Bill Kerr – Vereinigtes Königreich

BMU National Organiser for orchestras

Bill Kerr started his professional career in 1976 aged 21 as a member of the first violin section of the Hallé Orchestra, Manchester, UK. During the next 14 years spent working as an orchestral musician, he gained an essential insight into the workings of orchestras and the way orchestral members feel and think. In 1990 he left the orchestra and started working for the BMU first as a full-time regional Official and then from 2003 as the BMU National Organiser Orchestras.

In this post he is currently responsible for negotiating the terms of all UK orchestra collective agreements, both employed and freelance. From the first-hand experience of talking with members in orchestras where morale was low, Bill has encouraged the election of strong union representatives to build confidence in their own abilities and take responsibility for shaping the collective voice of the musicians in order to eradicate the ‘victim culture’ that often afflicts orchestras.