Making a Living

Four years ago when I was at the Van Cliburn Piano Institute (and thrilled to be amongst 25 very gifted pianists), I remember being a little shocked when an esteemed pianist/professor looked at the group of us and bluntly said, "I do not expect that more than 1 or 2 of you will make a living on performing alone. Teaching, yes. But not performance."

We all looked taken aback, perhaps because we had unrealistic expectations. We had all been deemed gifted at a young age, won numerous competitions and awards throughout the years, performed with orchestras...I mean, we were all going to make it, right?!

But looking back, that professor was right. No matter how gifted a pianist may be, it's hard to support oneself as a performing artist alone. Some do it, but not many. The truth is that there are other ways to make a living -- like teaching, accompanying, arranging, etc. But the good news and the thing I'm realizing more and more is that you don't have to pick just one! For instance, I am a concert pianist, piano teacher, and church organist.

The most difficult thing is balance. I've started teaching Monday through Friday and playing the organ on Wednesday evenings and Sundays, and it makes it more difficult to have time to practice and get/play concerts. So while I am making a better living with teaching the past couple of years, I don't have the time or flexibility to do as many performances or competitions. If I miss a week of lessons, I miss a week of pay (or I have to make-up a week of lessons, which is probably worse!). But performance just can't take a back-seat if that's still what I'm about.