Driving for Dollars

Since I am currently contracted in nine orchestras in the Bay Area, I am definitely qualified to speak about scheduling conflicts! It seems like every set I choose to do means opting out of at least one other–and with the Murphy’s Law way things seem to happen, often I’ll have 3 or 4 “options” in a given week and only be able to do one of them. I would like to choose based on my enjoyment of a given gig and how much money I would make, but the reality is sometimes I have to give up doing something I would really enjoy in order to fulfill an attendance requirement.

Some orchestras are excellent about realizing that they are not our only employers–we have had Oakland East Bay Symphony change one rehearsal in a set when they realized it conflicted with Marin Symphony, which shares a lot of players with Oakland. This is the sort of thing that makes the musicians feel valued–they made an effort to make it possible for their regular players to do both, rather than hiring subs. Some orchestras, however, are notorious for having a blatant disregard for how we must make our livings–for example, two orchestras in the same union local (actually the only two orchestras with CBAs in that local!) have had 3 to 4 set conflicts (out of 6 or 7 total sets) for the past 3 years. That makes us feel like they don’t really value having us there, they just want a butt in a seat.

Lately I’ve been feeling really constrained by all the requirements. I’ve had to turn down playing some big gigs because I have everything so delicately balanced that if I get out of one required set without enough notice, the whole house of cards comes down. I know I’m VERY lucky to have a lot of work options, but I am getting tired of the jigsaw puzzle–I am in an “in between” space where I need to be less busy to be available for when the big houses call, but can’t count on them calling, so can’t turn down any of the work I already have. Anyone know of any rich benefactors?