Today my daughter finishes a 9 month contract. She’ll have 2 weeks off and then start a new contract that runs through the holidays. And she has a couple more shows in the first half of 2026. She had to pull back on her teaching bc it was getting to be a lot. But come January she’ll be back to her regular schedule. Luckily, her private studio and the 2 other teaching venues advertise “teacher performers” so they are always flexible.
Most of her close colleagues are in their 30s and working. They perform in a metro area primarily so little to no travel. The ages of the cast and musicians (which totaled over 50) is 20 - 50ish. They all worked 8 shows a week. I know there were spouses and parents in the show so somehow it all works. My D boyfriend is a chef so their schedules work. She has had girlfriends take a year off to have babies and come back. One of those won’t do long runs bc it’s too much for her 2 kids. But she regularly does 3 month runs. And of course opera runs are short…and my D has seen women bring their babies when they travel for that. I don’t know if or how that is negotiated…or they do that out of their own pocket. I had the sense, however, that it was negotiated due to the talent level of the woman.
It can be a very rewarding career…that does take a lot of hard work and struggle at the beginning. Very few waltz into a music career. And like all careers, there will be challenges but somehow people figure it out. Good luck to all future musicians.
And…of course you know this @jazzpianodad bc we are in contact IRL. But, like you, I would have liked to have known this information when we were looking at colleges.