What musicans make

The United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics published the 2008-09 edition of their Occupational Outlook Handbook. It contains estimated salary data for musicians: singers, instrumentalists, music directors, conductors, composers, and arrangers.

Musicians apparently comprise of a significant portion of the U.S. workforce, holding about 264,000 jobs in 2006. Of these, approximately 35 percent worked part time and almost half, 48 percent, were self-employed.

As we drill down in the data, workers holding the title "Music Director" and "Composer" are classified by the DOE SOC Code 27-2041.

Combined, they accounted for 68,000 employees in the workforce in 2006 (before the current global recession). By the year 2016, this profession is projected to grow by 13%, adding 8,800 band new jobs to the economy.

The Department of Labor website provides some useful information for anyone considering a career as a 27-2041:

Composers create original music such as symphonies, operas, sonatas, radio and television jingles, film scores, and popular songs. They transcribe ideas into musical notation, using harmony, rhythm, melody, and tonal structure. Although most composers and songwriters practice their craft on instruments and transcribe the notes with pen and paper, some use computer software to compose and edit their music.

Median hourly earnings of wage-and-salary musicians and singers were $19.73 in May 2006. The middle 50 percent earned between $10.81 and $36.55. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $7.08, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $57.37. Median hourly earnings were $23.37 in performing arts companies and $13.57 in religious organizations. Annual earnings data for musicians and singers were not available because of the wide variation in the number of hours worked by musicians and singers and the short-term nature of many jobs. It is rare for musicians and singers to have guaranteed employment that exceeds 3 to 6 months.

Median annual earnings of salaried music directors and composers were $39,750 in May 2006. The middle 50 percent earned between $23,660 and $60,350. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $15,210, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $110,850.

I don't know any composers who earned $110,850 in 2006. That's probably the work of commercial song-smiths and music moguls. I would guess that all of the composers I know are in the bottom bracket - earning less that $15,210 annually in their profession. In my case, I am in the bottom 1 percent of the bottom 10 percent.

Just to put this into perspective, the 2009 official poverty level for the 48 contiguous states (and the District of Columbia) as defined by US Dept. of Health and Human Services is $18,310 for a family of three (the average household size). Below that threshold, you are in deep doo-doo, even with Food Stamps.

Based on this information, one can assert that in 2006 at least 10% of composers (approximately 6,800) were living below the poverty line. I'd estimate that the numbers could actually be much higher.

Yes Virginia, there are starving composers. Fortunately, my wife works and I've held various day jobs throughout my life.

Some street musicians are also street people. Superstar violinist Joshua Bell conducted a social experiment where he dressed in old clothes and performed out in front of a subway stop for spare change. He was virtually ignored by the passers by. Bell would truly be living out on the street if he didn't have another context to present his music in.

In France, freelance/street musicians receive government subsidies and fringe benefits that any other working person would be entitled to. They can survive.

But in the US not all musicians and their families live in dire straits. Even in the field of "long-hair" classical music, some musicians do very well. Orchestral musicians who make it to the pinnacle of their profession and secure a coveted job with a major American symphony orchestra are top earners.

Here is a list of the starting (minimum) salaries for the major American orchestras as reported recently by the Boston Globe (the salaries are for the past season or the up-coming season):

New York Philharmonic: $129,740 (2009-10)
San Francisco Orchestra: $129,740 (2009-10)
Los Angeles Philharmonic: $129,585 (2008-09)
Boston Symphony Orchestra: $128,180 (2009-10)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra: $127,637 (2009-10)
Philadelphia Orchestra: $124,800 (2009-10)
Cleveland Orchestra: $115,440 (2008-09)

Mind you these are starting salaries - not for long-term veterans who typically earn much more. Often they combine their orchestral job with teaching and various freelance work that substantially supplements their gross income.

I'm not going to bash orchestral musicians for getting paid well. Like doctors and other professionals, they invest a lot in their education, training, and skills. It's not easy work either, and the stress involved with the job often leads to ugly occupational hazards (such as self-medication).

On the other hand, there does seem to be a little salary inequality compared to other musicians in the economic and artistic food chain (e.g. starving composers). These under-valued musicians invest a lot in their education, training, and careers too.

While we could argue that people ultimately get paid what society thinks they should earn, I'm a little surprised that an orchestral musician on average could earn more than a resident in the hospital emergency room, or a commercial airline pilot for that matter. Flubbing a note in a live performance wont result in human tragedy or loss of life. Frankly, some professionals are more essential to the basic operations of an orderly society than others - although I do think that arts plays a vital role.

Perhaps there is something slightly out of kilter when orchestral musicians and lawyers wind up among the highest paid members of society rather than EMTs and airline pilots.

Let them eat cake. Growl.

Link: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos095.htm

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Apolkalypse Now

I've been researching about the Polka. It occurred to me that there are not many modernist musical works in this form, and I'm tempted to write one just to see if I can do it.

I'm a little late to make a big splash in this idiom, since the Recording Academy has decided to do away with the Polka category for their annual Grammy Awards. But Polka is everywhere and the 2/4 dance meter and signature"oom pah" beat lives on.

I guess that I'm not the only one with Polka on the brain.



The virtuoso Canadian violinist Lara St. John has formed a 7-piece Polka group named Polkastra. She is better known for her performances of Bach and Vivaldi (the Four Seasons - of course), but she has also gone out on the limb to perform the Berg Violin Concerto and various contemporary works. For example St. John has an album with pieces by John Corigliano (b. 1938) and the young Australian composer Matthew Hindson (b. 1968).






The debut album by St. John's new ensemble Polkastra carries a cute title: Apolkalypse Now. As with the Polka, puns will never go out of fashion.




Polkastra broadens the definition of Polka by substituting contra-bassoon for the traditional tuba. There are even a few songs that call for the didgeridoo - an instrument invented 1,500 years ago by the indigenous Aboriginal tribes of northern Australia long before the Polka became a craze. The accordion is a Polka staple.

Polka lovers everywhere have reason to rejoice. Go ahead, have that pint of beer and kick up your heels.

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lara_St._John

http://www.larastjohn.com/

http://www.polkastra.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didgeridoo

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The Fauxharmonic Orchestra

Under the direction of conductor Paul Henry Smith, the Fauxharmonic Orchestra produces concerts and recordings of orchestral music. The digital orchestra consists of the world's finest sample-based instruments (such as the Berlin Philharmonic) and can be heard in concert halls and recording studios.





Boston-based conductor Paul Henry Smith (who studied at Tanglewood under Leonard Bernstein in 1981) will be performing live with his virtual orchestra at Brandeis University on October 4th, 2009 at the Slosberg Music Center. The concert will feature contemporary works by Brandeis composers as well as some orchestral classics.

The orchestra just released a recording of Anton Webern's classic Chamber Symphonie Op. 21, and it can be found on YouTube. This is an amazing piece by a fascinating composer, and the performance is excellent. Webern's Symphonie was composed 80 years ago, and today it still sounds to our ears like mysterious music from a distant planet. Enjoy...

Links:

http://www.fauxharmonic.com/

http://www.paulhenrysmith.com/

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Trouble in Salzburg?

Austrian pianist Florian Birsak recently delivered a high-profile performance primarily intended for the international media. It was of two piano pieces that have not seen the day of light for more than 200 years. Although the works have been unknown to the public, the composer is rather well-known. The works are believed to have been written around 1763 by an eight year old boy by the name of W. A. Mozart.

The music was discovered in the archives of the International Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg. Ulrich Leisinger, foundation's Director of research believes that these two pieces are in the handwriting of Leopold Mozart, the composer's Joe Jackson-like stage father. The music was found in a collection know as "Nannerl's Musical Notebook" but the manuscript does not directly specifically attribute a composer.

The notebook contains of music compiled by Leopold for Mozart’s older sister Maria Anna. However, the two works are believed to have many of the traits found in early Mozart, although Leopold may have transcribed, embellished, corrected, and improved upon the work of his young and talented prodigy son.

W.A. Mozart would have already been composing for a few years when these works were transcribed in 1763 (Mozart started composing at age 5). Over his lifetime, he would compose over 620 works, many of which are not heard often enough today.

The Mozarteum choose to showcase two these recently attributed piano works and perform them at a press conference this week. The works are a one minute "Prelude" in G major and a four minute "Concerto" in G Major. The Concerto movement in particular displays virtuosic piano writing (such as hand crossing) that is uncharacteristic of the time.

It's not all that unusual for new works by W.A. Mozart to come to the surface. A library in western France announced in September that it found a previously unknown draft of music handwritten by Mozart in their archives. Early symphonies and other fragments arise from time to time.

I suspect that there will be a steady stream of new Mozart works brought to the public's attention over time. It has already been announced that the modern day premiere of additional lost works by Mozart will take the stage in January where they'll be performed at the annual Mozart Week in Salzburg (the composer's home town). There are many groups who have a vested interest in keeping the Mozart mystique alive. Franky, it's big business.

Mozart-mania is a clear boost to tourism, and a good marketing strategy in a country where the Mozart franchise brings in billions of dollars of revenue. Mozart didn't profit from a savvy publicist during his lifetime (other than his father). Today it seems like the Mozart brand still packs a mighty punch. Just think, how many 21st century composers would command a media frenzy of international press for a little piano piece they wrote when they were just eight years old?

I have already blogged about Generative Musicology, and of the dangers that could derive from a blind worship of old music by dead composers.

http://deconstructing-jim.blogspot.com/2009/06/generative-musicology.html

It seems to me that this most recent Mozart frenzy is yet another example of "Musicology Gone Wild." The world-wide attention that has been paid to this musicological discovery is perhaps disproportionate to the value of the work itself. Not only is the authenticity of the work uncertain, but the music itself is incomplete. (Harvard's Robert D. Levin is said to be reconstructing an orchestrated version for harpsichord and strings of the Concerto that will be premiered in January of next year).

The Salzburg musical press conference seems to have included a version of Mozart's mini-Concerto in G major with orchestral parts reconstructed by musicologists (not heard in the YouTube clip below, but aired on BBC Television). Using their understanding of music from the classical period, they composed new music to sound something like what Mozart might have written. Yet, these works say more about the young Mozart's impressive keyboard abilities than his burgeoning compositional insight.

Close, but no cigar.

It's good media hype, but in my view the Mozart obsession distracts our attention from other important musical events of here-and-now significance, such as music written by living, breathing composers of our own age.

Sorry Mozart, I know that you are on YouTube, but these pieces are not your best. But you have a really good agent and marketing plan. Living, breathing composers everywhere are envious of your success.

Links: http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/classical/article6736742.ece

http://www.mozarteum.at/

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Amsterdam!

On a recent trip...

Amsterdam, NY 12010.

Population 18,355.

The city was settled in 1710 by the Dutch, who initially called the community Veedersburgh (named after a mill owner named Albert Veeder). It was renamed to Amsterdam in 1803.

It is situated along the Mohawk River and Erie Canal.

Amsterdam NY is the birthplace of Issur Danielovitch, better known as the famous Hollywood actor Kirk Douglas.

I wasn't able to visit the original Amsterdam this year, but you can read my blog post from exactly a year ago today when I last visited that great city.

http://deconstructing-jim.blogspot.com/2008/08/amsterdam.html

Links:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=amsterdam+NY&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF8&split=0&gl=us&ei=SphxSuGJKuG_tgeoipiNBA&ll=42.938724,-74.189284&spn=0.005757,0.009624&t=h&z=17

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam_(city),_New_York

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