[Trombone-l] Cleveland Orch Trombone Article in newspaper

[George Carr]

> I know nothing about the acting field, but it has always seemed to me that even
> among the people you have described, the percentage who are really successful is
> small. Many is the time I see an actor do a terrific job in a character role and
> never see him/her again.

The ones that are well known to the general public are HUGELY
successful, but there are plenty more who are making a very good
living and solid reputation among their peers.  Contrast Yo Yo Ma with
Joe Alessi for an example.  So just because character actors don't
make $20M per picture, they still do fine.

> >So it's not all bad that not everyone who trains as a performer
> >doesn't get full-time work.  There aren't any other fields where a
> >degree guarantees a job; why should music be any different?
>
> Probably so, but there are fields that use licensing criteria to limit the number
> of people entering that field. I've always believed that was the prime purpose
> of the AMA--to limit the number of doctors, not always to the benefit of society.
> The same with the ABA, I would presume. Someone on this list is a lawyer. You, George?
> Anyway, I was once told that among the many reasons for not representing yourself
> in court is the notion that, regardless of how brilliant you may be, the judge,
> a member of the ABA himself, is not going to be very happy with you, at least from
> the onset.

I am a lawyer, but I'm a defender of the license requirement (although
you may think I'm biased because I'm a member of this particular
union).  But lawyers who don't know what they're doing can really make
somebody worse off for years to come; musicians who don't know what
they're doing will ruin only an evening.  :)

I agree that it seems like a dysfunctional system, but I'm not
convinced we need licensing to protect the general public from poor
musicians, or to prevent young players from being disappointed if they
don't get enough work in the first few years.

George