Last month, teaching artists at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) won union representation by AFM Local Local 47.

YOLA at Torres, a performing arts magnet school in East LA, and YOLA at Inglewood teaching artists at the Beckmen YOLA Center were the first to receive recognition from the National Labor Relations Board in early December. YOLA at HOLA (Heart of Los Angeles), located in the Rampart district, followed with an overwhelming majority vote of its teaching artists on December 11.

At the time of this writing, YOLA at Camino Nuevo, a charter academy in the Westlake/MacArthur Park area, is currently awaiting union recognition certification after filing a petition with the Public Employees Relations Board.

“Supporting teaching artists directly supports our students,” said Imani Duhé, a teaching artist at YOLA at Inglewood. “By uniting, we gain the voice we need to ensure every student at YOLA receives the best possible music education and can truly flourish.”

YOLA is a free afterschool youth orchestra program inspired by the Venezuelan El Sistema movement, founded by José Antonio Abreu, brought to Los Angeles by LA Philharmonic Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel.

“El Sistema founder Abreu dreamed of unity through music. After 12 years of teaching at YOLA, I have seen students flourish when their teachers are supported,” said Alex Rosales Garcia, YOLA at Torres teaching artist. “Coming together with my colleagues keeps his dream alive for the next generation of students.”

“As colleagues, we are uniting to seek predictable and stable schedules for teaching artists, so that we can dedicate our time and energy to serving YOLA students with the highest level of planning, care, and artistic excellence,” said Catherine Baker, YOLA at HOLA teaching artist.

“I am excited to come together with my fellow YOLA colleagues to ensure equity, share our voices in decision-making, and give our students the highest quality music education,” said Gillian Espinoza, who teaches at YOLA at Camino Nuevo.