Klarinet Archive - Posting 000690.txt from 2001/11

From: "Lacy, Edwin" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: [kl] re: so you want to do this for a living
Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2001 20:59:30 -0500

> Making a living playing clarinet - the same odds as becoming
> a professional
> basketball player. Give up the dream. It is a great hobby, wonderful
> relaxation, enormously fulfilling, but a dead end for
> producing income.

I can't quite accept this assessment wholeheartedly. I NEVER suggest to
students that they give up their dream. However, I do try to give them a
realistic view of the world, and of their chances in it. They should follow
their dream, at least until such time as it becomes apparent that the choice
wasn't a realistic one for them. In the meantime, they must have their
alternative plans in place.

True enough, if one decides to try to make a living as a "clarinet
performer," goes to college or a conservatory and earns Bachelor's and
Master's degrees in performance, and then takes audition after audition,
with no thought as to the possibility of doing something else, then I would
agree, this is tantamount to beating one's head against a stone wall.
However, there are many ways to make a living in music. A dead end? I
don't think so. I've been making a living in music for well over 40 years,
and while I am far from wealthy, I have never been unemployed even one day
since graduating from my undergraduate university. While finances have at
times been less than easy, neither I nor my family have ever gone hungry.
And I have received great satisfaction from being in and around music all
day, every day, and from trying to impart my love of music to the thousands
of students with whom I have come into contact.

I can't imagine a better life.

Dr. Edwin Lacy
University of Evansville
EL2@-----.edu

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