<p>One other venue for underemployed musicians would be church music. This can be traditional or contemporary. At my local church, the worship team leader (ie music director) makes $30,000/yr for a part time job. Son’s choir teacher in high school was the director of a local church choir for pay. Most churches will still pay for an organist. Both sons’ piano teacher was the music leader for her church. Another friend, tunes pianos for his day job and gigs in the evenings. The local colleges and high schools also pay to bring in musicians to help fill out their pit and regular orchestras. And they can always substitute teach in the daytime and take gigs in the evening. So, it is still possible to cobble together a living as a musician but it will take some flexibility whether they are waiting for the “big” break symphony job or simply want a job as a school music teacher. Plus on another thread they were lamenting that even some engineering students are finding themselves unemployed in this market so they might as well pursue their passion and dreams while they are young.</p>