Real Job

(Sorry - no videos this week. I will happily provide background music, though. Both are Eileen Farrell. The first is D'amor sull'ali rosee from Verdi's Il Trovatore.The second is Gershwin's But Not for Me from Girl Crazy. Same singer, two very different styles.(That's part of what training can get you!) (And now - this week's blog!)

I had a conversation this past week that made me realize that the person with whom I was speaking had no respect for my time, expertise, or employment. This woman wanted me to teach her daughter, at their home, for far less than my going rates. I did this last year, as a favor to her older daughter, when I had more free time. This year, when she wanted me to come to them again, I suggested that they come to my studio, but for the same rate. She refused, rather rudely, I thought with the words, "I have a job." Implying that I don't.

A few years ago, in the wilds of Cheyenne, Wyoming, I was singing in a women's quintet for a recital. I'd been given the music a week before our first rehearsal. It wasn't particularly difficult music, but I wasn't sure which vocal part the leader wanted me to sing. So, knowing that my "free time" to practice this was limited, (I was the music director for two churches with a total of 4 services, and teaching 38 students each week.) I quickly looked over all 5 parts. None of them were out of my range, so while I suspected that I would be singing the highest part, I didn't want to make any assumptions. All told, I probably spent about an hour and a half of quality rehearsal time on the song.

At the first rehearsal, I arrived 15 minutes early at the home of the group's leader. (I was taught that if rehearsal is scheduled to begin at 2, then you warm-up your voice at home, and plan your trip to arrive at 1:45, so that you will be in place and ready to begin at 2.) Most of the others arrived within the next 15 minutes. These were all the professional musicians. The leader taught choir and band in the local school system, as well as teaching private flute lessons. One of the others was the concert mistress for the local symphony, second chair violin with several area symphonies, and taught private violin lessons. The fourth was the cantor for the Catholic cathedral and taught private violin lessons. (If you're getting the idea here, all four of us had several different jobs, all involving making our living with music, and teaching.) As parts were assigned, (I was given the highest part) we all ruefully admitted that we'd only been able to spend a little bit of time on the song, but thought we knew it reasonably well. After waiting 15 minutes into the rehearsal for our last person, we went ahead and started. We ran through the song a few times, only needing to stop once or twice to work on a difficult section. Things were going quite well, except for the missing part.

She finally showed up 30 minutes late. After a brief "Sorry," she then told us that she'd been busy. We overlooked that breech of manners, and asked her if she'd had a chance to look at the song. "Oh, no. That's what we're here for, right? But, I need to warm up first." I was worried. I led her warm-up and then gave out our starting pitches. (The song was a capella - no accompaniment) and half way through the first phrase it became obvious that we were in trouble. She had no idea where her notes were, or how they fit into the overall scheme of the song. The rehearsal degenerated from working out trouble spots and interpretation to me pounding out her notes on the piano while the rest of us sang our parts.

Almost two hours of our time was lost in teaching her how her part went. (I was also taught that you should multiply the time lost by the number of people involved 2 x 4 = 8 hours of wasted time) At the end of the exhausting rehearsal, she commented on the fact that the rest of us seemed to already know our parts. She was told that the we had each spent time during the week learning the notes and the phrasing. Her response: "Must be nice to have free time like that. I'm a paralegal. I have a REAL job."

I am not normally a violent person. I wanted to kill her. It needed to involve lots of pain and suffering on her part. I did explain to her, without raising my voice or using foul language, that we also had real jobs, and that we all had at least two of them.

These are not the only times that I've come across this attitude. Sadly, it happens all too often.

A parishioner was preparing for her wedding. She asked me to sing. I told her that I'd be happy to and asked how many songs she wanted. She had three in mind. I knew two of them, but would need music and additional rehearsal time on the third. Making quick calculations, I told her what my fees would be. There was a look of outraged shock on her face. How could I even think of charging her? Anyone can sing! She had a cousin who had "a real pretty voice and would sing for nothing." Trying to keep my temper, I asked if she was going to pay the pianist. "Of course. She had to have lessons to learn how to play!" I didn't sing for her wedding.

On a performance tour, a young woman told me that she didn't understand all the fuss some singers make about training. She'd never taken a single voice lesson. Couldn't even read music, but she could do everything I could. The one thing I couldn't do was help her to understand her error.

Currently, I sing for Opera Unlimited's school outreach program. We tour the state of New Mexico bringing opera into the elementary schools. Opera Unlimited is a non-profit organization, but I am paid. Not as an employee, but as a contractor. I teach at the New Mexico School of Music, once again, not as an employee, but as a contractor. I also teach out of my home, as Minnich Music. I have sung with Opera Southwest, still as a contractor. All of this makes me self-employed. The self-employment tax for 2011 dropped 2%, making it 13.3%
Here are the tax tables for 2011:

• 10% on taxable income from $0 to $8,500
• 15% on taxable income over $8,500 to $34,500
• 25% on taxable income over $34,500 to $83,600
• 28% on taxable income over $83,600 to $174,400
• 33% on taxable income over $174,400 to $379,150
• 35% on taxable income over $379,150.

Last year, I should have paid 10% of my income in taxes. But, because of how convoluted our system is, I paid just over 25%. One year, due to an IRS person inputting the wrong numbers somewhere on my return, they wanted 175% of my income in taxes. (Yup, almost twice what I made that year!)

In Germany, when we lived there (1990 to 1997) anyone involved in the arts only paid taxes on 75% of their income. In Ireland authors get the same break. In those countries, artists and musicians get respect and are encouraged to add to their culture's richness. In this country our contribution is overlooked. Here, American Idol is considered culture.

Music and art are quickly disappearing in our schools. There are some schools that have such horrific budgetary issues that they are even cutting sports; but those are always the last to go. I'm not going to argue the importance of physical education and sports. But I will argue for music and art. OK, especially music, I am slightly prejudiced in this area. Music study enhances cognitive skills, and fine motor control, it teaches creativity and cooperation, empathy, respect for other cultures, the list just keeps on going.

And yet, musicians are not respected or valued in our society. All too often, I am expected to justify why anyone should pay me at all! I have studied most of my life, in a field that I love, in order to acquire a level of skill that not many people attain. I am passionate about music, about singing - you may have noticed. Although I've mentioned money and taxes, that's not what this is really about. I am a professional musician, an opera singer, a vocal instructor. Those ARE real jobs.