Job of the Week: Piano professor at £45 an hour
NewsIt’s the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.
Waterproofs recommended.
Professor of Piano
Salary Grade: £44.30 to £61.23 per hour (dependent on experience)
Closing date: 12 Noon, Friday 7 June 2024
Interview date: Wednesday 26 and Thursday 27 June 2024
The RNCM is a leading international conservatoire with a reputation for excellence in preparing young musicians for a life-long career in the music profession.
The School of Keyboard Studies has an enviable reputation as one of Europe’s leading Keyboard Departments with a highly acclaimed tutorial staff. The College boasts outstanding facilities together with an impressive fleet of pianos.
As a result of continued growth, we are seeking to appoint up to three Piano Professors starting in September 2024.
Details here.
Typical UK, which is to say, typically disgusting. This country is in its artistic death throes. It’s impossible to be a musician in this country and have any kind of life. Survival is all most musicians can hope for.
I told you British conservatory teachers were horridly underpaid and you scoffed at me. In the USA, such a teacher would likely earn $100-200 per hour.
Privately – but no school would pay that.
There was never such a fine and august institution..(checks notes: a huge intake of Chinese students paying in excess of £17,000 p.a fees)
Whilst some still on the Board of Governors have actively sought to dismantle professional orchestras and choirs.
46 quid an hour folks, ‘cos business is business.
A sorry state of affairs in the fine arts department of the UK.
I pay my 13 YO son’s neighborhood piano teacher a lot more than that. Which I guess is kind of your point?
The pay is too low.
Shocking.
£45 an hour will be calculated pro rata, on the basis of a notional 36 hour week.
45 x 36 = £1,620 pw x notional 52 weeks = £84,240, which is indeed a professorial salary. Of course, no one is going to be paid anything like that amount, because it is part-time hourly paid work, but that’s how the calculation is made. The assumption is that a visiting professor would be continuing to pursue their professional practice, whilst also doing some part-time teaching. The college will also have on-costs, even for hourly paid staff, such as holiday pay (calculated pro rata), NI contributions, and superannuation contributions if the professor happens to be part of a pension scheme.
One could argue that it’s not enough, but that’s the world of higher education. Only senior management and visiting superstars get rich.
Actually, the financial situation may be even worse than first appearances suggest. I have no idea what the taxation arrangements are for Faculty at the RNCM. This is a general point which may or may not apply at the RNCM. However, a very large number of Colleges and Universities have made disgraceful ‘deals’ with HMRC, which result in hourly-paid Faculty members, who operate normal and fully-approved Schedule D tax accounts, having huge amounts of Income Tax (in itself an abomination of course) being subtracted from their remuneration before they receive any money at all. If Tax, National Insurance, Pension Contributions and possibly other deductions (Staff Association for example) are deducted prior to payment, this would mean £45 per hour would be reduced to about £27 per hour. £27 per hour!!! £27 is less than the cost of a single curry and a soft drink. A full teaching day of, say, six hours, would mean the Professor would take home less than £150 for a full day’s commitment. How could ANYONE want to work for that kind of money? There is absolutely no incentive to do so.
My plumber Jesus charges more $60 per hour and he likes opera.
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