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David and Janet-My first reaction to your different approaches is that I like Janet’s approach a little more. David’s assumes and requires that everyone in the professional harp community be fair and honest with each other voluntarily, when that may in fact not be the case. And all you need is one narcissist in the community to create bad feelings and polarization all around.
Janet’s solution encourages, with money, that everyone treat everyone else nicely. If one harpist is nasty and uncooperative with the others,then she won’t be subcontracted for any work. If all of the professional harpists in an area subcontracted any work they could not take, then there would be a HUGE incentive for everyone to treat everyone else, as a potential employer, nicely. It would also encourage a standardization of fees, so that no one would undercut anyone else.
Sherry-PLEASE… Don’t refer to non-Salzedo players as ‘Grandjany’ method. Grandjany didn’t attach his name to what he taught, and neither did Hasselmans, Renie, Tournier, Jamet, Laskine, or Borot. They would all shout loudly from their graves “What we taught was French method!!!” It was only Salzedo who attached his name to what he taught. In fact, he attached his name to almost everything he touched, but that’s another thread…. If your teacher went to France to study, then no matter who her teacher was, she was taught French method.
Sherry-PLEASE… Don’t refer to non-Salzedo players as ‘Grandjany’ method. Grandjany didn’t attach his name to what he taught, and neither did Hasselmans, Renie, Tournier, Jamet, Laskine, or Borot. They would all shout loudly from their graves “What we taught was French method!!!” It was only Salzedo who attached his name to what he taught. In fact, he attached his name to almost everything he touched, but that’s another thread…. If your teacher went to France to study, then no matter who her teacher was, she was taught French method.
Sherry-PLEASE… Don’t refer to non-Salzedo players as ‘Grandjany’ method. Grandjany didn’t attach his name to what he taught, and neither did Hasselmans, Renie, Tournier, Jamet, Laskine, or Borot. They would all shout loudly from their graves “What we taught was French method!!!” It was only Salzedo who attached his name to what he taught. In fact, he attached his name to almost everything he touched, but that’s another thread…. If your teacher went to France to study, then no matter who her teacher was, she was taught French method.
Tiffany and David- You’ve both touched on something very important, and that is cooperation within the professional harp community. This takes several forms. It can mean being available on an emergency basis, which is extremely important. It can also mean sharing work, i.e., having others to call, and being willing to call them, when a job comes your way that you cannot take. It can also mean agreeing on minimum fees for various types of jobs, transportation, etc. so that no one is stabbing anyone else in the back, consciously or not. Sometimes students fresh out of music school will charge idiotically low fees because they have not added up the expenses, which heretofore have been paid by mom and dad, that go into owning, insuring, transporting, and maintaining a harp as well as simply making a living. You can also get the occasional harpist, usually an adult amateur, who is giging ‘for fun’ and charges low fees, because she has a husband who pays the bills. Either way, this is undercutting.
As a harp technician who has come in contact with many harpists over the years, the most common complaint I hear from professional harpists about their colleagues is that the handed off jobs go in one direction only. “I’ve given her a lot of work, and not once has she ever passed a job to me” is the sort of thing I’ve heard many times. Something like that is what causes hard feelings and mistrust in any local harp community.
I would suggest that once a year, all of the professional harpists get together to discuss all of the issues associated with freelance work. And there should be an agreement that everyone can talk freely and openly about issues important to them. Maybe this would foster better relations among the working harpists in a particular area.
On a completely different note: the recent change of direction of the threads and posts is very refreshing. I had not posted for a long time because I had lost interest with the nonsensicle stuff that was up. It’s nice to see some interesting discussions again.
That is a glaring example of the situation a musician can find themselves in. And the only leverage they have is the performance. No money, no performance.
I just thought of another one that was not really an encounter but a meeting none the less. Years ago I played in the SpringfieldMassachusetts) Symphony, which is a good professional regional orchestra( many Boston Symphony players started out there). This particular season they had decided to have a major soloist for each concert, and as a result I got to accompany Eileen Farrell in Pace Pace. The conductor was a real jerk and had treated her very badly. He had asked her to be at the rehearsal at 7PM, then made her wait until after the break to do her music(Pace Pace AND the Immolation scene). She was furious. So I did not introduce myself, but it was a thrill to play for her. I have never, before or since, heard such a huge voice. That’s what she was so famous for, but to hear it live was incredible. When she sang a forte in the Immolation scene, she just about blew out the back wall of the auditorium. This stupid conductor had me placed about 10 feet behind her and when the harp solo started and she began to sing, his conducting was slightly out of sync with her. I quickly decided to play to what I was hearing from her, not what I was seeing from him. Neither she nor he gave me any dirty looks, so I’m assuming that what I did worked. If I were to do something like that now I’d handle it very differently and talk to him about the placement of the harp, and also talk to her. But I was much younger then and felt it wasn’t my place to say anything.
Tiffany- I’m not being critical here, but I would think that the better way to handle such situations is to have a network of other harpists that you can call to find a replacement rather than refunding the money to the bride a couple of weeks before the event. She may not be able to find someone on that short notice, and having a musician simply cancel, refund or no, is likely to leave a bad taste in her mouth and cause you some bad press.
Question for everybody- Is the deposit you get non-refundable? Under what circumstances is the deposit you received refundable?
Janet- Good for you for making a stink. Not everybody would dare do that, but you stood up for your rights. As I said someplace else on this forum, if you don’t put a price on your time and ability, nobody else is going to.
