Klarinet Archive - Posting 000271.txt from 2003/03

From: "Trish Mendenhall" <trishm@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] The amateur's dilemma
Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2003 15:47:22 -0500

First of all, ditch the notion that all community bands are "like going =
back
to high school". There are some pretty good community bands out there, =
and
they're good because good musicians chose to get involved. The band is =
only
as good as the group wants and strives to be.

Other opportunities:
Musical theater! If you're flexible, enjoy playing a variety of styles =
at
the drop of a hat, and even better, if you double on other woodwinds, =
there
is probably at least one community theater in your area who could use =
you,
maybe even several shows a year. Some are purely volunteer, some will =
pay
expenses, and some will provide some sort of small honorarium. If =
musicians
are scarce in your area, it's possible the orchestra even gets paid a =
bit
extra :)

Community Colleges - a number of these have bands that are open to =
skilled
non-students. You usually have to pay a usage fee of some sort, but =
it's
usually pretty reasonable. In general, the caliber of musicians is =
pretty
decent - often you're filling out a band that otherwise consists of cc
students, some of whom are intending to go on in music at the university
level. It's certainly worth checking into.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Deidre Calarco [mailto:dleigh@-----.org]=20
> Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2003 11:04 AM
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: [kl] The amateur's dilemma
>=20
>=20
> Classical music is a difficult profession. Many more people=20
> have it as a vocation than can possibly succeed at it, and=20
> therefore the standards are insanely high. This is doubly or=20
> triply true for wind players. The biggest problem is, since=20
> recorded music is so readily available, there's little demand=20
> for amateur performance, especially for those of us who=20
> aren't involved in a church.
>=20
> I'm thinking about boning up on my sax playing and joining a=20
> rock band... Or maybe Klezmer clarinet? Possibly an umpa=20
> band? Or, maybe I'll record myself and manipulate it into=20
> something interesting on my computer. :-)
>=20
> There are always community bands, I guess, but that would be=20
> like being back in high school. I could MAYBE get to where I=20
> could compete for a community orchestra seat, but those are=20
> usually held by young professions, and they usually need the=20
> job. Hum... Maybe I'll try to resuscitate some of the other=20
> lapsed musicians I know and start a chamber music club.
>=20
> Any other ideas? What do all of you other amateurs on the=20
> list do for performance and ensemble playing?
>=20
> -Deidre
>=20
>=20
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>=20

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