Klarinet Archive - Posting 000590.txt from 1998/10

From: Jeff Carwile <carwile@-----.org>
Subj: RE: [kl] The rich get richer
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 03:30:21 -0400

Rich? What musicians do you know?! Please realize that many
"professionals" are making less money at their full-time teaching or
small symphony jobs than secretaries and entry level business positions
(nothing against secretaries!)...

I've been to auditions where the competition is absolutely fierce for a
$17,000 job in some remote corner of the United States...

As long as the best person gets the job, then what would you want to
happen? I don't think we can say it is a bad behavior to play gigs one
can get - especially when its for peanuts anyway.

Required Plug somewhat off subject: If you are interested in a serious
study about the income gap between rich and poor and whether the rich
are getting richer, there is an interesting study released by the Public
Policy Institute of CA, a non-profit research organization for whom I
work. http://www.ppic.org and check out the papers on income gap. It
is California-focused, but does have some comparisons to other states.
It is not music specific, of course.

Jeff Carwile
carwile@-----.org

-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel A. Paprocki [mailto:danbascl@-----.net]
Subject: [kl] The rich get richer

This is an observation that I've had over a number of years. I welcome
everyone's opinions. I have noticed that professional clarinetists
(ones
that have a full time position playing or teaching) don't think twice
about taking extra jobs (part or full time) in their area or out of
their
area that another clarinetist (unemployed or underemployed) could do at
the same level of expertise. Understand, I'm talking about taking jobs
that other professional musicians who DON'T have a full time gig could
do
just as well. Is this the right thing to do?
There are full time professors that take part time playing jobs in
order to make some extra "fun" money above their main income, a job that

someone else could use to support themselves. There are full time
performers who also teach at a college (full time) which leaves one
less
full time job that someone else could live on. So we have one musician
making two full time incomes - nice, right? The music field is
overcrowded with competent performers and teachers who have to do
non-music jobs to just exist. How about a clarinetist who flys accross
the country just to play in a regional orchestra (no full time members)
when there are clarinetists within an hour of this orchestra who could
do
an excellent job.
Is this the right thing to do? What is the feeling out there? We all

talk about how tough auditions are and that there are dozens of fine
clarinetists (or other instruments) out there. So why do some people
hog
the gigs? I've heard from other players in other cities with the same
problems so I think this isn't an isolated problem.

Dan

************************************************************************
***
*
Daniel Paprocki
Clarinet & Bass Clarinet
Columbus, Ohio
************************************************************************
***
*

------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Unsubscribe from the Digest:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------