In the last post, we observed that before you enroll in a music degree/major, you should have a fairly good idea of specifically which field(s) within music you might realistically see yourself thriving in. So let’s dive in—we’ll start with considering a career in performance.
Practical considerations
Let’s be realistic here. Classical music has faced a sad decline in popularity, especially in the States. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not pessimistic about its survival. I think there will always be those who love classical music and enjoy attending concerts. But the audience pool is not huge, and so the jobs are relatively few. Couple that with the consideration that the leading conservatories are churning out reams of fantastically talented, highly accomplished artists every year. The market is saturated on a number of fronts.
You have to want it
I say that not to categorically discourage you from pursuing a career in performance. Rather, what I mean to say is that if you’re thinking of going into performance, you need not only to have considerable talent and experience before enrolling in a degree program, but you should know profoundly that you want to make performance your vocation — or at least you should have been so intentional up until now in developing an exceptionally high level of musical proficiency that, even if the idea of “knowing†kind of scares you at this point, you should at least sense that pursuing conservatory-level musical study is the most reasonable course for you to take. [Read more…] about Should I Get a Degree in Music? (Part 2): Performance