Re: 16? 17? Full time US orchestras?
Posted: Thu Sep 19, 2013 12:08 pm
Hmmm, I'm not sure who told you that figure of 16-17. I went on the ICSOM website and counted 25 that I would call solidly full time. They are:
Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Minnesota, National, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Rochester, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, and Utah.
The above list does not include a bunch of really fine orchestras that pay a good wage but maybe not in the same league as the above. Places like:
Alabama, Buffalo, Chicago Lyric, Colorado, Florida (Tampa), Fort Worth, Jacksonville, Met Opera, Nashville, Oregon, Phoenix, and San Antonio.
The two lists combined still leave off some really solid positions like Grand Rapids, Kennedy Center, and others that could all make a go of full time status with a little bit of teaching thrown in.
It always surprises me to hear such a large number of available jobs when you consider all the negative press regarding the arts, and especially orchestras, and how classical music always seems to be dieing. For something so presumably fragile, there is still quite a good number of jobs for those willing to work hard enough to get them. For me, the funnier number is the total number of tuba performance majors graduating every year from US institutions, most of which don't have a clue what's involved in getting a job nor if they even really want such a career. Unfortunately, education is such big business these days that those numbers are unlikely to change.
Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Minnesota, National, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Rochester, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, and Utah.
The above list does not include a bunch of really fine orchestras that pay a good wage but maybe not in the same league as the above. Places like:
Alabama, Buffalo, Chicago Lyric, Colorado, Florida (Tampa), Fort Worth, Jacksonville, Met Opera, Nashville, Oregon, Phoenix, and San Antonio.
The two lists combined still leave off some really solid positions like Grand Rapids, Kennedy Center, and others that could all make a go of full time status with a little bit of teaching thrown in.
It always surprises me to hear such a large number of available jobs when you consider all the negative press regarding the arts, and especially orchestras, and how classical music always seems to be dieing. For something so presumably fragile, there is still quite a good number of jobs for those willing to work hard enough to get them. For me, the funnier number is the total number of tuba performance majors graduating every year from US institutions, most of which don't have a clue what's involved in getting a job nor if they even really want such a career. Unfortunately, education is such big business these days that those numbers are unlikely to change.