This week’s episode of The Culture Study Podcast will appeal to so many of you: a whole hour of FICTION CONCIERGE! Maris Kreizman and I answer a half dozen reader queries about what to read next — from books that scratch the romance + literary fiction itch to propulsive nonfiction that feels like fiction. Click the magic link to listen wherever you get your podcasts, and sign up to get new episode notifications below:
In response to my piece on how How I Write Culture Study, I asked readers if they’d want to participate in a series where people from various professions talk about their work lives, explaining how they organize their days and weeks, how they protect their time, when and how they do their work and how and when they attend to their inbox, etc. etc.
Our first entries in the series are from a freelance audiobook narrator, a gardening ceramacist, an engineering grad student, and a hairstylist. Today, you’ll hear about what it’s like work as a collaborative pianist — sometimes known as an accompanist.
If you’d like to volunteer to talk about a day/week in your life for a potential interview — crucially, this work does not have to be for pay; I’d love to hear from caregivers — here’s the very simple sign-up.
Now, let’s hear from Leslie about how she organizes all the puzzle pieces of rehearsals and concerts and more rehearsals — and why people think she charges too much for her work (and what they’re actually paying for).
Let’s start with how you described your work to me:
I’m a pianist and accompanist; I play for multiple schools and community choirs, as well as a church and for various theater groups. I also have a part time job doing finance/accounting for a (different) church. I also teach piano lessons for a few students.
For people who aren’t familiar, can you describe what an accompanist does?
An accompanist is someone who plays the piano (usually piano; there are organists who are accompanists as well) for an ensemble or soloist who is performing on an instrument or as a singer. In recent years, the more used term is Collaborative Pianist.
Now, tell me about how you organize your day — or your week. You can do it like I did (breaking down each day of the week) or you can just do a pretty typical day, whatever makes sense for you.
Each day for me is different, so I’ll give a weekly overview of what I have that is consistent from week to week and generally stays the same (at least during the school year).
Sunday: Church in the morning until around 11:00, teaching lessons in the afternoon, community choir rehearsal in the evening from 6:00-8:30
Monday: School choir rehearsal (School A) in the morning and afternoon from about 9:30-3:00; orchestra rehearsal (this is a non-paying gig; I play in a community orchestra) in the evening from 7:00-9:00
Tuesday: School choir rehearsal (School A) from 9:30-12:30, school choir rehearsal (School B) from 12:30-4:00
Wednesday: Work at my non-music job** until around 1:30 (my hours are flexible but I usually try to be in my office by 9:00); School A rehearsal 2:00-3:00; church (worship service and rehearsal) from 6:30-8:30
Thursday: Mornings I am usually at my non-music job; School B rehearsal from 12:30-3:00
Friday: School A rehearsal from 9:30-12:30; afternoons alternate between school B from 12:30-4:00 and school A from 2:00-3:00
**My non-music job involves working at a church and handling financials. This is a part-time job that is usually 10-12 hours a week. Because it is geographically fairly close to both schools I play for during the school day, I will often fit in a couple hours here and there throughout the week either before or in between my other rehearsals. I also spend time on this job at home in the evenings and on Saturdays depending on the week.
These are the basics of my schedule. What isn’t included here are the things I do that are shorter term or sporadic.
In addition to the two schools above (A and B), I regularly play for three to five other schools in the area. For these schools, I usually have to schedule four to six rehearsals for each concert, and then figure out how to wedge those into my existing schedule. I may tell school B that I’m not available on a specific Tuesday afternoon so that I can go to school C instead on that afternoon. I may tell school A that I have to leave at 11:00 instead of 12:30 on one Friday so I can fit in a rehearsal at school C in between the morning and afternoon rehearsals at school A.
School choir concerts are almost always on a weekday evening, so whenever I have a concert, that will be added to the calendar on an evening. Often they are on Tuesdays or Thursdays, but if they are scheduled on a Monday I will miss my own orchestra rehearsal and if they are scheduled on a Wednesday I will find a substitute to play for me at my church.
I also play for a semi-professional choir that performs three or four concerts a year. For this choir, we will schedule rehearsals three to four rehearsals in the weeks before the concert, usually on Sunday afternoons. Concerts with this ensemble take up a Friday evening for dress rehearsal, a Saturday afternoon/evening for a concert, and then a Sunday afternoon for an additional concert.
And then there are musical theater productions. When I’m hired as a musician only, the time commitment is generally about a week of nightly rehearsals before the show opens, and then three or four shows per weekend for the run of the show. (If I am playing for a high school show there is usually just one weekend of performances, if it is a community theater production there are usually at least two weekends, sometimes three.)
If I’m hired as the music director for a show, the time commitment is much greater, requiring multiple nights of rehearsals over the course of ~six weeks. With community productions, rehearsals usually run Sunday-Thursday evenings in the later evening. I have one school that I regularly music direct for in the spring, but those rehearsals are earlier in the evenings. There’s a longer time commitment (we start rehearsals towards the end of February and start performances the first week of May). When I’m involved in these productions I can generally keep all of my evening commitments that are already in place since rehearsals are generally from around 3:00-5:30.
Lastly, I also accompany individuals for recitals or solo contests, usually facilitated through one of the schools. Sometimes the school will arrange an event; sometimes there is a state-wide contest day in which any school can participate. For these rehearsals, I schedule blocks of time where I can be available (usually before or after school) to rehearse with these students in between all of my other scheduled rehearsals.
How do you organize your future? (Planning for future work, planning for time off, etc.)
I usually have a general idea of the overall shape of my year, which is mostly dictated by the school calendar. I ask for concert dates from the schools I play for as early as possible to navigate any potential conflicts. I also try to plan for any musicals I know I will be involved in by adding rehearsal start dates and show dates to my calendar right away, even knowing that I won’t be needed for every single one.
I love to travel; it’s one of the things I try to do every year as much as possible. It’s the only ‘time-off’ I take. Generally I will try to plan ahead and schedule a trip right after I know I have a concert or show. Because I set the specifics of my schedule, I’ll often travel during the week.
Every once in a while I will try to plan for a day that I can have completely “off.” I might pick a Monday after finishing a show, or a Friday after a concert. I usually only do this during a time when I’ve had a few weeks without any days off; where I’ve had Saturday commitments as well as my usual Sunday-Monday work. I will let my schools know I’m not available (if it’s after a concert I will often not be required for rehearsal anyway) and try to refrain from scheduling appointments. I like to use those days to sleep in, read a book, and do laundry….mostly I just want to stay home and enjoy my space!
How do you manage your income streams? Software, specific accountant needs, you can take this in whatever direction you need. Does accompanist work feel stable?
I probably don’t keep as close an eye on this as I should. My income fluctuate quite a bit month to month. The only thing that stays consistent are my two church jobs. These two (one music, one not) pay me enough to almost completely cover my mortgage and my ‘usual’ bills like utilities, cell, internet, etc. Everything else (groceries, food, gas, savings, plus anything ‘non-essential’) is covered by all the other work I do. I generally try to keep to a certain expense budget per month, since I know that my income will always vary. I am also very careful about setting aside any ‘extra’ money each month to save for the things that invariably go wrong when you’re a home and/or car owner, as well as a small amount each month that I specifically put towards future travel.
One thing that I haven’t done yet is hire an accountant. I probably should? I’ve been doing my own taxes for years now, and it’s very likely I am missing some deductions and other things that I should be taking advantage of.
My work feels very stable in the sense that there will always be some kind of work that I can find. I do think that there’s a certain amount of security in having a skill that can be used in many ways. I worry if I have to turn something down due to scheduling conflicts that it could affect my chances working with that person or organization in the future. I also struggle with the sense that I should always be doing more and filling my time more, even when I know logically that there are only so many hours in the day, and it’s important to have time for not working.
How do you think about “coworkers?”
I definitely think much more in terms of “colleagues” rather than “coworkers.” It’s kind of a pedantic difference, but I very rarely, if ever, work with people doing the same thing as I am as a collaborative pianist. I very often work with the same people more than once, especially the directors at the schools I play for, but the relationship feels different to me from past jobs I’ve had in retail or offices. I am often coming in and out of the spaces; I am collaborating with people, but I’m not usually a part of the fabric of the day-to-day in the same way you are with someone at the desk or register next to you.
I have many, many colleagues because I work with so many different people and groups of people. Music is a very time and place specific thing; when you perform you are creating something at a certain time with a certain group of people and that specific performance won’t ever be re-created. Even if you are on Broadway performing the same show ten times a week, each performance will be a slightly different experience. So while I work with schools and directors year after year, the students are different each year.
This is a very niche field, and it has very niche struggles and joys. I would like to help create a better community for connection between those of us who do this work and are passionate about it.
What’s the thing people misunderstand about how your life and work, well, work?
Honestly money/compensation is probably the biggest thing… I think that if you are not involved in the music world it would be very difficult to understand what I do and how I’m able to make a living with it. Even if you have been involved in choir or musical theater as a student or adult, it can be difficult to understand if you have never been the person playing the piano.
I often have people not in the music industry imply (or outright say) that I charge too much for my time. At the same time, people in the music industry tell me I don’t value my time highly enough. People often don’t understand how many years I have spent building my skills and my musicality. When I am hired for a job, I am being hired not for the hours I might spend on that specific job, but for the 30+ years I have spent learning my instrument and developing my musical skill and ear, the 15+ years I have spent being an accompanist, and the two years I have now spent as a full-time collaborative pianist.
I also think the specific things that make a good collaborative pianist are very opaque to people who are not musicians (and sometimes also to musicians!). I spend a lot of time really thinking about what I do and why; every choice that I make and note that I play is felt deeply and comes from a place where experience and love of music meet.
For every “Day in the Life” interview like this we publish on Culture Study, I’m donating $500 to a non-profit organization of the author’s choice. What organization are we supporting with this interview, and why does their work matter to you?
I would like to support the Iowa Trans Mutual Aid Fund. I live in Iowa, I am queer, and I have trans people in my life that I love. Iowa is the first state in the country to roll back civil rights protections and it is infuriating to me every day. This organization is relatively new (founded in 2021) and is able to provide micro-grants to Iowans who apply for help with gender-affirming care.
You can join Culture Study in donating to Iowa Trans Mutual Aid fund here.
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And if you have questions for Leslie about her work, schedule, training….she’ll be watching the comments and attempt to answer what she can!
I love this! I am not a FT musician, but I work several different part-time music jobs that I stagger around my kid's schedules. I have been a SAHM for the last 13 years and I have appreciated the flexibility that music jobs give me (I am a piano teacher, I teach early childhood music classes, I accompany at my church, and I volunteer to play in the worship band at my church) as well as a little extra money. I am fortunate that my husband has a good paying job so this is not how we pay our bills - but I use this money for "extras" like a monthly massage for myself and paying for violin lessons for my 2 kids from a very good (and expensive) teacher! In the last two years I have added being a substitute teacher to my "jobs" and have been able to teach music classes a couple of times and really enjoyed that a lot. I recently raised my rates for piano lessons and really struggled to do it, but then I checked what music schools in the area charge and gave myself a 5% bump with no guilt.
Before I became a SAHM, I worked full-time in a non-music job and did lessons and a community choir on the side in my free time. I needed health insurance and this was the only way I could survive. I think it's telling that Leslie has a non-music job in the midst of ALL of her other jobs as well. Being a musician is tough as the income isn't consistent, especially if you rely on gigs like accompanying for events like weddings and funerals. It also consumes your evenings and weekends, which is difficult if you have kids who have activities during those same times.
I remember my college professor telling me that nobody argues with a doctor or a lawyer about the minutes of their time being worth something, but somehow being a musician means your labor isn't as "meaningful". I have been playing the piano since I was 4 and teaching lessons since I was 20. Now I am 46 and I am good at what I do and I still struggle to get compensated at a meaningful level due to the perceptions people have about paying a musician for their labor and time. Thanks so much for this interview and I hope people are able to get some insights into the piecemeal lives that working musicians lead and how difficult it is to make a living wage.
That excerpt at the top is from Into The Woods! I’m also a collaborative pianist and piano teacher, very familiar with fluctuating income and trying to take advantage of my weird schedule to travel. Fun to see my profession represented, it’s often misunderstood or downplayed/not valued.
Edited: I think there’s quite a bit to unpack about why it’s not valued — insert something here about the history of women and playing keyboard instruments (an acceptably “feminine” pursuit) and how the majority of pre-collegiate level piano teachers are women, how music is a “passion field,” people assume you’re just doing it for the love of music (and some people are)… I could go on.