Do Symphony Players Get Paid?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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Do symphony players get paid?

The salaries of Symphony Orchestra Musicians in the US range from $18,720 to $141,440 , with a median salary of $71,812

. The middle 60% of Symphony Orchestra Musicians makes between $65,096 and $71,802, with the top 80% making $141,440.

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How do Symphony musicians get paid?

You’re paid

for each service you perform, such as a rehearsal or a performance, with three hours on the job typically equal to one performance

. Some orchestras pay the same for rehearsals and performance; others pay less for rehearsals. Your orchestra may guarantee you play a minimum number of services.

Do all members of an orchestra get paid the same?

For the majority of orchestras across the world, including those in the US,

the pay structure is often dependent on your seating position in the orchestra

. It can depend on the section of the orchestra too. By this I mean broadly, Strings, Wind, Brass, or Percussion.

Is being in a symphony a full time job?

How much do musicians in orchestras get paid?

The salaries of Professional Orchestra Musicians in the US range from

$78,541 to $117,811

, with a median salary of $98,176 . The middle 67% of Professional Orchestra Musicians makes $98,176, with the top 67% making $117,811.

What is the highest paying orchestra?

  • Chicago Symphony: $3,420,804.
  • Los Angeles Philharmonic: $2,857,103.
  • San Francisco Symphony: $2,139,720.
  • Boston Symphony: $1,787,000.
  • Philadelphia Orchestra: $1,672,167.
  • Cleveland Orchestra: $1,485,371.
  • Minnesota Orchestra: $1,036,622.
  • Dallas Symphony: $911,024.

How hard is it to get into a symphony?

“Getting hired by a symphony is

incredibly difficult

,” says Janet Gamber, a violinist with the Reading Symphony Orchestra in Pennsylvania. “I freelanced for just over 5 years in Philadelphia with many fine musicians, and I can count on one hand how many of my friends have won jobs with full-time orchestras.”

How much do New York symphony musicians make?

As of Jul 14, 2022, the average annual pay for a Philharmonic Orchestra in New York is

$44,466 a year

. Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, that works out to be approximately $21.38 an hour. This is the equivalent of $855/week or $3,706/month.

What’s the difference between a symphony and a philharmonic?

The short answer is:

there is no difference at all

. They are different names for the same thing, that is, a full-sized orchestra of around 100 musicians, intended primarily for a symphonic repertoire.

Who is the highest paid conductor in the world?

At the top of the list is the Philadelphia Orchestra, which paid chief conductor

Charles Dutoit

with $1.83 million.

How do you join a symphony?

  1. First, you nearly always have to attend a great music school, at least at the Master’s degree level. …
  2. Secondly, study with a teacher who either has experience playing in an orchestra OR has had students get placed in an orchestra.

How much do symphony conductors make?

Salary Ranges for Orchestra Conductors

The salaries of Orchestra Conductors in the US range from

$21,070 to $101,150

, with a median salary of $49,820 . The middle 60% of Orchestra Conductors makes $49,820, with the top 80% making $101,150.

How much do Houston symphony players make?

The current musicians’

base salary is $97,940. It will rise to $101,140 in 2019-2020, and to $105,300 in 2020-2021

. The musicians worked with the Society to achieve cost savings in other areas of the contract to support these salary increases.

How much does a violinist in an orchestra make?

Orchestral Salaries

There is a huge variation in salaries, however, with an entry level violinist salary making roughly ​

$27,000 a year

​, while a principal can make anywhere from ​$100,000​ to more than ​$400,000​, according to the website Movie Cultists.

How much do solo violinists make?

How Much Money Do Violinists Make. The range of salaries for violinists is broad, ranging from

as low as $26,000 per year to over $100,000 per year

. According to Glassdoor.com, the average base pay for violinists is $52,522. Salary.com places the average annual salary for violinists even lower at $45,306.

How do classical musicians make money?

Earning money


Concerts — Musicians may be paid by a venue or concert series for their appearance, they may take home ticket sales, or their performance may be organized by a management company

. A concert payment for a musician can range from $0 to $4,000, but most concert performances pay $100-750 per player.

How much do LA Phil musicians make?

At the end of four years, the minimum yearly wage for the Phil’s more than 100 musicians will be

$154,336

, up 3.8% from the $148,700 minimum in the contract that expired Sunday. The minimum wage scale had risen 17% over the previous four-year contract.

How much do Nashville Symphony musicians make?

Salary Ranges for Symphony Orchestra Musicians in Nashville, TN. The salaries of Symphony Orchestra Musicians in Nashville, TN range from

$55,423 to $83,135

, with a median salary of $69,279 . The middle 67% of Symphony Orchestra Musicians makes $69,279, with the top 67% making $83,135.

Who is the highest paid classical musician?

Do the Boston Pops get paid?

Under the new contract,

the BSO’s 92 full-time musicians will earn a minimum of $120,000 in the first year

, down from the previous base salary of $162,000. But principal players, such as leaders of strings, brass, woodwinds and percussion sections, can earn anywhere from two to four times the minimum union salary.

How many hours do orchestra members work?

Orchestra members spend an average of

20 hours per week

performing and rehearsing, time that is broken into approximately eight “services”, a catchall term that encompasses both rehearsals and concerts. They tend to work in the morning or at night, including on weekends and often major holidays.

How are orchestras funded?

The majority of the budget is

direct public funding from the suburban city where the orchestra is based

. Musicians pay membership dues. Concerts are mostly free (and this is a condition of the public funding); tickets are sold for only one fundraiser concert per year. There is also some money from donations.

How much do the Philharmonic Orchestra get paid?

How much does the Chicago Symphony Orchestra pay?

The average estimated annual salary, including base and bonus, at Chicago Symphony Orchestra is $100,539, or

$48 per hour

, while the estimated median salary is $117,293, or $56 per hour.

How much do Dallas Symphony musicians make?

Data from the American Federation of Musicians Alabama Symphony $34,494 Milwaukee Symphony Dallas Symphony

$77,376

Rochester Philharmonic
Detroit Symphony $98,800 Saint Louis Symphony Florida Orchestra $30,090 St. Paul Chamber Orchestra

What is the most beautiful symphony ever written?

  • 8) Brahms – Symphony No. …
  • 7) Berlioz – Symphonie Fantastique (1830)
  • 6) Brahms – Symphony No. 4 (1885)
  • 5) Mahler – Symphony No. 2 (1894 rev. …
  • 4) Mahler – Symphony No. 9 (1909)
  • 3) Mozart – Symphony No. 41 (1788)
  • 2) Beethoven – Symphony No. 9 (1824)
  • 1) Beethoven – Symphony No. 3 (1803)

Which is bigger symphony or orchestra?


A symphony

is a large-scale musical composition, usually with three or four movements. An orchestra is a group of musicians with a variety of instruments, which usually includes the violin family.

What is the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States?

Founded in 1842,

the New York Philharmonic

is the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States.

Do musicians watch the conductor?

Why does the conductor shake the hand of the first Violinist?

Do music conductors get paid well?


The salaries of Music Conductors in the US range from $13,012 to $351,332 , with a median salary of $63,120

. The middle 57% of Music Conductors makes between $63,121 and $158,719, with the top 86% making $351,332.

How old do you have to be to play in an orchestra?

How do you audition for a symphony orchestra?

  1. Show your artistic depth with every note. …
  2. Accept the unknowns. …
  3. Make a beautiful sound all the time. …
  4. Orchestral playing is communal, but auditions are solitary. …
  5. Solid, specific preparation is the best antidote for anxiety. …
  6. Recordings are a mixed blessing. …
  7. You can make errors.

How often do professional orchestras rehearse?

Some professional orchestras rehearse

as little as two times before performing

. Community orchestras usually have about 1-2 months of rehearsals prior to a concert. Still, that is not enough time to memorize 3 or 4 pieces which can span 3-6+ pages each.

Does the conductor actually do anything?

It keeps an orchestra or a choir in time and together. But that’s just the starting point. Most importantly

a conductor serves as a messenger for the composer

. It is their responsibility to understand the music and convey it through gesture so transparently that the musicians in the orchestra understand it perfectly.

What railroad pays the most?

“BNSF is easily the highest paid railroad… our guarantee rates of pay rank above any other

class 1 railroad

.

Emily Lee
Author
Emily Lee
Emily Lee is a freelance writer and artist based in New York City. She’s an accomplished writer with a deep passion for the arts, and brings a unique perspective to the world of entertainment. Emily has written about art, entertainment, and pop culture.