Paying the Orchestra
Wed, 26 Dec 2007, 05:49 pmfunklizard88828 posts in thread
Paying the Orchestra
Wed, 26 Dec 2007, 05:49 pmJust wondering what opinions are out there in regard to the payment (or lack of) for orchestra/band members involved in semi-professional, amateur and community productions of works of music theatre?
In particular I am interested in whether others think there is cause for distinction to be made between different levels of instrumental ability (particularly within a single production - ie. student or 'formally untrained' musicians being paid differently [or not at all] in comparison to professional musicians brought in to 'boost ranks' or cover more difficult parts - as for example happens in school productions)?
And whether distinction can be made by instrument? (as in my experience finding reliable string, harp, oboe, bassoon and 'woodwind' [multi-instrumental] players is quite difficult without serious funding).
If one member of the orchestra is paid, do all the musicians deserve to be paid?
If the Music Director is paid, should the musicians also be paid?
All relevant thoughts, anecdotes, experiences, and opinions are welcome.
One In, All In
Tue, 1 Jan 2008, 09:20 amHi
The way we cover off this (and have done for 43 years) is as follows:
Cast is amateur, must be or become members of the Society (for insurance reasons - small joining fee only) and are selected by audition only.
Orchestra is amateur, and must be or become members of the Society (for insurance reasons - small joining fee only), and are selected on an invited basis with 3 week trial / audition process. All players are normally 15+ and minimum grade 5 AMEB level.
All members are NOT paid and give their time freely.
We regularly field orchestra's of 22-26 people covering reasonably full strings, wood wind, brass, guitars, drums, percussion as needed. Mainly fielded from local areas around Maitland & lower Hunter in NSW.
In last 2 years we have succeeded in staging Grease, South Pacific, Iolanthe, Oklahoma all needing different types of instrumentation and in each case we have raised the necessary people and standard of play.
We occasionally will consider paying someone if a key instrumentalist cannot be found. We normally pay our pianist/repetiteur due to the amount of time they put in.
I hope this helps your thinking.