Amateur or Professional?

[pianolion]

Where is the border between amateur or professional pianist? What criteria would you use?

[pianoman53]

Professional is when you can live from it... Pretty much that easy....

[faulty_damper]

Professional simply means that you make your living off of it.  Amateur does not require making any money from it.

However, the term "professional" is often misconstrued to mean virtuoso or someone with a great deal of skill.  This simply isn't the case in most instances.

[chopincat]

Professional simply means that you make your living off of it.  Amateur does not require making any money from it.

But there's a difference between performing being a source of income and it being your only source of income. Would both qualify as professional?

[faulty_damper]

Legally speaking, the bulk of the income must be from performing.  If performing is only a small portion of the total income, then it would not be considered professional.