So Many Acting B.A.'s, So Few Paying Gigs

BassDad
Wed, 07 Dec 2005 20:39:52 +0000

“I certainly don’t understand heuristics”

That’s OK. I don’t understand my istics either. Few people do.

Miracles can and do happen and sometimes we have to rely on them. I must admit that I was a little hesitant when my daughter started playing double bass part way through eighth grade and started asking about Juilliard and Curtis about a year later. Her mother (a flute major) and I told her that was a fine dream, but that she was going to have to show us that she had the talent and dedication she would need to survive in the professional music world.

We proposed that she do that by earning first chair in the double bass section of her All-State orchestra by her senior year. We thought we would be safe because it was unlikely for a string player to rise to that level with less than four years experience on their instrument, particularly in a highly-populated state like NJ. Imagine our surprise when she met our challenge in her junior year (and repeated in senior year for good measure.) At that point, we just couldn’t say no.

It is hard for a parent, even one who is a professional musician or actor, to objectively evaluate the talent level of their offspring. It is easy enough to tell that another career might be wise if, for example, they are still working on “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” in their third year of study. It is much harder to separate “pretty darned good” from “good enough to make a career of it” when observing your own child. It would have been a lot harder for me to make that leap of faith without an independent opinion.