Musicians travel a lot

Traveling for work

If you are a musician you can end up in a variety of jobs. You can be an orchestra musician, university professor, private professor, soloist, or one of the other professions, such as an examiner or professional judge. You can also be a composer or member of a chamber music group.

Whatever your final niche in the music industry is, you will probably travel and possibly even a lot.

Orchestra musician

The orchestra musician is what you often think of when you think of professional musicians. As such, you will surely travel to and from work, often two round trips in one business day. If you are performing in the evening, you will likely come home for dinner between the last session or rehearsal of the day and the evening performance.

In the independent world of the orchestra musician, you have to go where the work is. For example, if you have a recording session in the morning and one in the afternoon, they may be in two different locations. That same afternoon, you may be asked to go to the theater where you play eight times a week in the hole.

In big cities like Los Angeles, London, and other cities that are so scattered that you can spend a lot of time on the freeways waiting for traffic to slow enough so you can make it to the next concert.

Music teachers

Probably the least travelers to the profession are teachers. Either they go to college and then come home in one day or they teach at home and students come to them.

Soloists and Chamber Musicians

Then there is the group of musicians, of which I am one, who play all over the world. He spends a lot of time in airports and hotel rooms. Large distances can be covered quickly and frequently.

For me, one of the secrets to love my profession was to find a way to enjoy the trip, the airports, the taxis, the hotels and the different places of performance. Musicians can often be heard complaining about having to travel for one reason or another. Mannis

Personally, I have found that I can have a wonderful time in airport bookstores. There are tons of activities available on planes these days that can be a lot of fun. Each new city can present a wealth of experiences, from food to local culture and traditions. I like to rent a car when I am in a foreign country and go out and see the whole country that I can steal the time to do.

Because I spend so much time on planes that I love to drive. So whenever I can drive from A to B, I take advantage of it. However, I also enjoy flying and the fun of traveling.