On Omitted Pianists (Cont'd)

This morning I received the following anonymous comment on yesterday's omitted pianists posting:

I started accompanying choirs when I was a high school student. I was always acknowledged in the middle school concert program and the director even paid me a small amount. My own high school choral director rarely included me in the program and as I was a student at the school, there was certainly no payment. I sang in a church choir around the same time and was often called upon to help plat parts- for free- while they searched for someone they could pay $100/week to accompany the choir. I felt used.

On the other hand, the youth choir I've been accompanying off and on for over 10 years has always included my name, and I am usually recognized before the audience when we perform outside of church services. Then again, I recently played for a school district choir festival in which my own [choral] students were involved. In the program, my name was misspelled and I received no compensation for HOURS of my time spent on hosting the event and accompanying one of the two choirs, even though I had been paid the year before. (Note: I will not be volunteering to play or host again next time unless I have a written contract outlining my payment- especially since I lost time/pay from my regular gig in order to play for my school district!)

I can't emphasize this enough: we're not volunteers (except if you're a student and you take on something with the understanding that it is for experience). Make sure that the terms of compensation are properly outlined. If you're a professional and someone doesn't pay you or properly value the work you do, move on. If you're spending an inordinate amount of time working with a choir for no compensation or acknowledgement, you're being used. Take on more students, start your own series. We're under no obligation to keep on doing work that doesn't give back to us what it gives to others.

And who knows: maybe when you tell the organization that the reason for your leaving is because you're not getting enough out of the working relationship and don't feel valued, they just might get it the next time around.