Reshaping dreams: "a life with music" or "a life in music"?

When music students show an extraordinary gift for performance and the willingness and dedication to invest the hours of hard work to develop their talent, their teachers naturally encourage them to follow their passion wherever it may lead. For many students, the joy of music making leads to the dream of a career as a professional musician. For too many musicians, the dream of a career ends in frustration when they encounter the realities of limited opportunities for making a living in music. A New York Times article published in late 2004, chronicles the experiences of a highly select group of musicians striving to establish and maintain careers as performers. The article surveys the experiences of 36 graduates of The Juilliard School during the first 10 years after graduation from one of America's most prestigious conservatories.

In "The Juilliard Effect: Ten Years Later," Daniel Wakin portrays a surprisingly broad array of successes, frustrations and disappointments experienced by some of the members of Juilliard's Class of 1994. (1) Of the 44 instrumentalists, excluding pianists, who graduated in 1994, 36 alumni were interviewed for the article; eight members of the class could not be found. While many of these musicians did find work in their field at first, at least 12 of them had given up their aspirations of a career in performance. Several of the graduates were thriving as orchestral musicians and one has a flourishing career as a solo violinist.

One of the graduates had bounced from job to job and was studying to become a tax preparer. Another had tried public school teaching for a while and then took a job as a diamond grader at Tiffany's. Perhaps the most disheartening story was that of a bassoonist who landed a three-year position in the New World Symphony immediately after graduation. Following his stint with the Miami-based training orchestra, he was not able to secure another job. As his debts accrued, he was finally forced to sell his bassoon and take a job as an insurance underwriter. One of the graduates had earned a public school teaching credential and a British harpist had become a music therapist. These two graduates were satisfied with the way they were able to integrate music in their careers, but these were not the careers of professional orchestral players of which they had dreamed.

There was a consensus among the alumni who were interviewed that they had not been aware of the real demands and requirements for building a career in performance. None of these musicians thought that, after receiving a music degree from Juilliard, they would be hustling to find a day job and perhaps giving up music altogether. The article highlights the sense of determination and single-minded-ness that is a common, and often necessary, trait of successful young performers. Despite feelings of disillusionment, many acknowledged their years of intense practice and musical growth were among the happiest and most worthwhile of their lives.

Reaction and Response

The article portrays a grim picture of the difficulties that even the most talented and well-trained musicians face while attempting to earn a living as a performer. The grim outlook may not be surprising to college music faculty; however, it is disturbing for anyone involved in music education to see how hard it is for young musicians to establish and sustain careers in the field. Unless one is completely jaded by television reality shows, one can't help but feel compassion for the talented individuals whose stories of disappointment and disillusionment are depicted through personal stories in this article. Clearly the situation should not be viewed as an indictment of this prestigious conservatory and the quality of instruction it provides. Rather, we are prompted to examine the tremendous imbalance between limited professional opportunities and the abundance of musicians who aspire to experience the joys of a life in music.

As college music faculty members, our natural response is to ask, "What can we do to improve the situation?" Surely the students interviewed knew that they were taking risks when choosing to invest so much in a career with so few opportunities. Surely their parents and teachers warned them. Let's hope so. We all know the rewards of a life in music, even if not monetary, are tremendous; and there will always be single-minded individuals who are lured to a career in performance and are willing to risk everything for the love of the art. If only a small percentage of even the most talented and well-prepared are able to sustain careers in the field, what will be the fate of the thousands of other music majors who will receive performance degrees this year? Should music schools raise the bar even higher so that admission is even more selective and performance degrees are conferred on fewer students? It would be unrealistic to expect that academia could restrict the number of qualified musicians based on the job market. Other disciplines in the arts and humanities produce more graduates than the job market can accommodate.

Perhaps it would be possible though, to make reforms in academia that would mitigate the problem that is so graphically portrayed in the survey of the Juilliard alumni. Faculty can continue to strive to make aspiring musicians aware that it takes more than talent and practice to establish and sustain a career. Angela Myles Beeching offers practical advice and realistic strategies for entrepreneurship in Beyond Talent: Creating A Successful Career in Music. Better preparation for career development would be a relatively easy step in the right direction.

College music faculty also can have an impact on the real root of the problem--the low levels of support for performing artists found in the general population in contemporary American society. We should consider that many contemporaries of the musicians portrayed in this article were equally talented but chose not to major in music. They were deterred by the difficulties of earning a living as a musician and chose to pursue other fields. But what happened to their zeal for music making and their need to continue to grow as artists? What opportunities for continuing development are available for the amateur musician? Have we also created a situation in which these talented musicians are forced to simply abandon music altogether? It is a sad commentary that college music faculty are caught between two opposing realities. In order to justify salaries for tutorial instruction, applied music professors are pressured to recruit students to matriculate in performance degrees, even as that population of prospective students becomes reluctant (wisely) to pursue a career in music. Music faculty members find themselves trying to recruit students for music programs by telling them they can use a music degree as preparation for further study or work in other fields. It's a tough sell.

There always will be aspiring performers who are not able to find work in their field, just as there always will be a select group that successfully sustains careers in music. Given the present situation, one must wonder if it is truly the most talented music students who are choosing music as a major field of study. It is quite possible many of the most talented and well-prepared students are choosing other majors. These students deserve the attention of music faculty and administrators. This population of talented musicians is the group of people who will have an impact on future support for the performing arts.

Rather than limiting the opportunities for musical education and participation due to restricted career options for performers, the academic community should focus on fostering support for the arts in society by expanding the offerings for amateur musicians. This would require a new mindset for music faculty in higher education. We would be teaching more students but in a different way. The traditional mode of individual instruction would need to be modified and perhaps integrated with some small group instruction. Professors would need to take an active role in supervising instruction for non-music majors that might be offered by graduate students. Applied music faculty would need to adopt and promote attitudes that view musical participation as both a viable option and an essential element in the lives of talented individuals.

According to Mathias Wexler, a cello professor at The Crane School of Music, State University of New York at Potsdam, current music practices in higher education are contributing more to the problem than to the solution. He writes:

"To balance the books, music programs have fraudulently inflated students' expectations, and, consequently, have created a group of frustrated, alienated specialists who judge their relationship to music mainly in narrow, competitive, commercial terms. If the main goal of playing music is to 'make it,' what happens when you don't? Disgruntled, unemployed ex-performance majors are no more likely than the general population to attend concerts or play music for enjoyment. Performance curricula, focused as they are on developing highly specialized instrumentalists, don't serve the educational needs of students or the interests of the music profession." (2)

Many music departments in colleges and universities offer applied instruction only to music majors, in order to use their resources most efficiently. Course offerings for non-music majors often are limited to music appreciation, large ensemble participation and group instruction for beginners. The talented students who have studied music through the pre-college years and wish to continue their musical studies, often have limited opportunities for continuing instruction at an advanced level.

Expanding the offerings for this population of students would require some bold reforms in both curriculum structure and modes of instruction--and making changes in academia can be a slow process. But a college music faculty forum seems like an ideal place to generate ideas that will encourage higher education administrators to explore options that will expand and enhance the opportunities for talented young students to continue their participation as music-makers. Only then will we see a more enlightened and enthusiastic society of music-supporters. The MTNA 2006 National Conference in Austin, Texas, will include a session in which college faculty can meet to consider creative ways to meet the educational needs of amateur musicians. By cultivating support for the amateur musician, perhaps college faculty will promote increased opportunities for those who aspire to careers in music. As academics, music faculty can shape new perceptions about "making music" and "making it in music."

NOTES

(1.) Wakin, Daniel. "The Juilliard Effect: Ten Years Later," The New York Times Arts & Leisure. (December 12, 2004).

(2.) Wexler, Mathias. "Teaching Music Students to Make Music for Love, Not for a Living," Chronicle of Higher Education. (Vol. 46, Issue 47, 2000): B6-B7.

Kenneth Williams, NCTM, Directs the graduate programs in piano pedagogy and coordinates the class piano program at The Ohio State University. Recent articles by Kenneth are published in American Music Teacher, Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, College Music Symposium and Keyboard Companion. He received the 2002 AMT Article of the Year Award and serves on the Ohio MTA executive board.