<p>Does anybody have a student who has a paying job in a lower level orchestra while attending college? If so, has the scheduling been a problem?</p>
<p>My S plays with a Korean Orchestra in NYC (he's not Korean, but apparently there is a scarcity of Korean horn players). There are only a few concerts per year, and rehearsals are usually on weekends. When he gets his school rehearsal information, he compares to see if there is too much overlap. The KO will let him out of an occasional rehearsal, but if there is too much, he turns down the gig. He doesn't have any kind of onging contract with them; it is concert by concert. The orchestra knows that school has to come first. </p>
<p>Students that win jobs and sign a year-long contract with orchestras might take a leave of absence from school in order to benefit from the orchestra experience; there is one horn student at Juilliard that just returned from such a job.</p>
<p>I live in a unversity town with a per service professional orchestra. Quite a few of the folks in the orchestra are students, most of them grad students, but some are undergrads. The scheduling problems occur with concerts. The university makes every effort to not schedule concerts on the same weekends as the symphony, but I have heard rumblings from the music department about the difficulty of this and that they may quit being so accomodating. However, I think it is unlikely to happen since many of the principal players are on the university faculty and in a smaller city there is a great deal of symbiosis between all the classical musical entities.</p>
<p>If you are in a large city with several colleges and universities, I think scheduling could end up being more of an issue. However, most large cities have full time professional orchestras and it would be impossible to be a student and play in one of these. The part time orchestras usually rehearse in the evenings so the orchestra members can pursue their day jobs.</p>
<p>Thanks binx and shennie, I will look up the orchestras in question since I really don't know how they work. My son told me recently that he was advised to audition for any openings, and while I think this would be wonderful for him, I don't want it to interfere with his school work. The number of rehearsals and the driving distance may be factors. Do you think it would be beneficial as far as working his way into a larger orchestra? Do musicians usually "work their way up" as opposed to getting a first job in a large orchestra?</p>
<p>It would not be so much that they work their way up as that they are that much more experienced with whatever repertory and styles they encounter, plus they make contacts with other musicians, which lead to other gigs.</p>
<p>So, it would probably be a good idea to consider. Thanks all!</p>
<p>Just remember that if your son is majoring in music/performance at his school (and I don't know if he is), he will have ensemble or orchestra requirements there. The issue becomes not only whether there's enough time for school-work, but also if there is enough time to rehearse for multiple groups? Playing with multiple ensembles is terrific, especially if one of them actually pays, but there are only so many hours in the day to eat, sleep, attend class and practice. Find out if his school has a "gig office" which helps students find performance work. DS has been on the Peabody Gig List since freshman year, and at this point has several individuals and organizations that hire him annually to provide keyboard background music for their conventions, parties and meetings. Many of his friends hire out for weddings, holiday church services, etc., and are able to pick and choose convenient times based on their personal schedules. This may not be as exciting as playing with an orchestra, but many of these gigs pay very well for relatively short time commitments. LOL, we're hoping that a couple of DS's repeat customers will continue to use him after he graduates, the extra money comes in very handy.</p>
<p>Thanks for the good advice, marcyr! My son is not majoring in music, but is studying his instrument and theory as well as playing in a chamber orchestra. He was also going to post and/or reply to bulletin board notices for work on his instrument. Frankly, I'm a little worried that he is spreading himself too thin. I can't tell him anything, though, and he enjoys everything he is doing. As long as nobody tells him he can't, he does!</p>