Lashinsky, who plays for the Long Beach Symphony, said top-dollar assignments are so coveted that musicians don’t think twice about clocking in sick or even bleeding, as she has.

“When I was doing ‘Phantom of the Opera,’ a cabinet fell on my head,” she recalled. “I wrapped it up, put on this beautiful scarf over it, and went to the gig. Afterward, I had a colleague take me to the E.R. I got 14 stitches.”

She laughed ruefully: “I’ve worked with a 103 fever in an orchestra pit. I’ve worked with a popped lung. If you don’t work, you don’t earn.”

Well, many of us can relate to the above! Yes, I’ve worked sick. I’ve played with a cut finger that bled all over the oboe too. (Never needed stitches, though.)

I think the salaries must be higher with the L.A. Opera, though.

“I’m going into the music business,” Gray said. “There’s no such thing as job security.”

Heh … good thing this young bass player already says this. Even if he doesn’t fully know what it means yet.

Still, I wouldn’t give it up. 🙂