 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: claclaws
Date: 2005-09-15 00:59
I heard yesterday from my fellow clarinet player at our amateur ensemble, that one of the employees at a nailshop was former clarinet major...
Lucy Lee Jang
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Author: Katrina
Date: 2005-09-15 01:21
Well, Ken,
I do let out a room, and I do work 22 hours a week at a retail store that (surprisingly) provides me with health benefits!
I also teach clarinet, and perform with two ensembles...It's not an easy life, that's for sure!
And I don't make as much as even an underpaid orchestral musician!
Katrina
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2005-09-15 06:18
Thanks for the article Ken. A couple of innaccuracies on Mr Lebrecht's behalf:
1. No principal flute player in London will be able earn a 6 figure salary (in British pounds) purely from an orchestral position. A good salary would be about half that. Not sure what Lebrecht means by "with the inclusion of commercial and technological opportunities"?
2. If I read correctly he implies that principal players in German orchestras can earn $300000. Rubbish!
Mr Lebrecht makes good points, but it's a shame he feels he has to exaggerate the issues in order to get people to read his articles/books.
Post Edited (2005-09-15 06:30)
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2005-09-15 06:28
Just read the other article. It said that musicians from the ENO (English National Opera) and Royal Opera House also took part in the survey. Both of these orchestras are based in London.
Norman Lebrecht: "The survey specifically excluded London orchestras"
Sounds like Mr Lebrecht is specifically exluding some of the facts!
The Gramophone article also mentioned that 44% of the musicians who earned an income outside of the orchestra made it from teaching. I'd think that was fairly normal for all orchestral musicians in the world.
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Author: Chris Hill
Date: 2005-09-16 03:37
Look again at the figures used in the article. The salaries in the American and German orchestras are listed in dollars, which means that they are about half the figure would be in pounds. (I don't know the going conversion today.)
Chris
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Author: allencole
Date: 2005-09-16 04:04
It's a sad situation to say the least, but as Lebrecht points out, there are plenty of actors, dancers and visual artists waiting tables and working temp jobs.
Many have far too narrow a focus to work in music full-time, and this is where "commercial and technological opportunities" do tend to ring a bell. Given the context, this probably means things like session work, arranging, or copying.
There are some frightening realities out there. One that hit me some years ago came when talking to a colleague who had been hired for a road band as "sax player and drum machine programmer." A local trumpet professor recently related a stint on the road where his job title was trumpet, but his primary job was harmony vocals. My college clarinet professor got heavily involved in Amway.
Full-time music is generally going to demand very well-rounded skills & knowledge, a very open mind, and a very inexpensive lifestyle.
Allen Cole
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2005-09-16 05:59
"...the pay in top US and German orchestras, where 22 year-olds make $100,000 for a 20 hour week and principals earn three times as much"
This implies that principal players in top German and American orchestras earn $300000. I don't know about America, but this certainly isn't true in Germany.
$300000 = £165000 = 244000 Euro
No principal player earns that in any orchestra in Europe.
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Author: Ben
Date: 2005-09-16 06:49
What about the Berlin Philharmonic? I had always figured they were one of the world's best paid orchestras. I think the starting sallary for the MET orchestra in NY is over $200,000. Is the average cost of living in Europe that much lower than the US?
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Author: Bradley
Date: 2005-09-16 11:53
I had heard the MET salary was closet to $300,000 or at for principal, which would be the only example of what he was talking about.
Bradley
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Author: Liquorice
Date: 2005-09-16 21:43
"Is the average cost of living in Europe that much lower than the US?"
No. Check out the Mercer survey:
http://www.finfacts.com/costofliving3.htm
I live in Zürich (7th most expensive city in the world). A top principal salary in Zürich doesn't go higher than around 120000 CHF, which is about 95000 USD. New York falls 13th on the Mercer survey. So if you're earning 300000 USD in New York then I'd say your doing pretty well!
The Berlin Philharmonic earn better than other German orchestras, but nowhere near what Norman Lebrecht claims.
I see that London is the 3rd most expensive city in the world. You've got to feel sorry for London's orchestral musicians!
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Author: Bradley
Date: 2005-09-17 00:06
Liquorice....I had no idea you lived in Zürich! Maybe I did, but I forgot- highly likely. Either way, you must know of Michael Reid then. I studied with him in Blonay this summer, and it was great, I really enjoyed learning from him and his colleagues- not to mention your amazing country. Can you email me so I can have your address and we can speak more?
Bradley
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Author: larryb
Date: 2005-09-17 02:21
How about Lorenzo da Ponte? When he came to America, he ended up selling vegetables from a push cart in Philadelphia, among other things.
I wish I knew why that was relevant.
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Author: BelgianClarinet
Date: 2005-09-18 11:19
You all should come over to Belgium ;-) Brussels is only on 41th place (and Antwerp where I live is a lot cheaper).
Unfortunately we don't have that many orchestra's, they don't pay that much (not bad either, and once appointed sofar have been offering a stable position), they aren't that famous (no bad either, just good average).
On top of that, some of them work a lot with freelancers, because they don't have the budget to fill every seat with an appointed musician.
this is the antwerp or actually flemisch (=northern Belgium) one :
www.defilharmonie.be (partly in english)
this is the brussels (or actually National Orchestra) one
http://www.nob-onb.be/ (only dutch/french)
Flemisch radio orchestra (this orchestra played to original soundtrack = as used in the movie) of the Aviator, so they must be 'cheap enough' :-)
http://www.nob-onb.be/
sorry don't know any of the french spaking orchestra's
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Author: vin
Date: 2005-09-19 04:23
Try guidestar.com for the top five salaries of each major orchestra- you'll have to look hard, but it's there. This handy site lists many non-profits' tax returns.
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-09-19 21:56
Those figures quoted for the Met are laughable.
They don't make $300k a year at all. I would figure that they make $110-160k max.
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