglewood
Copyright© 2026 by Gina Marie Wylie
Chapter 10
After lunch, Kira told Rachael she was going to call Mr. Ford and ask about the musician’s union. Rachael shook her head. “No, we should call Jerry first. Taylor Ford is a busy man. I get a special rate on long-distance calls with my phone.”
Rachael was Kira’s friend, and it would be rude to tell her that she wanted to do this herself. She had a phone card that her father had bought for her at Costco. Still, out of respect for their friendship, Kira refrained from showing how miffed she was. “Miffed” was a good word for how she felt ... not exactly angry, but not entirely happy either.
At least she got to say “hi” to Mr. Gora and let him know that they’d talked to Jan and that led to mentioning “Petunia” and Yo-Yo Ma’s offer to loan it to the young man. Kira was thinking Rachael had forgotten the purpose of the call when she asked about the union at the very end.
Mr. Gora sounded honestly surprised. “I don’t normally think about the union. I mean, school students aren’t required to join in order to perform.”
“I was of the understanding the Arizona Symphony was a union shop,” Rachael told him.
“I never asked; I never thought to ask. You should ask Taylor about it. Do you have his number?”
“Yes, I do. I was hoping to avoid having to disturb him.”
“Why are you concerned?”
“A student asked Kira to play at a benefit concert for the concert mistress of her high school at Thanksgiving. The young woman’s school is organizing it.”
“Probably they have the usual exemption for student musicians; I asked the union about that when I started the youth symphony here. I have it in writing that student musicians don’t have to join the union to perform.”
Rachael looked thoughtfully at Kira. “Maybe we don’t have to ask Taylor Ford after all.”
“Mr. Williams was positive that we should check,” Kira said mildly.
Kira pulled out her phone card preparatory to calling him, but again Rachael intervened and made the call. Kira wondered if her period was responsible for her being so short with Rachael. She had really been unhappy with her, and there really was no reason. Rachael was just trying to be helpful, is all.
Mr. Ford was busy and was in a meeting, and Rachael left a message that Kira wanted to talk to him about the union. Kira was going to rehearse the Concerto in the afternoon, playing just her part while the two older cellists were going to do the same.
However, ten minutes later, Mr. Ford returned the call. “What do you need to know about the union, Kira?”
“Mr. Williams and Rachael think I needed to be a member to solo with the Arizona Symphony,” Kira told him.
“Indeed so; it was a bit of a mix-up there, because you obtained representation after you played for us. Your father just put the check we gave him for your fee in the bank account he set up for your music income, and he ended up writing a check for a like amount to the agency, and they sent a check back, sans their fee.”
“I didn’t know I got a fee, Mr. Ford. I’d have done it for free.”
He chuckled. “Don’t ever let on to the union you’d have done it for free, because they’d have had a chat with you.”
“This is because I’ve been asked to do a benefit concert over Thanksgiving. Mr. Williams said I needed to check.”
“Kira, I didn’t want to introduce you to the sordid financial doings of concerts and musicians. I just paid your dues as a student member of the union until you’re eighteen. Five years; no big deal. Your agent checked, and sure enough, he said that was part of your fee. I told him it was a gift; when your parents signed the release for you to play, you signed the union application too. We went around and around, but the agency relented.
“Tell me, Kira ... what pieces are you working on at Tanglewood?”
“The big one is the Elgar Cello Concerto. Yo-Yo Ma and Anner Byslma are going to each solo for a movement, we’ll do one together, and I’ll solo on the fourth movement. John Williams is going to conduct.”
There was a moment of silence from Mr. Ford, then he said, “Are you up to it?”
“I am!” Rachael interjected.
“I’m still firming up our schedule for next season. I’ll get with John; they record anything he does at Tanglewood. Maybe you can spend a few weekends in Phoenix next year when I hope you can do it for me, too. That’s one powerful piece of music...”
Kira called her mom a little later, Rachael having left on some errand.”I’m sorry I haven’t called, Mom. They are keeping me kind of busy.”
“I hope you’ve been getting plenty of sleep and eating well,” her mom told her.
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