My son is on a gap year, and might likely be looking for cello gigs. He’s worked for several local theater companies for smallish stipends, but I noticed that one of the local professional companies only hires musicians from the local musician’s union. Is it worth it to pay $150 a year to become a member? Have any of your kids joined one?
Second question: My son has always had two different resumes, an academic and a music. Should he list any academic stuff on the music resume (like where he’ll be attending school, where/when he graduated high school, etc)?
I can’t answer about the union (makes sense to join-?) but I do think it is helpful to have a third resume that has both academic and music on it (and also a short bio version for programs).
Just joining the Union won’t guarantee any jobs or greater access to gigs. And, $150 seems cheap to me. Each local is different, but if you consider joining, check and see if there is a one time joining fee in addition to yearly dues. If there is and he drops his membership at any point, he’ll have to pay the joining fee again. There may also be fees associated with transferring to a different local if he moves around.
Professional orchestras that are Union are required to follow certain protocols and procedures in holding auditions for new members. They don’t care at the time you audition whether or not you are a Union member or what local you are associated with if you are already a member. If you win the job, then you will need to join the Union. I suspect that is what you are seeing in noting “that one of the local professional companies only hires musicians from the local musician’s union”.
I don’t know what local you are in. After completing conservatory, my kids did get a couple contacts after joining our local and having their names and resumes published in the local’s directory - probably a total of 3 gigs that maybe paid back the first year’s fees and dues. The gigs came from people who were desperate for a player, so they were calling blind. Not the best connected of contacts and didn’t lead to more opportunities, or at least to any gigs they wanted to pursue. On the other hand, many giggers feel it’s important to “support your Union” whether it leads anywhere or not.
I would talk to some of your local Union musicians if you know any to see what they suggest. Taking non-Union gigs as a Union member can be questionable - some Unions harass those members who take non-Union jobs. The climate (from what I hear) is different in each local as to whether the powers that be will look the other way or not. Non-Union jobs in your area may be more readily available than those hiring and paying and following Union rules. In that case, being a Union member is no advantage and may be a problem if the player is found taking non-Union gigs.
A better plan to get gigs might be to team up with a string quartet or trio and market themselves - weddings, parties, etc. Also, if there are contractors in your area, have your son get connected with them.
Thanks for the comments! My son did talk about forming a quartet, but the violist graduated, so right now, he’s got two violinists who are in. He needs to figure out how to get gigs, though. Heretofore, he got jobs via another quartet and never had to do the work himself. All his paid gigs have been word of mouth. He’s done a lot, but he needs to take the initiative now. We shall see!
Excellent point on union vs non-union. He should probably stay non-union for now.
He’s also looking for other types of jobs (QA Game Testing is one), so we’ll see what he lands first.
$150 is cheap for the union. When I finished high school I got a union card because being in a union was accepted as being a professional and the same is not true today. I’ve been a member all my life and if you are going to do commercial music or city orchestral gigs it really makes sense. Don’t ever expect them to get you any work. My commercial residuals used to cover my yearly dues 30xs over but those days are gone. Just accept it as a business expense if you work for orchestras that have city or state contracts etc. and don’t join until it makes economic sense.
Those are good points. The jobs that my son had for local theater companies were stipend jobs (low paying), but great experience, as both were professional theater companies. Last year, he got an offer for a better paying theater orchestra job, but the hours were crazy long and he was in school full time at the time.
For now, he’s just sending his resume out to companies that don’t hire union. Since he’ll only be here for one year before going off to college, it seems to make sense not to join the union right now, don’t you think?
I’ll throw my two cents in because my S has subbed with our local orchestra and he had to join the union to do so. He got a student rate that wasn’t much over $100–by far cheaper than the white tie he had to to buy to play. You can unjoin whenever you want, and he’s done so now that he’s heading off to college. If your son wants to audition for the sub list of a major orchestra, he’ll need to join a union. The union doesn’t bring in jobs, but making the sub list does!
Thanks for the info, @dec51995. I don’t think he’s at that level as far as I can tell. I’m not sure what other paid orchestras are around us besides San Diego Symphony and Orchestra Nova, and he’s definitely not ready for that prime time, I’m sure. His orchestra is called “pre-professional” and many alumni go to conservatories or highly selective schools, but I still don’t think he’s at the level of, say, his teacher, who’s been in the symphony for 40+ years.
Congratulations to your son, though! That is awesome!
I’ve never met a union member that doesn’t also do non-union gigs. The union locals are being to be run by a new generation many of whom are trying to make the union more relevant to today’s realities and I don’t think that will include chasing someone down for playing at a local church without a contract.
I also belong to SAG/AFTRA, and that is a completely different situation.