Re: Going Pro???


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Posted by Charlie Krause on September 06, 2003 at 11:26:24:

In Reply to: Going Pro??? posted by Steve-O on September 05, 2003 at 22:12:19:

Am I a pro?

I teach 62 kids from 6th to 12th grades in 8 schools. I start around 8:30, one day at 8 and teach to 4:30 on 3 days and 5:30 on 1 day and end at 2 on Friday.

I play in a brass quintet that has been together for about 6 months and we are ready to start doing paid gigs. I make a nice living and will be alot nicer when the quintet money kicks in. That will pay the taxes on the teaching and give some added income.

I am 50 and I make a living as a musician. I do not play in a major symphony and to be honest I dont want to nor have I ever wanted to. But everyone likes different things.
I am not a phenominal player and never will be. It is not a natural gift for me and I have to work hard to play well. I know my limits and I like what I do and have a ton of fun.

You won't make as much money doing what I do compared to a Symphony gig but I personally like the quintet over orchestra alot better. I play more, count less and play all kinds of music. especially jazz and dixie. All 5 in our quintet all teach and play for a living.
I also play in my church orchestra. there are 2 tuba players there and the orchestra has from 35 to 52 in it depending on what we are doing, around 42 average. It's not paid but it is good contemporary Christian music arranged by our keyboard player and he does a great job. Choir runs around 400 to 450 and attendance is around 14,000 to 15,000 in 3 services and over 10,000 in the 2 services I play in on Sunday morning. Great music for a nice audience. How many of you play for 10,000 every week.
We also do 12 to 13 Christmas shows and last year attendance was 62,000. The church orchestra is a ministry to me and I love playing in it. My wife plays oboe in it and my daughter plays cello in it and in January my son will play tuba with the group in January. # tubas in an orchestra, very nice.

This is truly the most fun I have ever had and the retail music business was fun but this is way more fun. I have been to enough clinics and conventions since 1973, over 20 tuba realted including ITEC's and if you count state conventions probabaly another 25 to 30 since 72. These have really taught me alot to really help other tuba players and especially new ones get off to a good start.

I feel I am a pro player but some would think I am not. I doesn't bother me either way. I'll make around 50K or a lil over this year, we will see. the cool thing is I am having fun and i have a great schedule. I am playing more than ever and having more fun than ever and the quintet always goes out for some brews and talk after.






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