From Pauline Lerner Posted from 70.108.139.225 on October 1, 2007 at 1:06 AM (GMT)
Karen, your blog has several themes, and I like them all.
It is really important for kids to get experience playing music with other kids at their age and skill level. This is a problem I have frequently with my students. Many of them start playing one or more years before musical instruction is offered at school. By the time they reach a grade where instrumental music is taught at school, they are way ahead of their classmates. I wish I could find an opportunity for my students similar to the one your daughter has, even though I value sleep.
I have never become as close a friend with any of my standmates as you have. Perhaps it's because you two were adolescents at the time, and perhaps it's just because I'm me. I'm so sorry that she has encountered so many problems in her life, many of them related to the way her parents treated her.
I agree with you that it is wise to be trained for a career that is more solid than being a professional violinist. However, one must keep in mind that professional fields that are in vogue for decades may fall by the wayside. I've got a Ph.D. in biochemistry, and I worked in food science and regulations for over 20 years. I've been unemployed for six years now. Now we have deregulation on a large scale, thanks to the Bush administration. Perhaps even more important is that many science jobs are outsourced overseas where salaries are much, much lower than in the U.S. It's ironic that I'm now working as a private violin teacher.
From Karen Allendoerfer Posted from 71.126.240.119 on October 1, 2007 at 10:54 AM (GMT)
Pauline, I know what you mean about science jobs also being uncertain. Thomas Friedman can write all he wants about the world being flat and the need for tech workers, but there are a lot of unemployed PhD's out there too.
Thinking about it more, my point is not really so much that this is unique to music or science or to professional violin playing, but rather that diversity and flexibility are going to be necessary.
I thought Anger's comments about travel getting more difficult were sobering, and were food for thought. The idea that people's lives are going to be more geographically constrained in the future has a lot of implications, not just for musicians. Concert musicians tour around a lot, but so do many other professions, including scientists. It might actually be good for local communities and for nurturing local talent across the board if it's not so easy to bring in whoever's perceived as the latest, hottest "star" from somewhere else.
Comments
Posted from 70.108.139.225 on October 1, 2007 at 1:06 AM (GMT)
It is really important for kids to get experience playing music with other kids at their age and skill level. This is a problem I have frequently with my students. Many of them start playing one or more years before musical instruction is offered at school. By the time they reach a grade where instrumental music is taught at school, they are way ahead of their classmates. I wish I could find an opportunity for my students similar to the one your daughter has, even though I value sleep.
I have never become as close a friend with any of my standmates as you have. Perhaps it's because you two were adolescents at the time, and perhaps it's just because I'm me. I'm so sorry that she has encountered so many problems in her life, many of them related to the way her parents treated her.
I agree with you that it is wise to be trained for a career that is more solid than being a professional violinist. However, one must keep in mind that professional fields that are in vogue for decades may fall by the wayside. I've got a Ph.D. in biochemistry, and I worked in food science and regulations for over 20 years. I've been unemployed for six years now. Now we have deregulation on a large scale, thanks to the Bush administration. Perhaps even more important is that many science jobs are outsourced overseas where salaries are much, much lower than in the U.S. It's ironic that I'm now working as a private violin teacher.
Posted from 71.126.240.119 on October 1, 2007 at 10:54 AM (GMT)
Thinking about it more, my point is not really so much that this is unique to music or science or to professional violin playing, but rather that diversity and flexibility are going to be necessary.
I thought Anger's comments about travel getting more difficult were sobering, and were food for thought. The idea that people's lives are going to be more geographically constrained in the future has a lot of implications, not just for musicians. Concert musicians tour around a lot, but so do many other professions, including scientists. It might actually be good for local communities and for nurturing local talent across the board if it's not so easy to bring in whoever's perceived as the latest, hottest "star" from somewhere else.