managing one’s workload

Over at the D’Addario Orchestral blog (Behind the Bridge) – where I’m a compensated contributor – I’m doing a series of posts on how to manage time as a busy working musician. I’m not naturally the most organized person, so it’s taken a bit of time to get my act together so that things don’t fall through the cracks (as often).

As a working professional musician, there is one thing that I am constantly doing: learning music. Sometimes it is music that I’ve played many times, but often it is music that I’ve never seen before. If there is one aspect of being a professional musician that my music education did not prepare me for, it was learning the sheer volume of music that comes across my music stand week to week. When I was a grad student at the Peabody Conservatory, orchestra concerts had about two months of rehearsals, twice a week, for preparation. A recital would be planned at the beginning of the Fall term, and given towards the end of the Spring term. There was pressure, of course, to be prepared and ready for rehearsals and lessons, but things could be – and often were – adjusted as time demands changed from week to week …

Check out the complete article here, and check back for the next two entries as the month continues.