Klarinet Archive - Posting 000693.txt from 1996/10

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Decisions, decisions...
Date: Sun, 27 Oct 1996 17:43:08 -0500

> On Tue, 22 Oct 1996, Kelly Rohm wrote:

> > Is there money out
> > there or do you find yourself teching just to get by? ...

...to which Richard Johnson replied:

> Did you watch "Mr. Holland's Opus"? If not you should rent it. Wonderful
> movie. Music was what Mr. Holland really wanted to do, but he ended up
> teaching to get by. But it wasn't really a bad thing.

This is all very confusing to me. Teaching music to students "just
to get by" ?? It's made to sound as if there were something shameful or
unrewarding about the art of teaching one's skills and knowledge to
younger aspiring musicians. I can't think of many things more noble than
passing one's legacy onto future generations. And being an active
orchestral player who doesn't make enough from gigs to support himself, I
take enormous pleasure, and derive substantial fulfillment, from
complementing my income by teaching younger students how to play the
clarinet -- rather than bagging groceries at the local supermarket or
doing some other non-music related job to pay the rest of my bills. I
have innumerable other interests in life, but my dream was always to
"make it", to wholly support myself, by musical means -- putting music
first in my life and pursuing the OTHER ambitions as hobbies on the side
in my spare time. Clark Fobes has a lucrative and stimulating clarinet
repair and products business, freelancing with the San Francisco
Symphony, Ballet, and Opera orchestras when somebody gets sick or an
extra body is needed. I'm sure if you asked him, he'd say "Hell YES I'd
rather have a fulltime gig with an orchestra", but I doubt he'll ever
utter regrets about how things actually turned out. He could have ended
up sitting in a desk job typing memos 9-to-5, or doing something else
that has nothing to do with his passion for music -- all the while, still
performing with San Francisco's world-class orchestras on the side.
Given a choice, I'd rather teach, or repair, or computer-engrave
composers' scores -- SOMEthing to with music -- for primary financial
support while honing my skills and developing my performance
career...until the day I win that job with Big Name Symphony Orchestra,
if it ever comes. Having spent the years supporting myself in law offices,
real estate offices, and managing a multimedia company, doing something
musical like teaching clarinet to others finally gave me hope that I
could involve music as an integral part (no calculus pun intended) of my
daily work life and not have to rejoin the corporate rat race which once
sucked away all of my creative artistic energy. If teaching is considered
"just getting by" by some, I'm HAPPY to do it and do it well.

-- End of Neil's verbosely fatuous editorial --