Professional Entertainment – Performance
Career and Major Information
Related Career Titles
Web Sites
Salary Information
Walters State Community College offers an Associate of Arts degree in
Professional Entertainment. This degree is designed to fulfill freshman and
sophomore level course requirements of a bachelor’s degree; however, the
curriculum is not specific for any one college or university. Students will
need to consult a faculty advisor at WSCC or an advisor at the intended
transfer institution for particular courses needed at individual schools. The
link for the WSCC department is:
http://www.ws.edu/humanities/.
Musicians,
singers, and related workers play musical instruments, sing, compose or arrange
music, or conduct groups in instrumental or vocal performances. They may perform
solo or as part of a group. Musicians, singers, and related workers entertain
live audiences in nightclubs, concert halls, and theaters featuring opera,
musical theater, or dance. Although most of these entertainers play for live
audiences, many perform exclusively for recording or production studios.
Regardless of the setting, musicians, singers, and related workers spend
considerable time practicing, alone and with their band, orchestra, or other
musical ensemble.
Musicians
often gain their reputation or professional standing in a particular kind of
music or performance. However, those who learn several related instruments,
such as the flute and clarinet, and who can perform equally well in several
musical styles, have better employment opportunities. Instrumental musicians,
for example, may play in a symphony orchestra, rock group, or jazz combo one
night, appear in another ensemble the next, and work in a studio band the
following day. Some play a variety of string, brass, woodwind, or percussion instruments
or electronic synthesizers.
Singers
interpret music, using their knowledge of voice production, melody, and
harmony. They sing character parts or perform in their own individual style.
Singers are often classified according to their voice range—soprano, contralto,
tenor, baritone, or bass—or by the type of music they sing, such as opera,
rock, popular, folk, rap, or country and western (Occupational Outlook Handbook
2004-2004).
Related Career Titles:
|
Announcers |
Dancers |
|
Sound technicians |
Managers |
|
Producers |
Directors |
|
Choreographers |
Musical Instrument
Repairers |
|
Lighting Designer |
Make-up
Artist |
Web Sites:
National
Association of Schools of Music, 11250 Roger Bacon Dr., Suite 21, Reston, VA 22091. Internet:
http://nasm.arts-accredit.org
BackStage.Com: all
behind-the-scenes jobs in the live entertainment field.
Showbiz
Jobs.Com
http://www.showbizjobs.com/
Link to WSCC’s
Humanities Department:
http://www.ws.edu/humanities/default.asp
Salary Information:
Median annual
earnings of salaried musicians and singers were $36,290 in 2002. The middle 50
percent earned between $18,660 and $59,970. The lowest 10 percent earned less
than $13,040, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $96,250. Median
annual earnings were $43,060 in performing arts companies and $18,160 in
religious organizations.
Salary figures
quoted are based on national figures. Local or regional salaries may be lower.
Citation: Bureau of Labor
Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook,
2004-05 Edition, Musicians, Singers, and Related Workers, on the Internet
at
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos095.htm
