Posted by Gary Press on February 26, 2000 at 18:46:44:
Ken K's posting about orchestral tuba playing got me thinking about the issue of young students starting out on a path towards the goal of a symphony job.
I have had a number of students tell me that their goal is to win a professional symphony job. I always find myself in somewhat of a quandary when I hear that. On one hand, I have always believed that a person must pursue the career path that would surely make him/her happy. Each person owes that to themselves.
On the other hand, it is difficult to impress upon a young artist just how difficult the job market is without dampening their spirits and the all-important idealism that I think a player (especially a young one) needs to maintain.
There are many schools and teachers that do have programs that are geared specifically towards that goal of winning an audition. Many others promote a more all-encompassing approach as regards styles and experiences. Which is better?
Well, it all depends on the individual student. Whichever approach seems to fit that student's goals is clearly the best. However, the concern I have is that colleges and universities continue crank out tons of students for jobs that don't exist and, in the process, leave the students with a heavy debt load. In fact, college costs have gotten so high that I have to wonder if young playersstarting out now will be able to make enough to live comfortably even with a major symphony job, given the accumulated debt that make incur from college (not to mention Master's or Doctoral degrees!).
I often wonder...am I doing the right thing when I encourage students to pursue a life as an orchestral musician, especially since music is such a subjective thing that one never knows what a committee is going to like?
I would welcome some feedback if anyone feels so compelled.