Posted by Rick Denney on February 28, 2000 at 16:00:34:
In Reply to: Re: what's up with orchestral playing? posted by Todd on February 25, 2000 at 12:20:15:
Yes. The original TubaMeisters consisted of two music educators, a retired army bandmaster, and an engineer (me). The current TubaMeisters comprise four (count 'em) music educators. They perform (for pay) about as often as they can with their teaching schedules (except in the summer, when they would enjoy more gigs).
One of them could cut the mustard in most orchestras, but chose not to because he didn't want to be an itenerant auditioner. With a family, one's priorities tend to shift, and his did. What's fun is when he gets the occasional gig with the big boys from the symphony, and they discover (again) that they don't have to coddle him.
He insists that his masters in performance makes him a better educator than an education degree.
But I hate to see musicians become educators out of desperation. Had I studied music, that's where I'd have ended up, and the students I would have "taught" are happy I chose another line of work. Teach if you want to teach, perform if you are compelled to do so, but don't teach unless you want to. It would be better to stay amateur and do something else for a living. Amateurs often get to play more than pros, unless you are counting practice, heh, heh.