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 Orchestra and Teaching Salary
Author: SVSorna05 
Date:   2003-07-13 20:50

I know this all varies but i was wondering at a guess how much could you be expected to recieve in a year of playing in a professional orchestra or teaching at a Middle school or being an assistant or head at a high school. And if you have a Music education degree is the job market suitable thanx Im understandably curious
-Dain-

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 Re: Orchestra and Teaching Salary
Author: allencole 
Date:   2003-07-14 04:46

Here in central Virginia, teachers can start around $30,000. I'm not sure what kind of money the players in the symphony make.

Allen Cole

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 Re: Orchestra and Teaching Salary
Author: Stoops 
Date:   2003-07-14 06:00

I know that a music para professional in Long Island public schools is paid by the hour (bout 20 bucks) for 25 hours/week with health insurance. It's a good first job for someone who wants to be a conductor in the public schools but the hours are somewhat inflexible for one who wishes to perform. Depending on how long one is in a given district, band/orchestra directing can be quite lucrative. Long Island is one of the better places to do it though.

What level orchestra are we talking? You can check the musician's union paper for exact salary quotes. The current jobs available include 2nd/Eb in both Buffalo and Richmond. They pay 40,000 and 32,874 respectively. Principal cl in Kansas City pays 50,194. Principal of the Met pays a big bit more.

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 Re: Orchestra and Teaching Salary
Author: GBK 
Date:   2003-07-14 09:34

For 2003-2004 many Long Island (NY) school districts will begin at approximately $45,000 for BA Step 1 and most will top out at about $100,000.

Some will even pay slightly more.

Those districts in an area with a lower property value/smaller tax base will pay a bit less...GBK



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 Re: Orchestra and Teaching Salary
Author: William 
Date:   2003-07-14 14:50

To clarify school salary structure, here in WI, all public school teachers are paid the same--grade, middle, high school, academic or exploratory (arts, pshys ed., etc) All start at the same base and progress according to years of experiance and degree achievement (BS, MA or PHD) As to music, in some districts like my old one, the high school band director is given a 6% stipend beyond his/her normal salary to perform at athletic events throughout the year. This, of course, irritated the Middle School band directors who, because of scheduling problems, were forced to run jazz ensemble classes before school and give lessons after school--for no extra pay (but that's another story).

Considering the job market positions available in performance versus education, you most definately have a better chance of making more money in teaching than you do in playing for a living. Although the competition can be equally daunting. A recent teaching vacancy (middle and high schoolband director) in a small town here in Dairyland, USA, attracted fifty highly qualified applicants.

BTW--starting salary in my old school district--Madison, WI--is still less than $30,000. Average salary (2000+ teachers) is around $48,000. University degree and state teacher certification is required. Average per service pay for our MSO is approx $75.00--and they only use three clarinetists, principal being the UW Professor of Clarinet. "Do the math"

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 Re: Orchestra and Teaching Salary
Author: george 
Date:   2003-07-14 17:49

Take a look:

http://personal.zcloud.net/timzart/orchestrapay.htm

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 Re: Orchestra and Teaching Salary
Author: Hank Lehrer 
Date:   2003-07-14 18:16

Hi,

I remember when I started my first teaching job in 1963 for $5600 which included $200 for each of the three years I had spent in the Army. It was a good salary. Cleveland was way ahead at a base of $5000 :-).

I think there was a great discussion about symphony salaries back a couple of months ago. Try http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=113440&t=113223#reply_113440 for some salaries.

HRL



Post Edited (2003-07-14 18:20)

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 Re: Orchestra and Teaching Salary
Author: diz 
Date:   2003-07-14 22:21

As advertised today - Principal Contrabassoon (similar wage for other wind principals) in the Melbourne Symphony: $AU72,779 = $US48,843 (at today's exchange rate .67 to the dollar). I wonder how this compares to a similar standard orchestra (Baltimore or San Francisco for example) - any one got any idea?

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 Re: Orchestra and Teaching Salary
Author: Mark Pinner 
Date:   2003-07-14 22:50

The Melbourne Symphony job quotes an AU$72,779 but this is misleading. This is a package figure and includes instrument allowance, which should be bigger for a contra player!, superannuation guarantee of 9% and an offset for penalty rates. The actual salary component is not much over $50,000.

In Australia or specifically New South Wales music teachers salaries are dependent on qualifications initially but rise to the princely sum of circa $AU55,000 for a classroom teacher on the highest increment. Head teachers , leading teachers, deputy principals and principals get from about $65,000 to just under $90,000 depending on the size of the school. Primary school teachers get a bit less overall although they are allegedly on the same incremental scale. Instrumental teachers are not generally employed by Education Department but work privately within the system for around $40 to $50 per hour and up to about $80 for conducting but this is dependent on the affluence of the particular area. Other states in Australia hire instrumental teachers through their respective departments and the salary scale is similar to classroom teachers although invaraibly part time. The situation in New South Wales, the biggect state with he biggest city ie. Sydney are treated like ****. Private schools are a slightly different matter but the pay is still ordinary.

As a contrast relatively junior employees in the finance industry, banks, insurance etc. earn far more than teachers. It is all supposedly down to their value to the company or how much money they allegedly make for the company. Slap the word executive or manager into their title and up it goes up further. These people use other peoples money and treat it like their own, are responsible for the outrageous cost of bank fees, insurance, poor performing investment funds etc.. All he things that the average person complains about. In other words they make peoples life difficult and are rewarded more handsomely than those responsible for the future of the nation ie. teaching kids. There is no way that employees in the financial sector deserve more than teachers! The value system is well and truly distorted . I am waiting with baited breath for MBA type responses to this missal. The same MBA's/Economists/Politicians etc. that, armed with a little knowledge think that they can tell teachers how to do their job, which happens all to often. Their own productivity level is in fact from the cosumers point of view dubious. In the current climate of the Liberal market place we can expect no better. If only the concept of the free market was exactly that but it isn't. The market place is in fact controlled and manipulated by the most evil of forces, CORPORATE GREED and POLITICAL CORRUPTION! The stock market news used to be a small snippet at the end of the news sandwiched between the feel good closing story and the sports news. Now it is ofen the lead story. Oh my god the Dow is down and crikey look at the Footsey. The Nikkei Dow has **** itself again. Big bloody deal, we all still need to get up in the morning and continue on with life.

The talent level displayed by gifted musicians, artists and teachers can't be learnt via spurious business degrees. It is innate talent and should be rewarded appropriately.

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 Re: Orchestra and Teaching Salary
Author: Henry 
Date:   2003-07-14 23:27

Mark: Amen! Except in the US this tendency is even more pronounced!
Henry

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 Re: Orchestra and Teaching Salary
Author: Synonymous Botch 
Date:   2003-07-14 23:30

Wow.

And I thought my job wearing a Chicken soot to hand out Fryer Flyers had me steamed...while we're having our whinge fest, enni-wiegh...

At least in Amerika, musicians make lotsa money and honey rains from the sky (every other Tuesday).

******

The ONLY musicians I know that make a decent living must tour constantly.

They play traditional forms of American music (Bluegrass being the oldest)
and live simply. They sell their recordings independently.

They play the sort of music that the general populace will change plans to go and hear (and, sorry that does NOT include Shostakovic or other more cerebral pursuits after a day of bringing the World to the brink of ruin)... in short, musicians that make a good living give the public what it wants and avoid the pitfalls of chemical crutches, groupies and ungulate wildlife on lonely roads.

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 Re: Orchestra and Teaching Salary
Author: Synonymous Botch 
Date:   2003-07-14 23:30

Okay, maybe an occasional groupie...

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 Re: Orchestra and Teaching Salary
Author: diz 
Date:   2003-07-14 23:58

Mark - you gotta love "economic rationalism" and Harvard.

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 Re: Orchestra and Teaching Salary
Author: Mark Charette 
Date:   2003-07-15 01:08

Mark Pinner wrote:
...

Sounds like sour grapes ...

Why do you think that a musician is worth more per year (or as much as) a management employee? Or an engineer (such as myself)? Or is a teacher worth more than either? It's an interesting perspective ... I spend more time working (in hours on the job) as an engineer than the professional musicians that I know. The same goes for teachers (and I have not nearly the benefits that teachers do - my wife is a teacher, along with a sister and a brother-in-law, so I can do a very fair comparison when it comes to benefits). My wife's medical/dental/vision insurance, for instance, would cost me near $1000/mo., and she has an excellent pension/vacation package. She's a paraprofessional, so her hourly wage isn't all that good, but those benefits are incredible.

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 Re: Orchestra and Teaching Salary
Author: Synonymous Botch 
Date:   2003-07-15 11:53

Not to mention vacation time...

How many mandatory vacation days, in Aus, anyway?

SOMEbody pays for that.

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 Re: Orchestra and Teaching Salary
Author: Bennett 2017
Date:   2003-07-15 14:58

Take a look at http://www.bls.gov/oco/home.htm for a national overview
of employment prospects. Provides info beyond a limited number of personal anecdotes.



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