This week's guest blogger is June Matayoshi, an active free-lance oboist and English hornist in Chicago.  She is a member of the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra.

After I received my master's degree in oboe performance back in 1983, I took on a full-time administrative job once I returned to Chicago with the thought in mind that this would only be temporary until I paid down some college debt and started to build my free-lance oboe career. With the help of my oboe teacher, I was hired for my first few orchestra jobs.  Over the next five years, I also won two regional orchestra jobs by audition and accepted any gig I was called for, as long as they were slated in the evening or on the weekends.  During the week, I would get up at 6 a.m. to make reeds and practice, get to the office by 8:30, make reeds on my lunch hour, and get off work at 5:00 p.m.  On many evenings, I would grab some fast food, jump in the car, and make my treks to numerous gigs 20-50 miles away for 7:30 p.m. rehearsal starts.  When I got home at 11:00 p.m. or so, I sometimes had to go back to the reed desk to do more work.  My weekends also filled up with teaching on Saturday mornings, followed by afternoon rehearsals and concerts, as well as church jobs on Sunday morning.

Despite all my performing work, I was still not able to afford to give up my day job.  My job also provided me with health and disability insurance and a pension, something many free-lancers do not have.  I continued at this hectic pace for the next fifteen years.

How did I balance a full-time day job with performing?  Simply stated, I didn't.  My love of music drove me to perform, and to do so, I had to make numerous sacrifices.  Socializing only occurred in car-pools getting to gigs or on rehearsal breaks.  I was single most of those years, and if I went out on a date, it would be after 11 p.m. or on a sporadic night off.  Shopping for food was accomplished late at night at the 24-hour grocery stores.  I had my laundry done through a service.  Even practicing my parts for performances was greatly curtailed by lack of time.  Much of my technical ability to play well was attained through all the hard work and hours of practicing I did when I was in college. 

Blair Tindall, a professional oboist turned journalist, wrote Mozart in the Jungle, a book describing her free-lance career in New York City.  While my own experience is nowhere near as colorful, she provides an interesting account of her free-lance life.  She also includes detailed analyses of the recent difficulties in the symphony, opera and ballet arenas and talks about the current state of musician employment.  It would be good to hear from other musicians who visit this site.  Is your experience similar to mine or different?  Leave a comment and share your story.