Klarinet Archive - Posting 000077.txt from 2005/09

From: Adam Michlin <amichlin@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] RE: Coast Guard Band
Date: Thu, 08 Sep 2005 21:19:46 -0400

Dear Bryan,

I cannot speak to the Coast Guard Band, but I have friends who play in the
reserve bands and a good friend who plays full time with the Marines (not
in the prestigious President's Own.. that is an entirely different beast).

Simply put, they play their ahems off. A good friend of mine who used to
play with the Army was fond of telling me the story of marching his
baritone saxophone in a military parade the day he forgot to bring his neck
strap. They work *very* hard for their money. Service bands provide
entertainment for almost every conceivable event (from jazz combos for
social events to marching bands for parades). To compare the work they do
with orchestral musicians is to compare apples to oranges.

Oh, and the real fun is that many of them also train for infantry and other
military non-playing jobs. Not to mention basic training...

-Adam

PS: As to the Mozart, the reason everyone uses it is that no other piece so
quickly establishes about 90% of what you need to know to evaluate a
player. Too easy for amateurs, too hard for professionals and all that.

At 09:25 AM 9/8/2005, Bryan Crumpler wrote:
>>All persons entering the Coast Guard Band are enlisted at the pay
>>grade of E-6, as Musician (Petty Officer) First Class. Starting
>>salary between $37,128 and $41,760; full military benefits, 30 days
>>annual vacation and pension plan.
>
>Wow... this really boggles my mind... so I'm going to throw out a few
>questions from the peanut gallery....
>
>How is it that these military band jobs can always pay decent salaries
>with benefits with guaranteed contracts for 4+ years and vacation plus
>retirement... whereas most orchestras these days (supposedly jobs that are
>the see all be all for musicians) can barely pay more than 4 or 5 thousand
>a year in services which aren't guaranteed, have no tenure and no contract
>terms beyond 1 year... like 98% of the openings on musical chairs right now?
>
>Do military bands have _that_ big an audience or does the gov't think many
>people would be turned off by the fact that it is a military group, and
>therefore are offering these benefits to be competitive? I mean, right now
>this is the best clarinet job on the market for anyone under 35.
>
>If you can't be gay and enlisted in the military in the US, can you be gay
>in a US military band? Haha! I'm not knockin' gay people... just wondering.
>
>And why on earth do they always have a long list of orchestral excerpts
>with the Mozart Concerto as a required solo for a band audition? Shouldn't
>they be pulling excerpts from Lord of the Rings or Armenian Dances or
>Sonoran Desert Holiday, with a concerto solo written for concert band
>accompaniment or something???? I mean... how often are you going to use an
>A-clarinet....... in Band? Haha
>
>The peanuts have spoken.

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