Do Orchestras take on old non-professionals?

[tompilk]

It's my dream to play a concerto but im 16 and well past the time that music would be a career for me...
my question is: do orchestras take on non-professionals so that when i'm 30 I can play with one? Do university orchestras do things like this with non-career pianists?
My dream is already over before I actually realised I had one... very sad because Ive only wanted to be a pianist and got into music about 2 years ago... but thats too late because loads of people play rach 3 by the time they're 15...
Musical career is not an option really... but i'd have done it if i realised before...
Thanks,
Tom


Oh, and i meant to say that i enjoy performing just as much as practising, so when i leave school, what ways are there to perform in front of an audience?

[pianiststrongbad]

Well I didn't start playing piano until I was 16 and I'm currently attending a Conservatory to get my Performance Degree (now I'm 21).  Basically the cutoff line for competitions is about the age of 30.  Generally if you win a competition, you are either required to play a concerto with an orchestra or give a solo recital of some sort.  So, I would say that is the most practical route.  I'm not sure about orchestra's just playing with some non-pro, I am sure it is done somewhere, I just don't know of where.  Personally I think a musical career is still possible.  I plan on teaching piano lessons and working at churches and playing gigs anywhere and everywhere, which I consider musical.  I say if its something you want to do, then you should persue it. 

[ronde_des_sylphes]

To answer your query: first a little about my experience.

I played piano with considerable enthusiasm as a youngster, and certainly my parents thought about sending me to music college. The ways things worked out, however, I more or less gave up the piano after I left school and didn't play again for close on a decade. I got my grade 8 at age 13 and subsequently was playing Chopin Polonaises, Beethoven sonatas and the odd bit of Liszt, so I was no prodigy, but I was decent enough.

When I was about 25 or so I came back to the piano and worked through a lot of Liszt and the odd Chopin etude trying to improve my technique; ultimately I was probably improving, but ingraining a lot of bad habits in the process, so I went to a summer school and got some proper tuition.

Now I'm pursuing the piano (as an enjoyable hobby, not in a strict career sense; anything that comes of it career-wise is a bonus) with a fair amount of commitment, and due to probably a combination of good luck and some local contacts, I'm certainly able to get a modest amount of local recitals through venues like universities etc. Concerto work is a possibility; it's not something that I'm focussing on personally; but it seems to be the case that there are local orchestras who are happy to work with respectable soloists , irrespective of their professional status. If you're a decent amateur (which I hope I am!) then you do have some advantages: your itinerary is more flexible and you're not expecting to be paid!

do orchestras take on non-professionals so that when i'm 30 I can play with one? Do university orchestras do things like this with non-career pianists?
My dream is already over before I actually realised I had one... very sad because Ive only wanted to be a pianist and got into music about 2 years ago... but thats too late because loads of people play rach 3 by the time they're 15...

I wouldn't worry about it at all.. if I can be getting local recitals without being pro, why shouldn't you when you're 30?

Hope that's of help, and best of luck.

[tompilk]

thanks folr all this... i think i'd risk too much going for a musical career as i do well at school and i'm quite academic. However, I really want to play piano, so i'm guessing that if i keep it up that local groups or town/village orchestras will let me play with them
I'd love to do recitals like 5 times a year...
I think im going fior medicine though... so i need to make sure I get plenty of spare time and donot ignore the piano...
I just hope I get oppertunities to play when I'm older!
Tom

[anda]

a little something about a few amateur pianists i know: they prepare a recital (sometimes it takes them years, depending on how ambitious the program is), they rent a hall and give a recital. usually, they don't charge the audience, so it's not really a business or something, but it's a recital. as for orchestras - the philharmonics will never play with an amateur, but there are independent orchestras (in most cities), and they will play with you (for a certain sum...). so, in one word: it's an expensive hobby, you must either have the money yourself, or find a sponsor (i have a friend who is a teacher - not piano teacher - and amateur pianist, she gives about 2 recitals a year, always for charity - she gets sponsors to pay the expenses, and she doesn't get paid for this, but she gets to play and to see some money going for a good cause).

one more thing about amateurs: i like going to their recitals, even if they don't have the technique or the knowledge to play like a pro, because they all seem to have a fantastic passion for piano, which makes up for everything else.

best luck

[emmdoubleew]

I think im going fior medicine though... so i need to make sure I get plenty of spare time and donot ignore the piano...

Medicine is an excellent choice! I think it's much much safer than piano, which even for someone who can play the Rach 3 at 15, is very dangerous, and often has nothing to do with how well you can play, but rather how well you can market yourself.

I don't really know how you could manage to find recitals as a non-proffesional. Part-time jobs such as playing in restaurants shouldn't be too hard to find when you're a student, because they're not really expecting Hamelin to show up, but then again it depends if you want to play background music for ppl 

[tompilk]

yes... medicine looks very good for me at the moment... definitely work there!
Awww... disappointment... do they not have Alkan in piano bars? 
I think ill run a restaurant when im not cutting people's brains - a Rach Resaturant - it might catch on, you think? 
hehehe...
Tom