 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-02-10 06:57
Dear Board,
If you happen to be in the Brimingham AL area, try to catch this event featuring the current principal clarinetist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Morrie Backun (to name a few).
http://southeasternclarinets.blogspot.com
..............Paul Aviles
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Author: yaseungkim
Date: 2015-02-10 08:08
Jessica Phillips, she has so many useful and a few useless tips on youtube... gotta see her in person when you have an opportunity.
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Author: tylerleecutts
Date: 2015-02-10 09:58
How is she principal when Boris won the job over a year ago? Maybe I missed something.
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Author: vin
Date: 2015-02-10 10:24
The MET Orchestra appoints two principals for basically every instrument because the workload is so intense: they often play 7 operas a week. Boris and Anthony McGill (on leave) are both Principals. Jessica Phillips is Acting Principal.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2015-02-10 17:11
I'll be there. Looking forward to it!
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: yaseungkim
Date: 2015-02-10 18:50
Anthony McGill moved onto NY Phil for more money, more prestige... etc.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2015-02-10 19:25
yaseungkim wrote:
> Anthony McGill moved onto NY Phil for more money, more
> prestige... etc.
You a buddy of his or are you guessing? People move around from orchestra to orchestra for many different reasons.
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Author: yaseungkim
Date: 2015-02-10 21:44
If Anythony McGill was my buddy, I would not be so concerned about my son's next recital. Apparently he gave some very invaluable master class on how to better perform K622.
NY Phil's pay and the Met pay do not compare for clarinetists, look it up.
Only a loser goes from the Phil to the Met to play clarinet on their own (of course, I am not saying you are a loser if you play for the Met - I think it is a huge accomplishment in ones life if you are good enough to play there, but you are a loser to play for the Met when you are good enough to play for the Big 5)... They may choose to play for Philadelphia Orchestra over the NY Phil as in Ricardo Morales... the Met might be the premier destination for vocalists, but not for the instrumentalists, you shoot for the Big5 - and the Met is not among one of them.
Post Edited (2015-02-10 22:08)
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-02-10 22:29
Hmmmmm..........
Interesting analysis. One gains much greater musical insight playing in a group where you transpose regularly and learn to match styles with the finest singers in the world. I think even Ricardo Morales himself attributes his skill today with being a Met Alumnus.
That said, the members of the Berlin Philharmonic and Vienna Philharmonic rotate out with their respective opera orchestras.
I don't see pay as a step up or down. If pay was a motivator for any of us, none of us would be musicians.
.............Paul Aviles
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2015-02-10 22:32
yaseungkim wrote:
> Only a loser goes from the Phil to the Met to play clarinet on
> their own (of course, I am not saying you are a loser if you
> play for the Met - I think it is a huge accomplishment in ones
> life if you are good enough to play there, but you are a loser
> to play for the Met when you are good enough to play for the
> Big 5)...
Very interesting analysis. I think your view of music and accomplishment are much narrower than mine.
I'll wager we hear Alan Gilbert conduct the Met. What a loser ...
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Author: yaseungkim
Date: 2015-02-10 22:40
> I don't see pay as a step up or down. If pay was a motivator for any of us, none of us would be musicians.
With comment like that, you got me Paul A.
You'd have to be a masochist to want to play for the Met over the Phil when there is such a disparity in pay. This is why I am not a musician, rather, an engineer.
I have trained my son to say to me as I ask him "what do you want to be..." he will say, a medical doctor. I ask him what do you want to do for fun, he says, play clarinet...
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Author: yaseungkim
Date: 2015-02-10 22:45
My comment was on clarinetists, conductors are different. Conductors make so much more money than the clarinetists, that's a different argument. After you make over a certain amount of money, I am not sure if it makes much of difference.
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Author: rmk54
Date: 2015-02-10 23:40
NY Phil's pay and the Met pay do not compare for clarinetists, look it up.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
You really have no idea what you are talking about.
Do you really think the principals make base pay? Does the NY Phil give you 3 months paid vacation? Are all rehearsals at the NY Phil compensated separately?
And yes, I do know, and I didn't have to look it up on the internet!
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2015-02-10 23:55
yaseungkim wrote:
> With comment like that, you got me Paul A.
> You'd have to be a masochist to want to play for the Met over
> the Phil when there is such a disparity in pay. This is why I
> am not a musician, rather, an engineer.
I am a working engineer, and have been for over 40 years. I do it because I have a passion for it, not for the money, and I most certainly have taken cuts in pay over the years when moving from company to company for various reasons - stability for my family, more interesting work, good location, something closer to my passion at the time.
Our priorities are different; yours are not wrong, just as mine are not wrong. Money doesn't figure overwhelmingly into my equation unless there isn't enough to be comfortable, but everyone has their own sense and level of comfort.
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Author: yaseungkim
Date: 2015-02-11 00:14
Here's what they say in the print media as to what the musicians make in NY. Not a bad pay... I must admit.
But I would never want my children to be a professional musician, I would go and break all their clarinet I bought for them if they tell me they want to be a professional musician =)
http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/metropolitan-operas-tax-filing-reveals-salary-details/
The Met's tax filing also shows the ten next highest salaries, which include those of the company’s CFO, two assistant general managers, two lawyers, three stagehands, chorusmaster Donald Palumbo, and concertmaster David Chan, whose earnings of $394,652 made him the highest-paid rank-and-file musician.
In a statement of the company's finances released this spring, the Met said that the average full-time chorus member in fiscal year 2013 earned $200,000, plus $100,000 in benefits. The average full-time orchestra member earned $200,000 plus $85,000 in benefits. The unions say that those figures were inflated due to improper production scheduling, resulting in significant overtime.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/18/arts/music/deal-gives-philharmonic-musicians-modest-gains.html?_r=0
Those raises will lift the base salary at the Philharmonic, which is now $137,644 a year, to $146,848 in September 2016, officials said, which is still less than the current base salary for players at the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. (Of course, top players at all the orchestras can make more than twice their base salaries, and comparing the value of all compensation, including health and retirement benefits, is more difficult.)
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Author: rmk54
Date: 2015-02-11 17:12
But I would never want my children to be a professional musician, I would go and break all their clarinet I bought for them if they tell me they want to be a professional musician
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What a great attitude! I'm afraid you are going to be a lonely old man.
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Author: sax panther
Date: 2015-02-11 17:53
that base pay is still more money than I could ever dream of earning from both of my jobs added together - certainly not in the "loser" category!
I don't have kids, but if they were able to make that much and have the added bonus of their salary coming from doing something that they loved, I'd be extremely proud of them.
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Author: yaseungkim
Date: 2015-02-12 01:21
RE: rmk54
> What a great attitude! I'm afraid you are going to be a lonely old man.
My kids will thank me later for not letting them become a professional musician. My son already told me he wanted to be an engineer like "dad." And I told him he want to be a medical doctor, not an engineer. And I also told him I will support all his musical endeavors if he wants to go to Juilliard or Curtis, as long as this is only to support his vocational interest.
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Author: tylerleecutts
Date: 2015-02-12 04:46
No, they will resent you for being narrow minded and unrealistic.
And sorry, you don't have to go to Julliard or Curtis to be a professional.
In the end, your children will do whatever the hell they want to do with THEIR lives, because they're not living YOURS. Understand?
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Author: yaseungkim
Date: 2015-02-12 06:13
Ha
>In the end, your children will do whatever the hell they want to do >with THEIR lives, because they're not living YOURS. Understand?
My kids will turn out to be a musician if they were not practical or if they did not understand to be reasonable. My kids know the average salary of a musician, and an average salary of an engineer. .. and they also know what a medical doctors living standard is and what they do. Knowing my kids are a straight "A" students and the value system I instill in them, it would be a stretch to imagine them turning out as a full time musician.
Odds in making a 6 figure salary as a musician is not good. Odds in making a 6 figure salary as an engineer is easy. My son is looking at one everyday when I come home. Odds in doubling an engineer salary as a dentist is very good, he sees one every time he visits his uncle during holidays. Plus, if you are a medical doctor, you can help those poor people see without charging them money like his other uncle does. Or, provide free dental care to those children whom otherwise couldn't get it in the rural area... like what my brother does. Music is for fun and enjoyment, you want quality of life and share your God given talent and blessings with others in a meaningful way, become a medical doctor I tell them.
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Author: tylerleecutts
Date: 2015-02-12 07:01
6 figures is not "quality of life" to most people. . It's being wealthy.
Maybe your value system should be following your heart and true interests and not generating wealth.
If you don't think music is a good way to share talent and blessings with others in a meaningful way, then you shouldn't be on this board in the first place.
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Author: maxopf
Date: 2015-02-12 07:09
If everyone chose their job based on how much money they made and the ease with which they made it, there would be no more musicians and billions upon billions of engineers and doctors, and the world would be a very dull, quiet, music-less place indeed. I'm certainly not trying to say that your kids shouldn't go into engineering or medicine, it's completely up to you and them - just trying to make a point that, like Mark Charette and tylerleecutts mentioned, money doesn't buy happiness and shouldn't be the only thing taken into consideration when choosing a career. There is little to no point in subjecting oneself to a career where you spend your whole life saying, "wow, I would've been way happier doing ___ for a living" and regretting having not taken the other path.
If your kids love engineering, then by all means they ought to pursue it because it is their passion. But I think they would benefit from knowing they could choose the musical route without their parents threatening to destroy their instruments, their means of expression, that are so terribly valuable to them.
I personally will be studying both music and sciences in college, so that when it comes time to make that decision I will have a good idea of exactly where my passion and ability really lies. I'll also take courses in other subjects - who knows if some new subject will begin to fascinate me?
Post Edited (2015-02-12 07:13)
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Author: yaseungkim
Date: 2015-02-12 07:38
Hey, nobody I know emphasize music education to their children more than me. Did your parents ever take you to an Atelier Artist Service to pick out your instrument and have them adjusted to your liking at 12 years of age? Did your parents get you an R13 when you were only 10 years old because they saw the talent in you? Did they even bother to discover your musical talent and attempted to develop them?
Did your parents take you to a music lesson at a rate of $75/hr while you were only 12 yo? Did you get two music lessons a week to prepare you for your recitals. One clarinet lesson with a clarinettist and another lesson with a pianist to accompany you for your recital?
How old were you when you got your first clarinet in key of A, did you get it when you were 12? How old were you when you did your first K622 recital, was it 12?
Now, my value system is all messed up and that is why I am able to provide these opportunities to my kids. And what I do for my kids is what I teach my kids to do for their future children. We live in a land of EQUAL opportunity, and you can provide whatever you want and teach whatever you want to your kids, and that's your business.
I grew up in poverty, and what I have is earned through hard work and nobody handed them to me.
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Author: maxopf
Date: 2015-02-12 08:25
If you think musicality is determined solely by how young you were when you got your first pricy, custom-adjusted A clarinet or how much money your parents dole out for bi-weekly lessons, you are sorely mistaken. I don't need fancy, expensive, customized instruments to love music and to strive to better myself as a musician (although, to be fair, I own a very nice R13 Prestige A that my teacher sold to me at a steeply reduced price, which has been played by her all over the world including at Carnegie Hall - I'd be just as happy playing my E11 A if I hadn't suddenly been given the opportunity to purchase this wonderful instrument.)
My dad is a life-long musician himself and values music immensely, and he has nurtured musicality in me and encouraged me along the way since I picked up the piano at the age of five (since discontinued), the violin at the age of 10, and the clarinet at the age of 12. My mother, while not a musician by career, did play music as a child, values it highly, and has supported me and encouraged me every step of the way. So yes, my parents did bother to discover my musical talent and and did develop them, starting at a very young age, which I am ever grateful for.
I was a freshman in high school when I got my first A clarinet and performed K622 with my youth orchestra for the first time, to answer your question. I had no need for an A clarinet prior to then because I'd only been playing for two years and was not yet involved in orchestral/solo music.
I'm honestly not sure if your last post was intended for Tylerleecutts or me, but we both started out by simply suggesting an alternative way to think about choosing a career, and you have turned it into an ad hominem attack on one or both of us and our parents which I do not appreciate in the least. If you can't understand that music is more than just a contest of "how young were you when ___" or "how much money did you pay for ___," then you may as well not bother to post here, as very few serious musicians on this BBoard will take you seriously with that attitude.
Post Edited (2015-02-12 09:32)
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Author: vin
Date: 2015-02-12 09:14
Music education involves developing the ability to listen to others and consider the merits of what you hear, even if you don't agree with it. It's also a very useful skill in other disciplines, like business or engineering. It, however, is a skill that money can't buy.
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Author: yaseungkim
Date: 2015-02-12 09:34
My only point is, you don't have to earn a living as a professional, full time musician to love music and appreciate it and enjoy it. My opinion is that you can have a comfortable living and enjoy music as your vocational activity while doing something else as your day job, as in being an engineer or a medical doctor. Preferably as a medical doctor.
I want my kids to be equal to, if not better than professional musicians in playing music, in composing and in arranging music all the while having some other day job. I don't tell you what you should or should not be, so, please don't tell me what or how I should steer my kids.
I will push my kids piano off the balcony if they want to earn a living as a musician and that's my opinion and I believe I am entitled to my own opinion. I hold these opinions because I don't want my kids to live their adult life among the people that say stuff like, you are wealthy if you earn 6 figure salary.
Post Edited (2015-02-12 09:51)
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Author: yaseungkim
Date: 2015-02-12 09:48
To vin:
Do you see the merits in what I say or no?
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Author: tylerleecutts
Date: 2015-02-12 12:16
Wealthy compared to most! (middle-low middle class). Also depends on the area in which you live- 100,000 in LA is totally different than in Daytona Beach, etc.
The point is- wealthy for me is a relative term. Being a MD is far more than a "comfortable" living- especially if you specialize. You say you grew up in poverty and yet completely underestimate the quality of life of a doctor or full-time engineer. You don't have to be Bill Gates or have more than 1 million in assets to be considered "wealthy".
"I want my kids to be equal to, if not better than professional musicians in playing music, in composing and in arranging music all the while having some other day job. I don't tell you what you should or should not be, so, please don't tell me what or how I should steer my kids."
You may not tell us how to live, but at some point you need to realize that the music industry is a viable and realistic profession, whether it is in performance, education, academia, composition, arranging, production, manufacturing, copyright law (the latter two lend themselves well to double majors in college), etc.
If I did exactly what others expected me to do with my life, I would be one of the following:
1. Air Force Pilot
2. Nuclear Engineer
3. MD
4. State Prosecutor
But somehow, I found myself in music. So what? Everyone has the human capability to choose their own path, and even change their mind! A certain clarinet professor decided after several years of teaching high school band, that he would earn a DMA and become a clarinet professor! Others leave music for the sciences or the private sector, and vice versa.
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Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2015-02-12 20:41
Wow can a thread take turns and explore some deeply held beliefs of posters, some of which seem diametrically opposed. A clarinet conference, followed by who will be there, and who they're musically affiliated with, and who isn’t affiliated with this group, and why, leads to philosophy on life and career choices.
At the risk of only fanning the flames, it seems that practicality and pragmatism have crossed swords with notions of why we pursue music (or the arts), professionally or otherwise, or even more profoundly, how do we make choices that optimize our happiness, or what or who gets to define such states of contentment in life: society, family, the individual, or a combination of these groups.
I respect those that claim such decisions lie solely with the individual. But please respect that I have made the sacrifices to fund the secondary education of my offspring, and it’s my home those kids will have to return after college, much that they don’t want to, or that I want to continue paying for them, if their career choices are bad (as sure as I will.) Things will be worse for the students in such circumstances who took out loans to fund their education. To that end, maybe I earn a say in what my child pursues in college.
Like everyone else, I come here with biases. All I could hope to do is recognize them first.
Poster Yaseungkim: Your arguments, even if they were more open to the choice of music as a career, would “kick butt,” were this orientation at Wharton Business School, and most other venues. But your audience here is composed, at least in part, of people who dream—and thank goodness for them. They are responsible for the beautiful performances at venues like the Met, but perhaps no less so, and in fairness to you, than the pragmatic engineers who designed the theater with not only consideration to acoustics, but structural designs that allow its ceiling to not collapse, despite the absence of support poles that would block audience view. We need both types of people in life, and some of us are fortunate enough to dip our feet in both schools of thought. Let’s not forget how many kids were able to pursue music, as either a hobby or profession, because they had the funding of parents, many of which wouldn’t have been able to make that kind of (if any) living had they chosen music performance instead.
I don’t question your dedication to your kid’s musical aspirations Poster Yaseungkim, and your willingness to show that in the time and expense you devote to it. I further don’t question that your choices to pursue more marketable skill sets with your education not only raised your standard of living, but that you provide to the next generation.
If poster Yaseungkim and I are in agreement, then we feel that the greatest gifts we can impart on our kids is the ability to operate as independent adults, financially, emotionally, etc. A career in music performance makes the financial component difficult.
My biases: I think that majoring in music performance alone should be left to those who are not only extraordinarily talented, but who cannot see themselves doing anything but music with their lives. Others here disagree, and I respect that.
Double majors (Jessica Phillips I understand was one) and music education majors: that’s another story-- that’s fine in my book.
I know this belief has been fairly challenged by those who correctly point out that hardly is a musician a failure in life just because they went to the wrong music school, or didn’t play at some point in their career with a top 5 orchestra. Still more, I know that working 90 hours a week as a partner at some Wall St Law Firm, earning $12 million/year is hardly a recipe for happiness. But neither is being on the road as a traveling musician, barely making ends meet, unable to afford the expense of kids, let alone their musical instruments. Having to live outside your country to make a living can also be taxing on musicians and their families.
We live in an international marketplace today where young students are questioning the return on investment (ROI) of non-musical degrees, even in relatively good schools and marketable programs. Former Secretary of Education Bill Bennett (yes, one man’s opinion) wrote a book on whether college is worth it, citing only a hand full of schools with decent ROI’s.
And to those who claim so much is learned in college outside of class, tell that to the graduate living at home with their parents, able to only secure part time (no benefits, little chance of an advancing career) working at “Barnes and Noble,” or “Starbucks” with loans to pay.
As far as differences between the Met and the NY Phil are concerned,
ironically, speak to Jessica Phillips about this if you see here at the conference. As many of you know, she was one of the player representatives http://www.cbsnews.com/news/metropolitan-opera-labor-dispute-goes-down-to-the-wire/ ready to strike for better compensation (including time off, etc.) for her fellow musicians.
As wonderful a venue as playing for the Met can be, as gifted as their musicians and alumnus are, and as much as can be learned if blessed enough to be given the chance to play with them, you are second fiddle (no pun intended) to the singers. There’s no shame in that. But when the music is the focus of attention, as in being in a symphony, particularly a major one, compensation, prestige, benefits, endorsements and teaching opportunities become even more within reach. I’d hazard a guess that the flow of clarinet players has historically more been out of the Met and into Symphonies than vice versa.
Yes, to a Stephen Williams and Ricardo Morales it’s more than money. Many musical and non-musical factors come to play, including uprooting family. But in my opinion, orchestral musicians are more than ever interested in what they make, especially in relation to other orchestras and the cost of living in these venues. I don’t blame them. They’ve busted their hump to get to where they are, they can’t do this job forever, and if they had devoted half the amount of time to being an accountant, (nothing against accountants) they might be earning more.
Maxopf: absolutely. Pursue work that interests you. Money doesn’t buy happiness, just braces, and homes, and family vacations, and health insurance, and retirement savings that, in the absence of such funds, makes for worry, which can lead to unhappiness.
Tylerleecuts: You’re right. A million in assets won’t make you wealthy, either by emotional or financial standards. I say this in part with tongue-in-cheek because being a millionaire ain’t what it use to be. For that matter, being a non-procedural MD, (Internist, Pediatrician) ain’t what it use to be either.
I hope you appreciate just how much money you’ll have to save over your life to have a decent standard of living in retirement. We’re living longer, and social security likely won’t be there for you as it was for, say, your grandparent’s generation.
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Author: James S
Date: 2015-02-13 01:08
on that thoughtful note let's close this tangential thread! YO MARK! Where you at?
James
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Author: GBK
Date: 2015-02-13 01:25
James S wrote:
> on that thoughtful note let's close this tangential thread! YO
> MARK! Where you at?
>
> James
[ Although this thread has veered off course, the discussion has been somewhat interesting, since it reiterates many points we've heard before. We'll let it run a bit longer - GBK ]
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Author: tylerleecutts
Date: 2015-02-13 06:22
"I hope you appreciate just how much money you’ll have to save over your life to have a decent standard of living in retirement. We’re living longer, and social security likely won’t be there for you as it was for, say, your grandparent’s generation."
Trust me, I know- I have already set myself up with enough music ed classes that I could pursue the BM degree in performance and be perfectly capable of teaching in the schools if necessary. Also, I'm the kind of person who does whatever is necessary.
This thread has been interesting, and ironically, Jessica Phillips is an appropriate case study of someone who is truly capable of wonderful things in a variety of fields, and made her own vocational choices.
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Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2015-02-13 06:45
Tyler: I'm very happy to hear of the backup plan and your understanding that investing in your retirement, even at this early age, is on your radar.
As a country, we are living from paycheck to paycheck, worse, "renting our lifestyles," racking up debt, rather than a nest egg.
The greatest financial asset you have right now is TIME. Time for even small amounts of money that you can some day set aside when you start earning a living, to grow into larger sums.
May music take you where you want it to. May the education degree prove to be nothing more than a backup to an extraordinary career in performance if that's what you want.
And if that doesn't work out, know the great honor there is in teaching.
I urge you to see Mr. Holland Opus sometime if you haven't already.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Holland's_Opus
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Author: tylerleecutts
Date: 2015-02-13 09:16
Mr. Holland's Opus makes me want to be a band director. . It's one of those films where you know you'll get a "good cry" out of it, as women like to say about sappy chick flicks. .
I totally want the performance career, though- I don't want to end up shortchanging my students if teaching becomes just my plan B and plan A was never fully attempted.
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Author: yaseungkim
Date: 2015-02-13 11:04
Please allow me to say this...
To whiteplainsdave, I appreciate your open, honest and realistic interpretation of my views.
To all those that think I don't belong here because I threaten to break my kids clarinets and push their piano off the balcony, I hold these views because I want my kids to consider all other options before choosing music as their day job. Unless, of course if my kids were good enough to join the big5... that's different. Making it as a clarinettist for a big orchestra outfit is as difficult as becoming a major league athlete, if not harder. I would think, no, I know it is easier to hit lottery jack pot than to make it as a full time musician in any major orchestra outfit. Just do the math. Count how many lottery winners their are everyday and count full time clarinet seats in those major outfits.
You say you want to be a school teacher teaching music? I say become a math teacher instead. When budgets tight, school districts get rid of music programs first... not the math and science. Look at all those bankrupt school districts and see where their axes fall. Music is always called an extra curriculum, not a core curriculum in any secondary schools.
I try to get my kids into the Curtis or the Juilliard so they can learn to compose/arrange music, not so they can learn to play clarinet. I am very happy to have my son's current clarinet teacher. I feel my son is blessed to have her. She has doctorate degree in music performance with clarinet or something like that I forget the exact title as this degree is not as important to me, rather, that she is willing to devote her music to my son while she is in sessions with him.
I sit in on every minute of my son's clarinet lesson for his entire life so that I know what my child needs to focus on during his practices at home. I don't play clarinet nor am I a musician, but I hold metronome and stand behind my son if he is struggling with rhythm on certain passages during his practices. Now, why might I do this...
This is because God forbid, if my child turn out to be a school music teacher instead of an engineer or a doctor, I don't want him to become one of those sad sorry as* music teacher who couldn't count rhythm. My son and I were watching youtube video performance of one of those NY school district music teacher and my son quips, ... gosh, she sound aweful on her clarinet, he goes on to say, I feel sorry for all her students.
So you still want to become a school music teacher? Count how many music teacher positions there are in your neighborhood school district and go count how many kids are graduating from countless music schools out there. Or, just count how many kids graduated with music degree with you when you graduated. To make it worse, what is the turnover rate on those music teachers in your neighborhood school district.
By now I hope you see why I don't want my kids to consider music among their first choice professional endeavor.
In closing, I am not knocking music teacher as a profession so don't get me wrong, we love my son's current clarinet teacher... having said that, if you teach music for money, please stop it. I have fired four clarinet teachers prior to the current one because they cared only for money and money was the prime motivation behind their music teachings. The current teacher does not teach one minute past the agreed hour, and she is more expensive than all those I fired. But both my son and I can see that she wants to teach everything she knows and pass on her knowledge and her skills to my son during her lessons, among other things like her flexible lesson plans and her desire to cater to students need... this is one of the reason why we love her as a teacher. And i drive her to the train stop after every lesson because she does not own a car. I even gave her a bonus last Christmas to show our appreciations. How many of your student parents did that for you? If you are mad at the world because people like me are practical and realistic, don't get mad at me, I am on your side... doling out lots of money to support your clarinet music lesson industry. As Tony Soprano would say, "hey, i am the good guy."
Post Edited (2015-02-13 12:01)
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Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2015-02-14 01:42
Poster Yaseungkim:
I'm in complete agreement in what you think and why.
Don't get me wrong, I wish that classical music was held to a standard in this country that equaled anticipation of Britney Spears next album, such that even tiny cities had 5 major orchestras. But like you, I am pragmatic.
If one decided to make teaching their profession, (as opposed to music teaching in specific) I couldn't agree more about how becoming, say, a computer science teacher makes more sense that a music teacher. I say this not only because, sadly, as you most accurately point out, arts programs are often the first thing on the chopping block when schools lack funding, but to further your point, how the prior teaching skill set has applicability for employment outside of education.
Competition for music jobs in my county is crazy fierce, and because I play (purely for enjoyment) in a symphonic band with mostly music teachers, I have heard first hand about how the few who were lucky enough to get jobs and secure tenure (often through connections/recommendations) worked their tail off, doing not only daily teaching assignments, but working the school musical, marching band, and summer camp programs. One school had to raise funds to just get Smartmusic smartmusic.com into the school: IMHO a phenomenal online music teacher resource--and this was an extremely, extremely well financed district.
This is why I recommend music education as a backup for performance: a venue for those who cannot see themselves not involved in music for their vocation, rather than as a first career choice.
Now, for those whose dreams I just shot down, please note that I speak only for my county, and that I am sorry. Do note, and counterbalance what I just said with the fact that my county is one where music teachers often adore their experiences and memories, teaching generations of a family's children, where large percentages of the student take private lessons, and music seriously.
Still another band acquaintance helped start NYC’s Bronx Charter school for music. It’s her dream job come true. To see the self worth of financially challenged kids, who think their nothing—forgotten, pick up an instrument, accomplish skills and gain self worth, leading them on the path towards college and middle class existence, and out of the projects, has value no price tag can reflect.
So I guess I’m a pragmatic dreamer.
Poster Yaseungkim, hold your head high. You are devoting your time and money to being the best your kids can be, musically or otherwise, and have more than you did. You want their music skills to be second to nobody’s, while leading them in the practical direction of employment where they can feel the pride of leading financially independent lives, and continue a tradition of giving to children that which money both can and can’t buy.
And music performance and education majors, hold your heads high too. You pass on the reasons that the doctors, lawyers, and Indian Chiefs WANT to be alive in the first place.
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The Clarinet Pages
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