Paltry pay for professors at sinking CIM
NewsThe Clevelaand Institute of Music has published a pay scale for a head of the piano department which is lower than a janitor would earn at Juilliard.
Read, and be amazed at the low levels of intelligence and compensation:
CIM, one of the top conservatories in the US, has a full-time piano faculty opening. 2/3 CIM faculty piano teaching, 1/3 CIM Academy teaching, plus acting as the Director of Academy Piano Studies. Requires a DMA and minimum 7 years teaching experience. They’re also one of the few that post the salary range.
$60,000-$75,000
To put that in perspective, that is:
–$28.85-$36.06/hr
–the same as a current opening in Cleveland for a Technical Sales Rep for Rhodes Wolfe, no exp needed, only HS diploma required ($65k-70k)
–less than a Direct Appointment Setter for Andersen Windows, no experience and GED required ($65k-100k)
–far less than a Powersports Sales Associate, no experience required, not even GED ($77k-97.5k)
And yet this is probably no worse than what an equivalent job in the UK would pay. Do you have any idea how poorly paid instrumental teachers are in the UK? Even at the major music colleges?
Citation: FB post by Nick Photinos
https://www.facebook.com/576740232/posts/10159449104235233/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v
better than telephoning around for piano gigs!
Actually, for an Assistant Professor position that is tenure-track, $60,000-$75,000 as a starting salary is pretty typical (and higher than most states).
An Assistant Professor has ‘faculty director’ in his job description? Doesn’t add up to me.
Director of the academy. It is the pre-college school. Not the actual conservatory.
And that is probably double a typical European salary. The pay for conservatory teachers in Britain is appallingly low, and is per hour with no benefits. Something like $55 at the Royal Conservatory for a supposedly top teacher.
That’s why the reputation of CIM has gone down the toilet! Who in their right musical mind would really want to invest their time, talent, and energies in such an ungrateful and demeaning environment! Is this what classical musicians will have to face more and more of in the immediate future? Heaven help us!
CIM has always paid poorly. That’s no news.
Generally speaking, classical musician is not a lucrative vocation.
Correct Tim. Better to play as a part time
Musician. And have a full time job that pays
The bills.
Not necessarily…A combination of teaching and performing can provide a very comfortable life and retirement after a lifetime of a career. And, performers, such as pianists, can expect to play well into their 80’s if they suffer no injuries to wrists and hands.
Paltry pay? Perhaps for some, and for some others it’s a way to pay their bills or a way out of working one of those other jobs you mentioned.
It’s a job market with WAY too many people with degrees and few jobs to go around. Your doctorate does make you more special than others with doctorates. This is your competition.
There will be many highly qualified people that will apply for that job, and be glad to have it – – or they can take one of the jobs you mentioned before.
Just because you studied all those years for a doctorate does not mean there is a job for you.
This job and pay scale is a reality that professors/teachers should show their students. This is what they have to look forward to if they are considering academia or find that academia is one of their few choices of a place to stay in the music Business.
And then factor in each applicant’s 25+ years of piano lessons with expensive teachers, plus 9 years of costly tuition at a top conservatory or university – and then there’s fierce competition to nail one of the few available, miserably paid jobs – such as this one.
that’s still higher than what curtis pays their faculty.
And yet it’s still 30,000 more than a job in the top French orchestras…
The very high cost of healthcare in the U.S. is one reason the salary seems so low.
Classical music jobs will never attract high wages relative to other professions, for the simple reason that there will never be a shortage of people who will do it pretty much for nothing, and as a consequence there won’t be overall pressure on wages. Musicians are not undervalued as such, it’s simply an effect of supply and demand. That said, the total ‘compensation’ for any job (across the whole economy) is a combination of wages, working conditions, job satisfaction, and probably status as well. For classical musicians, arguably 90% of that compensation is in the form of job satisfaction – playing the instrument you love all day, being part of the creative process, taking part in life-changing performances and, it has to be said, not working 9-5 in an office and doing mindless tasks – which in my book makes it the best job in the world. (Admittedly it doesn’t help with the gas bills, but you make your choice and cut your cloth accordingly…..)
Music is a cruel mistress – she demands everything of you, works you to death, and then dumps you for the next fool. But if you want to be professionally satisfied and can tolerate being poor, then become a classical musician!
There’s a reason why “there will never be a shortage of people who will do it pretty much for nothing”.Thats because, at least in Europe, 95% of the classical musicians I know are from extremely wealthy families. They don’t need the money. They do it for fun. It’s sad for those who need the money…
“Fun”? How does that tally with the other topic on SD about frowning orchestral players?
The cost of living isn’t so high on Cleveland.
But there aren’t many neighborhoods in Cleveland proper that are all that enticing from what I’ve seen. Some of the suburbs are marvelous, like Chagrin Falls, but not at all inexpensive.
On the plus side, Cleveland and its surrounding areas have a pretty low cost of living.
If we are to look at this from a business perspective, then I’s say that isolated looks at what this or that position pays as a starting salary are not particularly informative.
Neither are comparisons with salaries at profit marking institutions which presumably have to vigorously recruit reluctant workers versus having to bar the doors because of an avalanche of eager applicants such as most music positions seem to create.
What might be interesting is what the range would look like after a decade’s tenure with regular promotions or raises. What does the boss of this position make for example.
I do of course see the irony that nobody on earth spends their formative years preparing themselves to become Appointment Setter for Andersen Windows, while we are up to our armpits in good pianists who might find the CIM position very attractive. But the cold supply and demand fact is what explains seemingly lavishly overpaying for the appointment setter, and rather skimpy pay given the credentials expected by CIM.
In addition to paying less per year than Hogle’s recent $80,000 raise, this position also requires higher academic credentials than either President Paul Hogle (BS) or Provost Scott Harrison (MM) have attained. I do not believe the CIM administration understand the role and qualifications of a Provost, as I doubt there is any other Provost in the US who has not been a faculty member or does not hold a terminal degree. I wonder if Provost Harrison also received a large raise this year?
Looks pretty typical to me.
Compare to a current posting for Violin – Artist Teacher at Eastman:
“The Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester invites applications for a full-time, tenure- eligible faculty appointment in Violin beginning 1 July 2024. Rank and salary will be commensurate with experience.
Responsibilities include teaching applied-music majors (undergraduate and graduate) and maintaining international standing as a performing artist and teacher. The faculty member will contribute to the musical life of the Eastman School of Music by participating in recruitment, auditions, juries, and recitals. Secondary responsibilities are possible depending on an applicant’s area(s) of expertise.
In compliance with the NY Pay Transparency Act, the annual base salary range for this position is $55,000 – $85,000 (Assistant Professor), $65,000 – $130,000 (Associate Professor), $85,000 – $150,000 (Full Professor). ”
Source: ASTA job listings
In contrast to the above job for “Artist – Teacher” requiring name recognition and proven track record, the CIM posting includes 1/3 teaching in CIM’s Academy. This program fosters the music education of kindergarten through high school students – a worthy endeavor, but is different than teaching auditioned conservatory students preparing for a professional career. And, no international “name recognition” required for this piano gig.
Salaries are quite comparable despite the discrepancy in expectations for the applicant’s background and for their teaching duties.
No wonder the institutions are full of woke indoctrinators.
În fact, it is a dream teaching job… I assume the professor would teach 18 hours a week, during the academic year – that is 9 calendar months. And that would be a large teaching studio. Pretty amazing tbh. It roughly equates to $105 per teaching hour. Way better than UK top Conservatoires pay… At £50 per hour… So terrible.
At least this job is in a great city with a great orchestra! Most university or college faculty music teaching positions are located in East Podunk, or even worse, in East Bumf**k. That’s your reward for 30 years of study – being banished to the sticks to earn starvation wages.
Cleveland – the Mistake by the Lake. That great city? Decades ago when so many large companies operated large factories there it was an economic powerhouse. Not so much today. Have you been there? I have and it’s not pretty. It does have the Cleveland Clinic and of course the orchestra, both world-class. And Case Western is pretty good. But drive around the place – it’s pretty grim. And cold. One of Cleveland’s great gifts to us was Telarc, but it’s gone. Kirby still makes vacuums there. But Cleveland is losing population as is Ohio in general. It’s glory days are long past. Except for the orchestra.
This doesn’t really reflect Ohio as a whole, which is in many parts booming and attracting ex-coastals. Columbus doing very well, the state overall growing its GDP. Cleveland unfortunately has suffered from Detroit- or Baltimore-level dysfunction for decades and has gone from being a peer city of Chicago, to a peer city of Pittsburgh, to a peer city of Baltimore / St. Louis.
If this website is correct, the average music professor salary in the United States is $52,399. Music professor salaries typically range between $32,000 and $83,000 yearly. The average hourly rate for music professors is $25.19 per hour.
https://www.zippia.com/music-professor-jobs/salary/
My Professor who played in the Boston Pops, Leland Munger, was credited with saying, “playing in an orchestra is as romantic as working at the post office.” Does the CIM contract restrict having a private studio (as if one had the time?) or private performances? The field is dependent on wealthy patrons.
As a comparison, one can see the salary of Juilliard’s highest paid piano teacher on the school’s recent IRS form 990- and it’s over 300K USD. Even considering cost of living in NYC vs. Cleveland, that’s a rather “impressive” contrast.
What’s being overlooked in these responses is the fact that here we have yet another example of shoddy SL editorial practice. Whoever posted this clickbait made absolutely no attempt to research salaries at comparative institutions and seems not to know which division of the school the salary figures cited refer to. This haphazard editing can be quite bizarre. A recent obituary for a “dear friend” posted on this site mentioned that, among his many professional achievements, he’d been long affiliated with a “conservatism” (read conservatory). Seriously, if you’re not taking the time to proofread a tribute to a friend, what is one to think?
You don’t get what you deserve…you get what you negotiate.
“Direct Appointment Setter”… that sounds like telemarketing and they will only get paid for the sales that result from their contacts.
I suspect that and the other two comparison salaries are very optimistic.
It’s not a lot but it’s Cleveland.
And, unlike janitors and cubicle workers, the university salary for a full-time piano faculty serves as a base salary. They are mostly off for the summer and have extended periods of holiday. Furthermore, they are encouraged to maintain a performance schedule that brings in more earnings. With the security of a decent salary, they can be more selective about their engagements.
comparison is mismatched. And it does seem most Juilliard faculty have to teach at many schools to afford the cost of living in that pricey city.
And of course virtually all faculty at CIM are on 1-year contracts. (Not judging, just pointing that out.)
How do you know what a janitor at Juilliard makes? It is absurdly low, but housing is relatively cheap in Cleveland. One of the biggest burdens for a department head is managing the other teachers, and reviewing applications and auditioning students. Nevertheless, this is one of the top conservatories.
I think your hourly wage calculation assumes between 30 and 40 hours per week for 52 weeks. There is no way at a piano professor at CIM works that much. They probably put in10 to 15 hours per week for 9 months per year. That hourly rate looks more like $100+ per hour.