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A Good Representation of What Being a Pro Musician is Like

 For students (or anyone) who has interest in being a professional musician, I always recommend they read Mozart in the Jungle.  


 Oboist Blair Tindall recounts her decades-long professional career as a classical musician, from the recitals and Broadway orchestra performances to the secret life of musicians who survive hand to mouth in the backbiting New York classical music scene, trading sexual favors for plum jobs and assignments in orchestras across the city. Tindall and her fellow journeymen musicians often play drunk, high, or hopelessly hungover, live in decrepit apartments, and perform in hazardous conditions. These are working-class musicians who schlep across the city between low-paying gigs, without health-care benefits or retirement plans—a stark contrast to the rarefied experiences of overpaid classical musician superstars.

An incisive, no-holds-barred account, Mozart in the Jungle is the first true, behind-the-scenes look at what goes on backstage and in the Broadway pit.

There is also an Amazon Series of the same title.  There is more creative license taken, and I cannot vouch for it's appropriateness for younger viewers, but wanted to share. 

As a #amazonassociate we earn a small commission if you make a purchase at no additional cost to you. 

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