Gathering players for the coming year (2024) and a RED FLAG!
Wow... running an ensemble in its first year and a bit is quite a steep learning curve. I've had to make somewhat tough decisions about who to ask to play in the first year due to a balancing of budget, availability, musical requirements, and exposure. It's quite a juggling act, and I wish I could just ask everyone and just field millions of concerts... but I'm limited to four concerts for 2023, and with a set budget that only allows me a maximum of two extra "professional" players and some "student" players per concert. Of course, that is a bit more than I had expect originally due to the good fortune of securing some arts funding... but it does mean that I'm limited more by budget than musical programming. So, the programming does have to fit the budget... especially when I have players travelling from different states and needing travel and accommodation on top of their fee.
Thankfully, I've been quite overwhelmed by the degree of interest from colleagues from interstate and overseas in coming to play for our fledgling group. I do offer a decent rate of pay for the amount of work... but I never really expected anyone to really want to spend a couple of nights in a different town to play with us. But for some reason, people are interested... and I've not received a single declining to asking if people are interested.
Of course, I have been quite strategic in the people that I ask... the rehearsals are deliberately limited in number and time, so I only want the best and most flexible musicians to play with... those that I know are comfortable and able to improvise and react flexibly to anything. That isn't a deliberate financial constraint (although it helps to not pay for extra rehearsal calls...), but an artistic choice as I really believe that music (and especially Classical...) can be rehearsed and planned to death... and I just hate that sort of performance where it doesn't feel alive and evolving. Plus, it allows for a good deal of "play" that I really believe is the spirit and soul of live performances.... sometimes, that is beaten out of us with the incredibly focus on perfection, especially technical.
So, just asking people that I know that I enjoy playing with... and I generally enjoy playing with them because they actually LOVE playing music in the same way that I do... and they haven't had the life sucked out of them! Hopefully, through our training programme, we can also infect the next generation of musicians with that same freedom, curiosity, and lasting joy of playing... instead of getting jaded and just "too good" to have fun.
I have been lining up players and interest for next year... again, with similar constraints, and this time with the uncertainty of funding (I only received a small 1 year grant...) as I will need to reapply (hopefully for a little bit more???). I have had some interest in collaborations with other groups, both local and interstate, and had good reception from outreach concerts. So, I'm hoping all of that will stand us in good stead when it comes time for applying for funding... plus, we have that core of just presenting decent quality entertainment!
However, in the course of asking players... I had a hesitating thought of asking one person which I was a borderline decision for me. I wasn't sure that I should, but it was more of a pragmatic decision rather than a purely artistic/personal one... and so I asked. They expressed interest, but also wanted to clarify possible compensation. Well... sure, that is always a good thing to do, especially in the arts industry where people can definitely take advantage and pay you in "exposure".
Still... I was a bit taken aback by it. I have been asking people with national and international profiles and this had never come up. Personally, I never really ask when ensembles ask me to play... sometimes, I'm not even sure if I am being paid, and sometimes I assume that I'm not if don't think that they have the means to easily pay me, which does surprise some... but I do offer to donate my time if I think that the group is needing it, and I rarely claim every last cent that I'm "supposed" to.
Anyway, I get that this should be asked... but perhaps not in the first contact? Of course everyone in my ensemble are being paid... this is our job! Well, that isn't totally true... I don't pay myself or my wife, as this is our own passion project and we will pay ourselves when there is the scope to do so... but for the moment, we would rather have other people paid their full due!
Anyway, this sort of thing sort of put a red flag out for me... again, I do understand that people need to know about their payments and all of that, but I don't think it is a good thing to be talking about in the first contact as a response to an expression of interest. Sure, when the nitty gritty of settling dates, availability, and all of that stuff... by all means, if I haven't mentioned it (I always do...) then it should be brought up to be clear on both sides. But as a response to "are you interested in playing?". Hmmmm... I'm not sure that I want to have that as part of my goto group of people...
Is this too harsh?
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