Discussion Panel: Page 9

As the producer and director of the documentary “Freeway Philharmonic” I have a bit of an outsider perspective. Out of interest I recently reviewed some of the original interview questions I asked the musicians in 2005. “Do you enjoy this lifestyle and what are the rewards?”, “”What are your goals for the future?”, What are […]

I have been freelancing and driving all over the Northeastern Ohio area since I was 18. I was lucky to have teachers early on who are in the freelance scene to refer me for gigs. I play in the Akron and Canton Symphonies in Ohio, and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra in Madison, Wisconsin, as well […]

I have been a freelance violist in Philadelphia since 1988. I went to the Hartt School of Music in West Hartford, CT and then returned to Philadelphia. I grew up in the Philadelphia area where my first and only violin teacher was a freelance musician and teacher, so to me this always seemed like a […]

I have been freelancing in the San Francisco Bay area for a little over ten years. Most of my work is in regional size orchestras, occasional subbing with the San Francisco Symphony or Ballet, and various casual jobs. For me, the driving varies in terms of the hardship and stress it adds to my life. […]

I am Christine Coyle, a cellist. I perform with with at least 5 different groups regularly, plus two different teaching jobs and a wedding gig group which does over 100 weddings a year. My shortest commute is 20 miles and my longest is 225. Of course the 225 group is my favorite to perform with. […]

I am one of the musicians featured in the the film Freeway Philharmonic created by Tal Skloot [one of our panelists] and Steven Baigel. Six of the musicians featured in the film went to a public showing at a small movie theater in El Cerrito, California last Tuesday. It was the first time I had […]

I’ve been a Driving for Dollars musician in Southern California since college, and it’s fair to say that I “cut my teeth” on the Los Angeles free-lance music scene. My primary clarinet teachers and mentors were free-lance musicians, so I really grew up with it. Becoming a free-lance musician was my first choice – I […]

I never meant to have this freeway philharmonic lifestyle, but am lucky in that most of the time, I enjoy what I’m doing! Right now I have contracts in nine orchestras (for which I can’t hope to satisfy all my requirements, there are far too many conflicts) and teach at two universities, Cal State East […]

For many months Polyphonic has been planning to hold a February discussion about freelance musicians who play in multiple orchestras in different cities — the “Driving for Dollars” musicians. Imagine our surprise and pleasure when we read of a new documentary about Driving for Dollars musicians, The Freeway Philharmonic, released just last Sunday (January 27, […]

In a nutshell, programming is a straightforward procedure accomplished through complex means; straightforward in that it’s no more than selecting just the right combination of works that ‘fit’ together, but complex because it requires a vast knowledge of the repertoire. I had the fortune in my younger years in Germany to work as an assistant […]