Here’s an interesting take on how 21st-century orchestra musicians deal with the fact that their jobs often drive them a little crazy: they go out and get additional jobs.
“Dual careers are almost always a bonus–both for the income and for the variety and exposure to contrasting environments,” says Barbara Sher, author of the 2006 book “Refuse to Choose: A Revolutionary Program for Doing Everything That You Love.”
The article politely leaves out the part about how a person manages to eat, sleep, shower, and interact with loved ones while treading this career path. Hey, welcome to the new economy! With luck, one of those jobs comes with health insurance (a.k.a. access to the supply closet where the band-aids and ibuprofen are kept), so just be thankful. Double bonus: The article was penned by none other than oboe-playing journalist Blair Tindall, of Mozart in the Jungle infamy.
But seriously, I know from personal experience that not tossing all one’s eggs into the same basket helps keep the creative life a little more charged up and balanced out, even if it cuts into playtime pretty regularly. If this article leaves you contemplating a career move, you can to dip a toe into the glamorous world that is classical music journalism (no jokes about the double sinking ship, please) with this back stage pass to the NYPhil’s season press conference. Also, consider the potential of jingle writing.
Thanks for the mention, artsjournal. In answer to how one finds the time for dual (or more) career paths, the good part is that many second careers are at home, some are small businesses where your family and friends can help, and if you’re good-natured, that can be more enjoyable and creative than playing Monopoly.
Back when I was a young single parent, I defined a ‘One and a half person business’ as one adult and a kid who was willing and able to lick stamps. (Or sit on them, once affixed.)
These days it’s easier, thanks to the Internet, and kids old enough to lick stamps seem to know how to navigate the Internet!
Let us not forget that many orchestral musicians have spent their entire lives juggling multiple gigs, lessons, school, part-time jobs, so this isn’t exactly a surprise. Also, the actual contracted time commitment for most professional orchestras rarely exceeds 24 hours per week, and while I understand that there is quite often additional personal practice time, especially in weeks involving new music, very few orchestral musicians are working 40-hour + weeks on their main gig. Not to mention that many of those services are at night. So, I say it’s great that musicians have the kind of lifestyles where they are able to pursue additional revenue streams. Especially since at smaller orchestras they unfortunately don’t get paid all that much.