And yet another article proving my point: Orchestra Members are Unhappy People
And my all time favorite: Orchestra Musicians Rank their Job Below PRISON EMPLOYEEES! in the New York Times, research done at Harvard.
Now, this morning I woke up with a much better look on life. It is sunnier here, which truly makes a difference, and I had good conversations with both my mom and Kevin last night.
Although, I have not made any decisions yet, just the thought of other possibilities has already improved my morale. I point these articles out because I feel like I have to prove something...that I am not insane and turning on something that I love(d).
In the article in the NY Times, they state that string quartet members rank their jobs up at the very top in job satisfaction. I believe it. Do you know how many professional string quartets there are in the country? I looked it up. There are quite a few actually, about a page of them. Do you know how many of them actually make enough money to live on and have regular performance opportunities? From the ones on the list I could come up with less than TEN!
Here is my other concern: the life of a free lance musician.
- no health insurance
- live gig to gig, which is fun in your twenties, but how will you feel when you hit that over 35 mark and you are still playing in 4-5 regional orchestras, playing weddings, and teaching the occasional child?
- small orchestras are constantly going under, if we haven't noticed we are in a financial meltdown...who do you think is the first to get cut? Doctors?
- Starting salaries for small orchestras range from $14,000-$20,000 a year
- Considering that most students take out in between $45,000 - $200,000 in loans for their degrees in music, $14,000 scares me.
- There are about a million violinists and at the moment, currently TODAY there are 33 job openings WORLD WIDE! ( http://www.musicalchairs.info/OrchJobsUSNavEnglish.htm)
Reasons I would be a lawyer:
- Intellectual challenge
- Help people
- Represent someone or some group for a good cause (like musicians or educators)
- New challenges every case
1 comment:
There's a good documentary out there called "Freeway Philharmonic". It's about the ups and downs in the life of freelance musicians in the San Francisco area
The lawyer idea has some positive parts. But I would say that most law students I know are even more unhappy than music students, so perhaps it's the ending salary that makes the difference. But I agree, whatever it is, just thinking about all the options available to you can be liberating.
Post a Comment