Klarinet Archive - Posting 000632.txt from 1998/03

From: "Kevin Fay" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: Re: Curtis & Bill Gates (or . . . get the other degree too)
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 18:48:00 -0500

Funny you should ask. The answer: none that I know of.

Allow me to elaborate. Aside from being a highly mediocre clarinet
player, I am a corporate attorney at . . . you guessed it, Microsoft.
As far as I know, there are no Curtis grads here. You would not believe
the number of musicians that are here, however. Microsoft has its own
choir, orchestra and wind ensemble (all of which are pretty standard
community-band quality).

There is another subset of musicians here, though, at a high
professional level--for example, the second and third on-call trumpet
players w/ the Seattle Symphony both are Microsofties. (And both make a
whole pile more money than the full-time symphony gig).

Two points in this rambling. First, you should absolutely take the
"other" program in your double major into account. Most musicians don't
play their horns for a living--they have to teach, or wait tables, or
write contracts. Other folks I know who play entirely for their living
have anything but an affluent life style. Face it--there are only 500
or so full-time orchestra gigs in the U.S., and many schools besides
Eastman and Julliard are cranking out graduates trying to fill them. Do
the math.

Second, this lack of professional opportunity is no reason to quit
playing. In the orchestra and wind ensemble I regularly play with,
virtually every musician has a performance degree (or the equivalent
amount of performance experience from college). Several work at
Microsoft. Others are architects, college professors (not music),
physicians and assorted other under-achievers. Remember high school,
when it seemed like all the smart kids were in band? They were.

I was an editor of the law review my last year of law school. As an
informal poll of the law review members, I asked each of them if they
had played an instrment. Most had--but FIFTY-EIGHT PERCENT of the law
review editorial board had played clarinet at one time or another.

'Nuff said.

kjf

----Original Message Follows----
From: DGross1226 <DGross1226@-----.com>
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 01:10:52 EST
Subject: Curtis & Bill Gates

In a message dated 98-03-09 11:12:36 EST, you write:

<< Curtis is one of the ultimate schools - IF you make it. >>

It seems we've forgotten the original question about a dual major. Does
anyone know how many Curtis graduates are currently working for
Microsoft?

Don Gross
La Canada, California

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