AFM brings together musicians performing in theaters and on tour throughout the United States and Canada. By joining together, our members are able to work full-time—and earn a decent living as theater musicians.

Theater musicians performing on stage and in theater pits have negotiated improved working conditions, healthcare, pensions, and better wages, including doubling fees, vacation, sound check, and rehearsal pay. They have contracts providing transparency in wages, health and safety provisions, and housing allowances when they are on the road.

Although nothing can replace the joy of seeing and hearing a live orchestra at the theater, some producers have attempted to replace musicians with virtual orchestras, prerecorded tracks, and production loops. However, AFM’s theater musicians are fighting this trend with contracts that guarantee orchestra minimums.