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Those who know me well are aware that I view my job as a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra as in inexpressible gift, an answer to a long held
dream and an enormous privilege. Having been a full time orchestral musician since 1981, I am also well aware that many of my colleagues are either
inexpressibly happy with their positions or dismally unhappy. I speak about this some in my article The Puzzle of Our Lives, a detailed look at my own
personal journey to a life as an orchestral musician.
At the same time, while each person will view a career in a professional orchestra through a slightly different lens, allow me to point out several distinct
advantages and disadvantages to consider for those thinking about such a career. Please note that what I am writing below is from my perspective as a
member of the Boston Symphony, an orchestra that is in the top tier of world-class ensembles. Working conditions, salary and benefits in other orchestras
may be vastly different that what I describe here as many other major, regional and metropolitan orchestras have much lower scale salaries, benefits, and
less optimum working conditions. Musicians in many orchestras are paid "per service" and the trombone is not always part of the "core" group of players in
the orchestra. But here is one viewpoint from where I sit, as I assume most people who are aspiring for an orchestral career would like to play at the top
level.
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does not have a full time job, having Sunday and Monday as days off (as is the case most weeks in the BSO) provides time for relationship building and
time off when (on Mondays) most of the rest of the work force is busy at the office.
More Questions...
Having given you some of my thoughts about the pros and cons of playing in an orchestra, there are still many questions a person must ask himself before
embarking on this career path. It may sound attractive to play in a major symphony orchestra, but before you set yourself on that path, ask yourself some
of the following questions (I am grateful for discussions I have had with my friend Bob Fraser in working through these thoughts)....
Do you love music?
Do you love all kinds of orchestral music? (Orchestras don't just play "classical" music anymore.)
Do you love ALL kinds of music?? (Solo, chamber, choral, opera/operetta, band, jazz/big band, rock, easy listening, country, new music.) Do you
crave both live performances and recordings of music?
If you don't love all kinds of music, are you prepared to accept the fact that playing something you may not consider to be great (or even good)
music with great skill will bring great joy to someone in the audience and that you must be content with this because this is your job?
Is your primary motivation for being an orchestral musician to do what you enjoy for a living for the benefit of humanity? Remember that most of the
time you will NOT be playing music that prominently features your instrument (especially if you are a brass player). If your primary motivation to
play in an orchestra is stardom, prepare for a big disappointment.
Many orchestras below the top tier pay salaries far below a comfortable living wage for the community that they are in and in order to work in these
cities you will need to teach, freelance, or work in a job outside of music. Are you prepared to do this?
If you play in a regional orchestra and your specialty is an instrument not found in all the orchestral repertoire (trombone, tuba, bass clarinet, 4th
horn, harp, percussion, etc.) you will likely be paid less than many of your "core orchestra" colleagues. Can you accept this?
Do you love music so much you wish to strive for the highest playing standard possible for yourself even if those around you don't - and even if
circumstances beyond your control don't always permit you to play your absolute best? (For example when you have to deal with uncomfortable
orchestra pits, outdoor venues, bad acoustics, unclear conductors, etc.)
Will you continue to work on improving your "fundamentals" (intonation, tone, rhythm, technical facility) right up until your retirement? Will you
constantly seek out new musical experiences, ideas, repertoire, ways of doing things? In other words, will you continue to grow as a musician and a
human being, or settle into a rut?
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Are you the type of person who will be continually upset by circumstances partially or totally beyond your control (such as the aforementioned)?
Will you complain about things you can't possibly do anything about? Can you live your professional life by the Alcoholics Anonymous' prayer,
"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference?"
Playing in an orchestra is very demanding physically and mentally. Are you currently in good health and capable of holding your instrument for three
hours or more at a time, seven or eight times a week, 30 to 44 weeks a year (this is the life of an orchestral string player)? Are you ready for the
demands of being "swept along" by a huge section of players in a huge group? Do you exercise regularly? Do you practice efficiently (that is the
highest possible accomplishment/time ratio) and know when to put the instrument away?
Speaking of putting the instrument away - even though music will be A central part of your life, by no means should it be THE central part. Are you
the type of person who will let your career overwhelm the other important things you may choose in life - family, recreation, spiritual well-being?
Music is a great friend, but it can be a terrible master.
Can you work effectively in close quarters as a team with a large group of people who come from every different background and personality type
imaginable?
Can you get along with people that are difficult to get along with?
Are you prepared to work as a team to make a bad conductor look great or a not-so great piece sound like Beethoven's Ninth? Or will you
abdicate all responsibility to someone else?
Are you prepared to join a profession that is more like joining a cause than a profession? That is, are you willing to champion the cause of great
music to a non-supportive community/government/granting agency/school board? Are you prepared to use live orchestral music as a weapon to
battle the assimilating advance of the 500 channel universe?
If your bent is toward serving on an orchestra players' or union committee, what is your motivation? Personal/financial gain? Securing your position
politically within the group? Will you make gains by bullying, intimidation and back-stabbing, or by working as a team focusing on common
problems and goals, not personalities or positions?
If you have to present an opposing point of view on an issue, can you do it in such a way as to convey respect for other people?
Do you know when it is appropriate to stand up for your point of view and when it is more appropriate to keep your mouth shut?
Can you work within a hierarchy: you - your section principal - the concertmaster - the conductor - or are you "always right" and must lead the
orchestra from your chair?
Can you accept the fact that, regardless of your instrument (concertmaster or triangle), you are part of a team and that YOU are not the most
important thing on the stage - even if you have the melody or an unaccompanied solo? Remember that the most important person on the stage is
usually long deceased - the composer.
If, after working in the profession for a while, you discover that the orchestral life is not for you; that you would be happier or better off doing
something else, or simply that you've accomplished all you want to as an orchestral player, or if your abilities have diminished and you are no longer
able to play in a way that will always contribute positively to the ensemble, will you have the courage to leave the profession, or will you "hang on"
and continue to embitter yourself and your colleagues because you lack the necessary drive to make a big career change?
Do you want to become part of something so much bigger than yourself: working as a team to recreate great works of music, to continue to
improve on that re-creative process in a sometimes difficult and misunderstood profession, and bringing edification, joy and delight to hundreds of
thousands of people in the hopes that they will cherish music as you do and continue their own daily discovery and re-discovery of one of God's
greatest gifts to humanity.
For more questions and a further discussion of how much of this applies specifically to life in an orchestra as a brass player, see my article Me, Myself
and I: Are Orchestral Brass Players Losing the Concept of Being Teamplayers?
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