Posted by Urbie Watrous on May 12, 2003 at 14:12:28:
In Reply to: playing for free posted by Stefan on May 12, 2003 at 06:03:49:
I'll play for free if it's something I want to do. I play gigs at my own church, and obviously, I don't expect to be paid for them. When I was cutting my teeth as an orchestral player and got a chance to play with an orchestra that was roughly half volunteer and half paid, I played for free, because it gave me a chance to sit next to a terrific player from whom I could learn a lot. However, I quit when I found out they were paying people to SUB for me!
The best gig I've ever done was a performance of the Berlioz Requiem, in Massachusetts in 1985. I did that one for nothing, because it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to play a rarely-performed piece.
Basically, if it's music I want to play, with musicians I can learn from, I'll tee it up for nothing. If I'm doing the group a favor by playing, I expect some cash!
-- Urb