And, I agree with the fewer musicians and those that are already trained seeking other employment. Right now, schools are generating about ten times the number of music majors needed to fulfill the employment opportunities.
The great wave of post-World War II market entry teachers (of all kinds) is now past, and opportunities there are currently limited. A similar opportunity in teaching is still some fifteen years off.
The commercial market is equally saturated. With hundreds of applicants showing up for bassoon auditions for third tier orchestras, there are a lot of (no doubt fully qualified) applicants chasing very few jobs. Supply and demand rules.
The solution is what many of us discovered many years ago: pursue a career where you can make the money for the house, the car, the kid's educations and medical insurance, and play music in your spare time.
You don't need a college education for this. Hell, you don't really need any formal education at all - you can learn what you need from a private teacher. And, you'll be happy, healthy, with a roof over your head and a full belly while you are playing.
Don't get me wrong - I've played pro jobs for a long time. And, I've also hired sidemen who are trying to make it as a musician alone. They are some of the least happy people that I've known.
I dated a wonderful 'cello player back when I got out of the service and was finishing my schooling. (Actually, I dated two of them, equally wonderful - see my Hollerith card story elsewhere hereon.) She was spectacularly good, Julliard-trained with (back then) tens of thousands of dollars of student loan debt - and couldn't get a job anywhere.
When last we met, she was engaged to a violist (oh, the horror) with the Saint Louis Symphony. She still couldn't get hired anywhere. She was working as a secretary at the AAA office there. Very sad.
The great wave of post-World War II market entry teachers (of all kinds) is now past, and opportunities there are currently limited. A similar opportunity in teaching is still some fifteen years off.
The commercial market is equally saturated. With hundreds of applicants showing up for bassoon auditions for third tier orchestras, there are a lot of (no doubt fully qualified) applicants chasing very few jobs. Supply and demand rules.
The solution is what many of us discovered many years ago: pursue a career where you can make the money for the house, the car, the kid's educations and medical insurance, and play music in your spare time.
You don't need a college education for this. Hell, you don't really need any formal education at all - you can learn what you need from a private teacher. And, you'll be happy, healthy, with a roof over your head and a full belly while you are playing.
Don't get me wrong - I've played pro jobs for a long time. And, I've also hired sidemen who are trying to make it as a musician alone. They are some of the least happy people that I've known.
I dated a wonderful 'cello player back when I got out of the service and was finishing my schooling. (Actually, I dated two of them, equally wonderful - see my Hollerith card story elsewhere hereon.) She was spectacularly good, Julliard-trained with (back then) tens of thousands of dollars of student loan debt - and couldn't get a job anywhere.
When last we met, she was engaged to a violist (oh, the horror) with the Saint Louis Symphony. She still couldn't get hired anywhere. She was working as a secretary at the AAA office there. Very sad.