Klarinet Archive - Posting 000041.txt from 1994/11

From: Lorne G Buick - Music TA <lgbuick@-----.CA>
Subj: Re: To Professional Clarinett...
Date: Thu, 3 Nov 1994 00:23:20 -0500

On Mon, 31 Oct 1994, Chris W. Castillo wrote:

> What is the spectrum of income of a clarinettist in a symphony?

Ahhh... I just happen to have looked through a table comparing salaries
and working conditions in all the Canadian orchestras. I don't have a copy
handy, but I can remember enough I think:

The lowest paid is Saskatoon: section clarinet there pays a pathetic
C$450 a wk, for about 26 weeks, or under $12,000 a year. Of course one is
expected to teach etc., and do other things during the off season. (Not to
mention the fact that you can buy a house in Saskatoon for $50,000 or so...)

The highest paid Canadian orchestra by far is the Montreal Symphony:
principal clarinet there pays I think $1400 a week for 46 weeks, or about
$65,000 a year. Maybe more. I'm sure some of the American orchestras pay
much more than that...

The upshot of this is that you can make a very good living playing the
clarinet if you're one of the best, but still nowhere near what you could
make by putting the same amount of effort into something else. One of my
teachers advised me "be a musician only if there's nothing else you can
bear to do". I can't say I've followed his advice....