<p>My son is a free lance cellist in NYC. It is not an easy road as you can imagine. He has a BM from Eastman and an MM from Mannes. Recently, he started blogging about his experiences and the trials and tribulations of his chosen path. I thought some of you might be interested in reading about his experiences. If you would like the link, you can PM me and I will pass it along since we are not allowed to post links on the forum. </p>
<p>I am not trying to promote him in anyway, but discussion often comes up here about what life is like after college in the music business. His experiences might be enlightening to some of you. Just for the record, he is doing quite a bit of work in rock although he continues to do classical and anything else that pays :)</p>
<p>I was surprised to learn from my S how many musicians are successfully making a living at freelancing in NYC. It was (and is) my S’s backup plan should other things not work out. My S has left NYC for other opportunities right now, but one of the things that made the decision difficult is that he had built a strong network that he was reluctant to give up.</p>
<p>Since your S spent his masters years in NYC, he was given time and opportunity to network and become known while in school. That helps a lot. It was one of the strongest factors in my S’s decision to remain in NYC for his masters, rather than go elsewhere for less money.</p>
<p>It is scary not having a pre-determined income, and no benefits – at least from a parent’s point of view. But the young folks seem to thrive on it. Good luck to your S.</p>
<p>Thanks, Binx. I do think that this would have been impossible for him if he had not done his MM in NYC. He would like to get a DMA eventually, and I think he may end up doing that in New York city as well because he won’t want to give up his connections. It takes awhile to cultivate all of those.</p>
<p>I’m really enjoying the blog, thank you! I’ve passed it on to 2 of my boys–my cellist as well as my oldest, who is doing electronic-dance-whatever music and trying to figure out how to work with clubs and performance venues. This is great! Thank your son for us. I’ll be watching for him next time I’m in NYC!
Roberta</p>
<p>Thanks Roberta. When the weather is decent, he will often play in Central Park - near the fountain or on Poet’s Walk. However, it has been so hot this summer I don’t think he has busked at all in 2 months.</p>