Career Choices?

[chsEuphonium]

I'm entering my Grade 11 year now and I'm starting to seriously think about pursuing euphonium performance as a career.

However, I just don't know anything about the career choices a euphonium player has.

What options do I have upon finishing university/college for euphonioum performance(if I happen to get in).

I'd like to think that I have a strong work ethic in music and a constant thirst for knowledge. I'm quite positive that I have a strong and structured practice routine. I think that I have the qualities to make it as a musician but my only doubt is career choice...

Please help!

[GregEuphonium]

The career opportunities for someone who wants to be a Euphonium performance major are not quite as broad as they are for some other brass instruments. Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, and French Horn players have the opportunity to play in concert bands, orchestras, and jazz ensembles (with the exception of French Horn players). Euphonium players are obviously limited to concert bands, brass bands (good luck trying to find a professional brass band that will actually pay you...), and the occasional orchestral gig. Of course there is always room for expanding a genre like Jazz, and guys like Rich Matteson, Marc Dickman, and Tom Ball have done great things to open up new opportunities, but pursuing a career in Jazz Euphonium is not a real option for most Euphonium players.

The two best and most common career options for someone who is majoring in Euphonium performance are a job in the military bands, or teaching at the college level. The military bands are very real opportunities for any instrumentalist who wants to perform professionally and get a decent paycheck. There are more military bands outside of just the "premiere" bands in Washington D.C. (and of course the Coast Guard band which is the only "premiere" band that isn't in Washington D.C.), the Navy and Army band programs have quite a few bands that are stationed all around the country and a few that are outside of the country. The Navy and Army band programs are definitely a lot easier to get into and far less competitive than the "premiere" bands, but that does not mean that you don't have to be an excellent musician to get in. The army and navy definitely want to make sure that they are only taking the best and brightest musicians if they are going to pay them a good salary to perform professionally and represent the military and government of the USA. Whether you play in the Army or Navy band program, or are privileged enough to ever make it into a premiere military band, both require years of dedicated studying and practicing.

Teaching at the college level is a possible career goal, and it also requires years of work and dedication. Being a recent college graduate and having spent the recent years of my life in a college setting, I can say that the degrees that you have and the amount of work experience that you have in your field of study make all the difference in your chances of teaching at a college. It is the standard for most colleges and universities to require a Masters or Doctoral degree of not just full time faculty, but also some of their part-time adjunct faculty. And for those professors that do not have a graduate degree, then they must have the amount of experience in their field that would be equivalent to a graduate degree. I know that Mr. Werden teaches at the University of Minnesota, and while I do not know if he has a graduate degree I don't think that anyone would question the experience that he has (that far exceeds the experience that someone would receive from a graduate degree), or question his qualifications to teach at a college level.
Jobs at the college level are usually just as difficult to get as the most competitive premiere military band Euphonium jobs. At the college that I just graduated from we recently had an opening for a Music Education professor, and I remember speaking to the chairman of the music department and hearing that they had well over 100 people who sent in their resume and applied for that one position. Out of those 100+ people they only chose a few people (maybe 5... not sure off the top of my head) to actually come for an in person interview and audition, and then of course only offered the job to one person. I know that those numbers seem really depressing and make it seem near impossible to teach at the college level. I just wanted you to realize that teaching at a college or university is usually something that people are only able to do after receiving several advanced degrees, and/or first establishing themselves as a professional musician with a successful performing/teaching career.


This of course is only my own opinion, there may be others who agree or disagree with the opportunities that are available to Euphonium players who want to make a career performing. I really look forward to seeing some of the responses that are provided by the other members of the forum. I think that you asked a very very good question.

[davewerden]

Music can be a great career, but dont' forget it can also be a nice hobby or part-time "career." I've done both. I was in The USCG Band for 26 years and loved that opportunity. Now I am working as a computer geek during the day (my secret identity) and play and teach outside those hours. That's nice too because you have a "normal" job during the day and a steady paycheck, then you are free to do whatever kind of music you want on your free time. Even full-time musicians don't always feel satisfied by their job, so they go out for other types of playing outside that job.

In any case, opportunities are finite, so I would certainly have a back-up plan. Get educated/trained in some other productive vocation as well, and then you have something to fall back on. Even if your ultimate destiny is to be a full-time musician, you may have to spend a few years waiting, trying auditions, and building your resume and experience before you land the ideal job.

Having said that, if playing is what you really want to do and if you seem to have a natural talent for music, go for it! It's one of the funnest things you can do!

[davewerden]

Oh, and I forgot to mention forging your own niche in the job market. Look at Adam Frey. He did not follow the traditional path of a service band career, obtaining a DMA during that time, and then transitioning into a college gig. He did things more his own way and is enjoying great success. There are others, more and more, who carve out careers by hard work and imagination.

[Euphdad]

Like many others in the forum I'm quite sure my son would love nothing more than to be a performer however the limitations mentioned very eloquently by Greg in the above post are impossible to overlook.

We are part of several flute and horn forums as well as euph forums (my son is also a hornist and my daughter plays flute/pic) and this question of becoming a "professional performer" rather than say a teacher/performer, computer programmer/performer, plumber/performer, etc., comes up in every one of them. It's not just euphs. While there are certainly more horn and flute spots available in the states than euph spots, you really do have to be the tops to get them and they don't open up that often. Remember 2nd to 4th chair in most symphonies don't pay enough to survive and require your presence as often as the first chair who usually just makes enough to survive unless they are very lucky. First chair spots don't open very often, they tend to be coveted :-)

My son has chosen the double major path for college and has only applied to schools that have established music ed/performance double major programs. He has always wanted to teach music (he's actually quite good at it and gets along surprisingly well with kids) so I think that hopefully earning a living might not be too hard for him. He's glad to be able to pursue a musical career and understands that his opportunities to perform will only be limited by, as Dr. Werden states, his imagination.

Euphdad

[GregEuphonium]

Mr. Werden and Euphdad did a very good job of mentioning something that I failed to mention in my previous post; the possibility of being a performer on the side, while maintaining something else as your main career. That is a very real option for even the most successful of musicians as displayed by Mr. Werden who works as a "computer geek" by day, and superhero Euphonium soloist by night. I know several musicians who have followed a similar path. I am very good friends with a few of the members of the New England Brass Quartet, one of the best chamber brass ensembles in my area, and pretty much all 4 of the guys in the group have some type full time music teaching job during the day (a couple of them are high school band directors, and one of them has a huuuuge studio of like 40 private students) and then spend about 2 or 3 nights a week playing gigs in the quartet. I apologize if my previous entry seemed a little bit negative or made it seem like it was near impossible to make it as a performer, that wasn't my intent. Mr. Werden and Euphdad made a very good point with maintaining a full time day job (whether it be in music or another field), and then spending your free time performing.

[angeloR]

I have a question related to this: I would like to pursue a career in music, but I also want to do engineering. If i can get a scholarship, would it be a good idea to double-major in euphonium performance and mechanical engineering?

[davewerden]

Originally posted by: angeloR I have a question related to this: I would like to pursue a career in music, but I also want to do engineering. If i can get a scholarship, would it be a good idea to double-major in euphonium performance and mechanical engineering?

Funny you should ask! I have a student who doing that same thing (except he is a music minor, but I believe the U of MN would let him do a double major if he had chosen that.

The one challenge is that there will be tough requirements on your time for both majors, but if you are really "into" the whole thing it should be doable.

Of course, the really good news is that once you graduate you have double the options of most people.

[Euphdad]

I don't see why any school that offered both degrees would not allow it. That said I would pick some prospective schools and contact the euph professor and talk about it. Most admissions office will also send an undergrad catalog.

Euphdad

[GregEuphonium]

Double majoring in music and mechanical engineering would probably be a possibilty at most schools. I went to a smaller school (about 6,000 people total at my college) and I know that the college allowed people to have a second major outside of music if they wanted to, though it wasn't usually encouraged (I don't know if it was upto the college or the music program... most likely the college). I had only one music major friend that I knew of who had an additional major outside of music, he was also a business major, and he is on the 5 or 6 year program because of all the additional work that was required for a completely separate degree. I don't think that he regrets his decision, but he is almost always completely bogged down with huge amounts of schoolwork. To be honest, just being a music major will give you a huge course load with tons of work, nevermind adding a second and completely unrelated major. With lots of dedication and focus I think that you can find success majoring in music and mechanical engineering.