Klarinet Archive - Posting 000286.txt from 1998/06

From: Lee Hickling <hickling@-----.Net>
Subj: Re: [kl] re:pit rate
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 10:38:08 -0400

Chris Hoffman wrote

> Payment for music is
>so pitifully low in my area, I want to go somewhere else. For example, I
only
>get $25 to play the organ for a church service, $75 a month to play for two
>choirs, which consists of 3 hours of practices, and two church services a
>month. (On second thought, maybe this job pays well.) But for weddings,
etc.
>my teacher told me that a pianist/organist can make $200+ in big cities,
where
>in smaller towns, they cringe at $100!

I don't know where you're located, Chris, but in the Episcopal Diocese of
Washington, one of the country's most affluent metro areas, the recommended
(not required) minimum is $50 a service. That's far from princely, right?
Of course, it's way below the Guild of Organists scale, and they want a
contract and vacations to boot, but those guys play in big churches and
cathedrals. In the real world, where most congregations are small, $50
looks big to the vestry or deacons or elders, or whoever makes the church
budget. They only see the one-hour service, with maybe four hymns including
the choir's show-off anthem, plus perhaps some liturgical music. You and I
know about the preparation, which may include picking the music to fit the
lectionary (a highly skilled job), making arrangements or transpositions
(more skilled labor), our individual practice, and rehearsal with the
singers -- not to mention travel if you live outside an urban area. My net
pay per service, not counting mileage, is around $12-15 an hour.

> (sigh) I wish there was a way that
>prices could be set

The only hope is to bargain hard, and be prepared to pass up a gig if the
pay is insulting. There's no other way nowadays. When I lived in the Utica,
NY, area, decades back when the American Federation of Musicians was
strong, I had an AFM card and wouldn't touch a job for less than scale. Too
many guys would, though, and after a while the union had lost all its clout
because there were so few union clubs left. That's part of the story
called, "Whatever became of the musicians' union?"

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

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