Driving for Dollars

Conflicts are a big problem.

It is very difficult for boards of our orchestras to understand when we ask for them to provide more services but then at the same time ask for a lenient absence policy so we do not have to play them. The idea that we can’t move anything in our schedules in order to maximize the amount of work we can fit in is hard to get across. We need more services and the ability to be flexible in order to make a living. Also, there are premium days and times to consider.

Sometimes we have to give up a week of work because one rehearsal overlaps. I sometimes have to give up a $300 gig because the drive time from one to another is 15 minutes too long. (The if I had a helicopter I could do it situations.) Every year I anxiously await my schedules for the coming season and hope that there are not too many conflicts. It is very stressful. I don’t want to lose any of the jobs I worked so hard to get because of a few conflicts. There is no job security at all.

Also, we have the ability for a few orchestra committee members to participate on the Board. We can almost never attend because the meetings are at 4:00pm, a prime teaching earning time. We are not paid to participate on committees and volunteering is great, but we can’t be expected to give up hundreds of teaching earnings and pay gas and parking etc… It just doesn’t happen.