English Version (summary)

It makes sense to be a member!

As a professional singer and dancer, a singer and dancer employed in a festival ensemble, as another stage artist according to NV Bühne within the special regulation solo at an opera or dance ensemble – including artistic assistants and freelance stage artists – as well as a singer and dancer in training you can become a member of the Association of German Opera and Dance Ensembles e. V. (VdO). This applies regardless of whether you work as an employee or as a freelancer.

How to become a member

Just fill in the online membership form or print the membership form and send it, complete with your personal data, to the following address:

Vereinigung deutscher Opern- und Tanzensembles e. V. (VdO)
Moritz Volkenborn
Ludwigkirchplatz 2
10719 Berlin

If you have further questions about the membership and want to know how it will help you? Then keep reading!

The Benefits of being a member of the VdO

  • Only if you are a member of the VdO you can benefit directly from pre-negotiated collective agreements for stage artists – such as the ‘Normalvertrag Bühne’. If you are not a member, your employer can set his own tariffs which are likely not in your favour.
  • As a professional association and trade union for the music theater and dance ensembles of the German theaters we represent your social, economic and cultural interests – e. g. in the relevant committees of the pension fund of the German stages (Versorgungsanstalt der deutschen Bühnen - VddB), the German organisation for the management of neighbouring rights (Gesellschaft zur Verwertung von Leistungsschutzrechten - GVL), the artists' social security fund (Künstlersozialkasse - KSK), the German Cultural Council (Deutscher Kulturrat), the German Music Council (Deutscher Musikrat) or the International Federation of Actors (FIA).
  • By becoming a member you make a social contribution to the protection of working conditions for music theatre and dance ensembles and help to ensure that socially fair working conditions are also fought for in the future and that their reduction is prevented – we are only strong as a community.
  • We provide legal advice for all your questions concerning employment law, social law and copyright – personally, competently and unbureaucratically, simply by phone or email.
  • We provide legal protection in the courts of arbitration as well as state courts for labour, and social affairs regarding any legal issues arising out of your work life.
  • We provide strike support and ensure your livelihood by paying contributions if your wages are not paid as a result of a strike and lockout.
  • You get the professional journal "Oper&Tanz” (opera&dance) every two months free of charge.

How much does the membership cost?

For example, the monthly fee for fully employed members is 1.0% of their respective fee, for opera choir and dance group members a maximum of 1.0% of the opera choir or dance group fee of the respective stage or 1.0% of the fee paid by a festival organizer for an engagement in a festival ensemble for the duration of the engagement – provided this is based on a collective agreement concluded with the VdO. The fee is reduced to 0.5% of the fee paid by the festival organizer if the festival member also pays membership fees to the VdO due to their commitment to a permanent theatre company.

For members working freelance the fee is 1.0% of their average monthly gross earnings with a minimum fee of 4 Euro.

For unemployed or retired members or members in training the monthly fee is 3 Euro.

The membership fees are fully deductible from taxable income.

Example: With a local basic wage of 3.318 Euro (maximum fee class 2 b tariff area TVöD - status 01/2022) the monthly membership fee is only 33.18 Euro.

This means that your membership also pays off financially for you: You save the cost of legal protection insurance for labour disputes and you do not have to pay any deductibles in the event that legal protection is used.

You also have a guarantee that your legal representation specializes in artists' collective bargaining law. With the VdO there is no initial consultation fee as there is usually with a lawyer and the legal representation (which can quickly exceed 3.000 Euro in a legal dispute) is free of charge for you.

Your membership pays off!

Convinced? How to become a member of the VdO:

Just fill in the online membership form or print the membership form and send it, complete with your personal data, to the following address:

Vereinigung deutscher Opern- und Tanzensembles e. V. (VdO)
Moritz Volkenborn
Ludwigkirchplatz 2
10719 Berlin

For any further questions about membership, please contact us here!

Contact

For legal questions, collective bargaining and general association matters:
Vereinigung deutscher Opern- und Tanzensembles e. V. (VdO)
Head office
Tobias Könemann, Managing Director
Kolumbastraße 5
50667 Köln
Tel.: 0221 / 277 946-70
Fax: 0221 / 277 946-71
koenemann(at)vdoper.de

For legal questions, collective bargaining and general association matters:
Vereinigung deutscher Opern- und Tanzensembles e. V. (VdO)
Berlin office
Gerrit-Michael Wedel, Deputy Managing Director
Ludwigkirchplatz 2
10719 Berlin
Tel: 030 / 884723-0
Fax: 030 / 884723-23
wedel(at)vdoper.de
Consultation hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 2 p.m. - 5 p.m.

For declarations of membership , questions concerning the payment of your membership fee, bank details, change of address, change of employer, accepting and turning down volunteer work for the VdO, recruitment bonus, anniversaries, case of death, dismissals etc., please contact:
Vereinigung deutscher Opern- und Tanzensembles e. V. (VdO)
Box office, membership administration
Moritz Volkenborn
Ludwigkirchplatz 2
10719 Berlin
Tel: 030 / 8847 23-50
Fax: 030 / 8847 23-23
hauptkasse(at)vdoper.de

Public relations officer and representative for dance:
Vereinigung deutscher Opern- und Tanzensembles e. V. (VdO)
Jörg Löwer
Tel.: 01590 / 625 46 46
joerg.loewer(at)vdoper.de

Editorial coordination Oper&Tanz:
Barbara Haack
Tel: 0941 / 94 593 12
Fax: 0941 / 94 593 50
haack(at)nmz.de