Klarinet Archive - Posting 000047.txt from 1997/05

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.edu>
Subj: Music, performance, and NO marching bands
Date: Fri, 2 May 1997 18:17:03 -0400

> my apologies, I could go on, as I am sure many of you could, for hours.
> This is, and should be a relevant discussion for anyone who desires and is
> willing to attempt at a career in performance. However, as usual things
> are not black and white. . .

No apologies necessary. Your thoughts on the industry are well-
articulated and very insightful. Thank you for the inside scoop
on the Boston Pops scenario. The truth about the decline in stability
of America's large orchestras is an upsetting one, and you make an
interesting point about the expenses of those organizations. A
few decades ago, when the strikes and bankruptcies were not of
such frequency as today, the major orchestras were pumping up
their salaries in order to attract the world's major talent.
I wonder if any of them imagined that base pay would reach the
current $70 - 100K figures of groups like San Francisco,
Philadelphia, and the Met. With audiences and revenue on the
decline, is there any likelihood that orchestras will freeze or
roll back their pay scales to fend off bankruptcy? Or have
attempts to do so been the cause of the strikes and bankruptcies
we've seen thus far?

At any rate, I thank you (as well as Ed Lacy and the other guy,
Gary I think) for piloting the discussion toward more relevant
shores. It's a safe bet that most of us would rather make our
living in an orchestra than a marching band, so I'm glad that
we're consuming bandwidth where it counts.

Neil