At our April 24, 2023 Local 47 General Membership Meeting, Special Elections took place to fill five vacant offices. The first vote for Secretary/Treasurer yielded the following returns:

SECRETARY/TREASURER – 1 elected
Gail Kruvand – 52
Gary Lasley – 4

Kruvand assumed office immediately upon the completion of the ballot count announcement and certification by the Election Board during the meeting. Kruvand succeeds Danita Ng-Poss, who had served as Secretary/Treasurer since January 2021 until her resignation in January 2023.

Gail Kruvand’s career as a bassist in New York City spanned 40 years. She worked in many areas including the major orchestras of Lincoln Center, freelance concerts, recording and Broadway. As a member of the New York City Opera Orchestra (and eventually personnel manager) she was on the orchestra committee and elected as a delegate to ICSOM, one of the five Player Conferences in the AFM. Her interest in how people organize themselves to “get things done” from school PTAs concerned with their childrens’ education to orchestra committees seeking better contracts to freelancers who must stand together or fall apart naturally led to union involvement. In addition to her service on the Executive Board at Local 802 from 2010-2017, she graduated from the Cornell University Union Leadership Institute in 2014. Additional studies resulted in a Certificate in Labor Relations from the City University of NY in 2015. Gail was appointed as a rank-and-file trustee to the American Federation of Musicians and Employers’ Pension Fund in 2017. As a delegate to the AFM Convention in 2013 and 2016, she chaired the Measures and Benefits Committee in 2016. Gail Kruvand looks forward to having the opportunity to serve as Secretary/Treasurer at AFM Local 47.