I've had this idea for almost a year now, and was re-inspired today in a conversation with JM, a very articulate guy, a good friend, and our second horn player.
Would a study on the culture of orchestras be a good Fulbright proposal? This idea would involve connecting how an orchestra works (administratively and logisitically), musical approach and end result, musician's attitudes, classical music education system, audience perspective, etc. with the culture. The main question is: how does a culture's classical musical world reflect its culture and how does it's culture affect its classical musical world?
So, is that interesting to anyone besides me? Do you think I could pull it off?
I got to thinking about this again as James described the changes he would make to the system here in our orchestra, if he were magically put in charge. I immediately recognized that the things we would like to see happen to the orchestra are very American ideals. He generalized, very succinctly and poignantly: "Americans value the quality of their work and the stuff they have. Mexicans seem to value their families and their time." And yet we, as Americans in Mexico, are constantly complaining about inefficiency and shoddy standards, while appreciating our much more relaxed way of life and opportunity to really pass hours on end with the people we care about.
So which is it? Can you have one with or without the other?
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3 comments:
Hello my friend Claire!!
It absolutely makes my day to see that you've started a blog. I've always regretted that I didn't get the chance to get to know you better, and this looks like an excellent opportunity!
I hope you decide to keep it up!
Hey! Sounds like a very interesting idea, but you would have to narrow it down a bit - I could see it getting pretty intense i.e. you could end up going in too many directions and would need to pick a few points to focus on.
Otherwise, I'm also thrilled to see you started a blog, too! I started mine when I was living abroad my first time too. Hurray for my fellow international blogger! ;) And I'm quite sure you are having different yet quite as weird experiences than I am.
p.s. a German friend of mine here really reminds me of you!
As a former Fulbrighter, feel free to pick my brain about that part of this post sometime.
In regards to your question, I think what you're really discussing is the money/time continuum. And I would suggest that ultimately it is possible to have it all, provided one makes enough money to transcend the model.
Presumably, unless you are Warren Buffett, you have to work to make money to buy stuff. Work takes time. The time you work is the time you are not spending with friends or family, enjoying a game of tennis, or laying in bed dreaming of the naughty things you can do to Jessica Alba. Okay, maybe that last part is just me. But my point remains.
Americans seem to generally choose money, opting to delay a shift towards time until later in life (if it's even possible at all). People in other parts of the world seem to choose time, instead opting to do without the level or quality of creature comforts that many Americans bust their asses for and then bitch about never having the time to enjoy.
Mind you, the better you are at something, the more money you make for your efforts, and the less you have to work to maintain the same quality of life. So let's take an example of someone who can break the mold. Out of consideration to your readership, I will arbitrarily select a section second violinist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Let's say she's in her first year and is relatively debt-free.
She's going to make a minimum salary of $75,212, in addition to an Electronic Media Guarantee of $6,760 and a comfortable package of health and retirement benefits. She's typically not going to work more than 20-24 hours in a given week and may have some weeks (in addition to her guaranteed vacation) when she doesn't work at all.
While she may elect to teach in her free time or take other gigs, she doesn't have to. One can live quite comfortably on $82K and benefits in Dallas. As American cities go, the cost of living is quite affordable.
This woman probably has plenty of time to get lunch with friends, hang out on weekday evenings, and plan the occasional vacation. If she read your hypothetical question, she'd probably say yes.
If a factory worker in Dallas who dropped out of high school read your hypothetical question, he might say no. To match her standard of living, he's got to work a lot harder. If he wants the same kind of time to spend with family and friends, he's going to have to make sacrifices that she won't.
So ultimately, I suppose I think that an individual's earning potential probably directs his or her answer to your question.
That's one of the reasons I ended up back on the music side of the fence. I'm fortunate enough now to have won a job that will pay me quite well and afford me a considerable amount of free time to pursue other interests. My old day job in politics never could have given me both.
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