What Minnesota is prepared to pay an international pianist
NewsThe job advert below speaks for itself. The University of Minnesota in Duluth is seeking an Assistant/Associate Professor of Piano.
The applicant is expected to have a DMA or PhD, along with ‘international and national recognition and accomplishment as a professional pianist’.
The pay for a fulltime job? $47,272 a year.
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I don’t know why you have such beef with Minnesota (as this is the second time in two weeks you so wilfully ignore what is written to drive up faux outrage), but it says explicitly “starting at”, “commensurate with rank/experience”.
This is simply the minimum point on the University payscale – no one is actually paid that. A quick look at the payscales – took me two seconds via Google- shows that the job family minimum for the University President, Chancellor, deans and Provost is listed at 44 156$. And I can assure you the President is not paid five figures.
The floor for assistant professors is at 49k (presumably this is either an old salary floor, or it’s to allow for the possibility of appointing before PhD completion).
Is it a BS payscale with no useful information? Yes. Is it what they’re trying to pay a world class teacher/soloist? No.
Welcome to academia in the US. Yes, this is a typical entry level salary in a smaller state college. Yes, a doctorate is required. Yes, national or international accomplishment desired. Usually that means, in entry level, participation in a festival, doing recitals, accompanying regionally, winning a competition, doing or participating in a masterclass nationally or internationally. This is the norm for entry into a professorship in the U.S. and the reality of salaries in the arts.
I’d be laughing if it wasn’t so depressing. Yeah that’s a livable wage especially for the amount of work it took to get there and the amount of work expected. Deplorable.
They omitted:
“Due to winter temperatures in Duluth, must be able to perform whilst wearing mittens.”
Not entirely kidding. I was touring with a group in MN circa 1990 and a blizzard struck.
In May.
Hell’s teeth! I moved to a low-prestige US university as an assistant professor 19 years ago. My salary there and then was more than double that being offered here.
My subject was commercial, rather than musical, but the salary quoted here beggars belief.
The reality of having too many college degree holders – especially terminal degrees in the arts – results in a real buyer’s market.
Sad to say that the arts and education faction did this to themselves, but that’s where we are in the US.
Nice salary for a nice job. I’d take it if I was a professional pianist.
Norman, you’re always moaning! Have you ever worked a low paid job with pride and lived within your means?
i worked for a london
book seller. that is low pay. lucky i had
my grandmothers pension to live on.
I wonder if Argerich has a doctorate degree
Indeed, there is a complete devaluation of music instructors in US universities, which are now profit seeking entities more than educational centres. Makes sense. Same institution will simply cut the position in a decade.
This is pretty typical for non-flagship state schools. Horrific and unsustainable but typical nonetheless. And it’s even worse for musicologists and music theorists, despite requiring a PhD and international reputations for those positions. Higher ed administrators are clueless.
Higher ed administrators often have a very good idea of what their budget will cover. I have little doubt that the dean would like to be in a position to compete with Juilliard and Curtis for top teachers, but they aren’t, and wishing won’t make it otherwise.
I actually took piano lessons as a kid in the 70s from two different professors at the school in question, and violin lessons from another. They weren’t broke, and they weren’t rolling in the dough, either. They all took in private students on the side, the violinist and one of the pianists played in the symphony, and everyone had some students worth teaching and hearing. The campus is entirely indoors, so no one has to play with mittens on (and Duluth’s weather on average is more pleasant than the Twin Cities to the south, thanks to the moderating effect of Lake Superior — get away from the big lake and you get colder winters and hotter summers). Those numbers are the minimum you might be offered for the position, if you have the thinnest of resumes and no negotiation skills. If the offer is not to your liking, and you think you can do better, then you shouldn’t take the job.
How many kids start out playing the piano? It stands to reason that there will be a plentiful supply of pianists looking for jobs! When there’s a glut, few will pay top dollar.
I had a very close friend who got a job like this and moved up to full Professor eventually and marrying someone who also became full Professor. They have a very comfortable lifestyle now. They were lucky. The competition for positions like this is unfortunately still very stiff.
Cost of living is low in that area.
What makes you so sure about that?
For someone who is tired of the road, that might be advantageous.
And he/she can still book performances on the side.
It’s quite simple: when you do the interview, you state what salary you would prefer, and then the bargaining begins. What you get paid is dependent on your chutzpah and the limits of the budget of the school for that position. If you are really good, etc, etc, etc, then you may hit your mark. Winning a competition
would help you hit that mark.
Keep in mind that, as soon as “the bargaining begins”, either party could walk away at any time until a deal is signed. If the employer’s 2nd choice is less demanding and almost as good as the 1st choice…
That’s not how academic negotiations work (or academic hiring for that matter).
I wish that was an attainable salary at a conservatory in the Netherlands… but only when you teach 40 students per week…. And life in dutch cities is not cheap nowadays…
As I write this, young pianists all over the world lock themselves up in tiny practice rooms for 6-8 hours per day, preparing repertoire for international competitions – so that they can achieve instant fame and thus be eligible for a miserably-paying “artist-in-residence” job in some podunk town in the middle of nowhere. This job advertisement in Duluth will no doubt receive 300+ applications from young hopefuls who can’t wait to be exploited and destroyed (economically and artistically) by this vicious, manipulative system. Good luck to all of you!!!
Mozart didn’t finish college that’s why he couldn’t get a full time salaried job and had to freelance all his short life.
Per open payroll data, the current assistant professor of piano there earned $69k. I’d guess this position will pay 60-65k in the end. Not a bad salary for Duluth.
Let’s not forget that this salary is for less than 9 months in the classroom/studio each year. The professor, as well, likely has decent benefits and opportunities for other income. I’m not saying one way or the other whether this salary is good and fair…but it is likely not the entire picture, either.
Kind of like when the Queen used to advertise for jobs at Buckingham Palace in the heart of London where one would have to live in Durham, or Stoke on Trent to pay the rent.
The stated salary is admitted to be low-end with no upper limit mentioned.
The number would be higher for a candidate with proven teaching chops.
Most A-list musicians don’t have that. Most can only model the behavior of the teachers they had themselves… but that only works for students that are the same as themselves.
Someone who has demonstrated past success at coaching young people would be an attractive candidate.
A shame.