From someone else’s blog … I hope I’ve not posted this before. It was written a while back, so if I’m repeating myself I do apologize!
Recently, I had dinner with some lovely people and the conversation turned, as it so often does these days, to politics and economics. I mentioned the importance of arts funding, and one of my companions — an artist herself — said something like, “I care about arts funding, too, but jobs are more important.”
Yes, indeed, what I do is a job. I’m just sure of it!
Sadly there are so many who view musicians this way. I weary of people asking me if I get paid to play in an orchestra. Maybe we should change our terminology. Instead of saying we “play” an instrument, maybe we should say we operate an instrument. ;~)
Or perhaps we should just use the term “perform”. After all, doctors rightly earn a great deal of respect (and money) for performing surgery, and it takes at least as many years of study, or more, to become a professional musician. And though music can’t heal the body, it certainly can work wonders for the spirit.