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Author: frank
Date: 2006-11-15 21:59
Starting salary for a 22 year old computer science college grad in the Bay Area/Silicon Valley is between 58k-70k a year. How many orchestras in the counrty pay that high, even after years of tenure? A quick seach on Monster shows that there are at least 1000 computer jobs available in the greater S.F. area. The math is clear and concise. True, computer jobs are less enigmatic and exclusive as the past. But... and a big "but" here...being a just graduated, starting salary low level programmer will pay you better than 95% of ALL ORCHESTRA or full time gigs in the US. I would imagine that said average 22 year old college grad has far less training, expertice and experience than a TOP LEVEL professional musician, yet makes much more money to start. To recap... 58k-70k yearly STARTING SALARY. This isn't alot of money, but for a classical musician it's great pay.
Teahcers get the screwball in salary too. If you make 50k a year in the Bay Area with 5+ years teaching music in middle/high school, you're lucky and doing great! Oh, I forgot to mention, if you make 50k as a teacher or perfomer here, you are poor. Not figuratively, but literally. I believe it is possible to have intense passion for music and do another career. I notice many more amateurs enjoying playing, possibly beacuse when something isn't your job, you appreciate it more. Most working performing musicians with steady gigs (orchestra, band and studio) I know have a life outside of music. They vacation, have friends and family time, hobbies, etc. Most musicians I know who DO NOT have a steady gig think life is about their "art", spending 4 hours a day in a practice room, never having any free time and struggling to survive.
The downside of the steady gig is that it's steady - very easy to become complacent. You become "fat" in essence. Having a stead gig often means not playing music you enjoy. Music becomes work and art can fly out the window, simply beacuse your personal egomaniacal idea of "art" does not pay the bills. Everything looks great from the outside looking in. How many massage therapists of plastic surgeons work on friends and family when off duty? The pluses are obvious and need not be discussed. The plus side to being a struggling artist and freelancer is that you are in chage and write your own ticket. You play what and where you want, when you want. It can be both exciting and frightening all at once! The down sides are obvious and have been discussed ad nauseum. As I pointed in an earlier post, high end careers aside, a starting salary cop in S.F. makes 80k a year. Good for cops, sad for musicians.
Post Edited (2006-11-15 22:03)
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frank |
2006-11-09 18:13 |
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GBK |
2006-11-09 18:51 |
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EuGeneSee |
2006-11-09 19:10 |
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TonkaToy |
2006-11-09 19:06 |
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ginny |
2006-11-09 19:08 |
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jmcgann |
2006-11-09 19:09 |
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David Peacham |
2006-11-09 19:21 |
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tictactux |
2006-11-09 19:39 |
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BassetHorn |
2006-11-09 19:32 |
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EuGeneSee |
2006-11-09 21:30 |
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frank |
2006-11-09 19:56 |
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Sylvain |
2006-11-09 20:19 |
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GBK |
2006-11-09 20:28 |
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seafaris |
2006-11-09 20:42 |
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BassetHorn |
2006-11-09 21:22 |
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Hank Lehrer |
2006-11-09 21:59 |
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kfrank1 |
2006-11-09 22:20 |
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awm34 |
2006-11-09 23:58 |
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Clarinetgirl06 |
2006-11-10 01:17 |
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marzi |
2006-11-10 01:33 |
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ginny |
2006-11-10 01:35 |
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eric293 |
2006-11-10 01:50 |
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mnorswor |
2006-11-10 06:28 |
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skygardener |
2006-11-10 07:35 |
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jmcgann |
2006-11-10 10:53 |
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crnichols |
2006-11-10 12:01 |
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stevesklar |
2006-11-10 12:08 |
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nes |
2006-11-10 12:22 |
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jmcgann |
2006-11-10 13:57 |
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Sylvain |
2006-11-10 14:33 |
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tictactux |
2006-11-10 15:20 |
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lowclarinetman |
2006-11-10 15:51 |
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GBK |
2006-11-10 17:51 |
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elmo lewis |
2006-11-10 18:55 |
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SVClarinet09 |
2006-11-10 20:12 |
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GBK |
2006-11-10 21:41 |
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tictactux |
2006-11-10 21:53 |
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crnichols |
2006-11-10 22:06 |
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tictactux |
2006-11-10 22:10 |
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Terry Stibal |
2006-11-11 00:50 |
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seafaris |
2006-11-11 02:08 |
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Cuisleannach |
2006-11-12 06:58 |
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frank |
2006-11-12 09:59 |
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ChrisArcand |
2006-11-13 02:41 |
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joeyscl |
2006-11-14 23:52 |
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ohsuzan |
2006-11-15 01:54 |
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Terry Stibal |
2006-11-15 15:29 |
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frank |
2006-11-15 15:53 |
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eric293 |
2006-11-15 16:34 |
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tictactux |
2006-11-15 16:42 |
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Terry Stibal |
2006-11-15 20:45 |
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Re: Thoughts on choosing to become a professional musician new |
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frank |
2006-11-15 21:59 |
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Cuisleannach |
2006-11-17 06:42 |
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bawa |
2006-11-17 09:38 |
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DougR |
2006-11-17 15:45 |
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frank |
2006-11-17 15:47 |
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William |
2006-11-17 17:07 |
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Terry Stibal |
2006-11-17 18:13 |
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Cuisleannach |
2006-11-17 23:53 |
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Ralph Katz |
2006-11-18 18:35 |
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bawa |
2006-11-19 17:40 |
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frank |
2006-11-20 07:45 |
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bawa |
2006-11-20 11:09 |
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fiato |
2006-11-25 17:05 |
The Clarinet BBoard
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