Klarinet Archive - Posting 000229.txt from 1998/06

From: Lee Hickling <hickling@-----.Net>
Subj: Re: [kl] re:pit rate
Date: Sat, 6 Jun 1998 13:29:13 -0400

After Jerry Lamie complained that $200 a performance seemed low to him for
three hours of doubling and tripling, David Blumberg wrote:

>I have students who play in polka bands who only get $60-80 for that much
>playing. Look at it this way - if you had a 5 day week job that paid you
>$1000 a week (your $200 x 5), and you only worked 3 hours a day. Would you
>complain?
>The rate varies from city to city. In New York city , maybe it's on the low
>side. In Phila. it's probably a bit more then scale (I don't do show's -
>only Orchestral stuff). I know of concert band jobs that players in Va.
>Beach, Va. only get $50-60 a service!

Jerry, you get no sympathy from me either. I make $50-60 for one-hour
church organ gigs that require up to an hour of rehearsal and frequently
another hour of prep time -- not to mention travel. For teaching I get
$16-20 an hour. Asking much more for either would price me out of the local
market, I'll take all the $200 pit band gigs I can get, or even the
$100-120 three and a half hour big band jobs. For people with day jobs who
play partly for kicks that's not bad pay anywhere - and people like that
are my competition. Trouble is, I'm a free-lance musician, teacher and
writer. I'm not complaining. The psychic income from doing what I like to
do and not having to keep office hours is worth a lot of money. If only I
could explain that to my creditors some months.

Lee Hickling <hickling@-----.net>

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