hi i just ran across your blog! im also an oboist, hoping to make it professionally one day. im in college right now, do you have any tips or like how did you become a professional oboist?
Hi there! I have been a freelancer all my career, so I don't play the oboe full time. This is actually incredibly common - lots of us supplement our income with teaching or a secondary career. Some people are able to make that career related to music, but tons of us are lawyers, sales clerks, pharmacists, etc. I myself was a designer, then a programmer, and now I work in government.
I have these tips for oboe performance majors:
1) Talk honestly with your career advisor. There are a limited number of orchestras in the world and spots open rarely, yet colleges churn out new performance majors yearly. Where does everyone go? See what you need to learn to be a viable teacher, recording and/or contract musician (lots of touring productions hire locally), etc.
2) Join the local music union. Most gigs will come from word-of-mouth, so start playing with and meeting people. The union is also your source for health insurance.
3) Gain a reputation for being easy to work with and punctual. Both of these traits are more valuable than sheer skill and will get you hired over better players who are arrogant or flighty. (Of course you need to be able to play the part in front of you, no excuses.)
Be a good sight-reader and know the standards. It was a culture shock learning how few rehearsals you do IRL for a concert vs college. Hell, I once toured for 2 weeks with an opera company, no one else spoke English, and we played a different opera every day. You gotta learn to roll with barely any rehearsals.
Be a good leader and if principle, an advocate for the woodwind section. Don't be afraid of conductors, they are just another sclhub in the pit/on stage with you, so learn how to talk to them.
Since oboes are usually first in, last out, be helpful during setup and breakdown. People notice if you are kind.
4) Diversify musically. Most musical theatre pits only want woodwind generalists, so learn the other instruments. They will take a generalist over a specialist any day, it doesn't matter if you are a better oboist.
Also learn interesting instruments that make you useful in recording - soundtracks need things like recorders, penny whistles, etc.
5) Diversify professionally. COVID has taught us how precarious a performance career really is. You need to know how to do other stuff or be good working in retail/food service.
6) Do not turn your nose down at pops, wedding, theme park or church gigs. These pay well. Churches have consistently been my most reliable source of income - I was a church musician for many years and that consistent $250 a weekend for 5 hrs of easy work kept me fed.
7) Be prepared to make tough decisions on what you are worth. I refuse to play for free; I will not give in to sob stories from community orchestras. I refuse to play for orchestras who take 6 months to pay people. "Exposure" is bullshit.
Alas, sometimes you have to coddle bad people in positions of power -- this is where having a backup job helps.
Refusing shitty gigs will get easier as you gain a rep among good people. And it's even easier if you have a backup job -- I have a reputation as That Guy who will corner the contractor (often the conductor) and demand the orchestra get paid on time, because I'm not worried financially about getting fired. I have threatened to sue orchestras to get my people paid. If you are union, stick with your union pals on overtime rules. No bullshit "sound checks" that turn into unpaid rehearsals.
8) It is possible to make it without owning an English Horn, but if you have the means, get one -- it really helps if you want to play more, but you may not necessarily earn more money because of the additional costs.
9) Make friends with the caterers at the gig. Get good at cramming Green Room / backstage food into your pockets or gig bag. Return to the catering table before they dump the food. This is how you will eat some nights.
10) Being a performing musician is... remarkably blue-collar in a way. Be prepared for that kind of lifestyle. You will be hustling your entire life, even if you land an orchestra appointment.
Honestly, though, out of the entire list, #1 is critical for you right here and now. The math just doesn't add up for all of us to be symphonic musicians, so you need to figure out what a performance career looks like to you. Maybe you work at Disney in the parks. Maybe you record video game music from your home studio. But the world has changed and music school (albeit like 25 years ago) did not prepare me for anything other than auditioning for orchestras and grad school. I'm still pissed about it.
That said, even though I don't play full time, I have played some very meaty repertoire. I've played principle with major orchestras (I'm a damned good sub), I've toured, and have done everything on my bucket list except for Tchaik 4 and the Bartok (I have played 2nd here, tho, so good enough).
Also, I don't regret music school - it made me a better, more confident person. I just wish I knew going in what the job market REALLY was like.
I wish you the best!
