Driving for Dollars
Each of the groups I play with has vastly different attendance policies. If one is to ask off for a rehearsal during a series, most of the time it is granted provided you’re missing the first rehearsal. It also helps if you’re asking to be excused to play with an orchestra of better reputation and pay. Some conductors don’t allow any absences during a series.
Orchestras say that they understand that we have to piece together a livelihood with several groups, but they often contradict themselves with their attendance policies. I think that orchestras want to have good musicians playing for them and many don’t mind sharing musicians, but each group wants to be the “first choice” of their musician pool. They try to establish attendance policies that end up hurting the musicians that they’re trying to keep in the seats. I have a situation coming up later this season where I am taking off for a classical and a youth series in the same week in one group to play a youth concert in another orchestra because of the attendance policy of the second orchestra. The end result is that I am forced to play less services for less pay during that week because of a restrictive attendance policy.
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