Performing Arts, Big Business, Pride, Worldliness

[ken_sylvania]

I've spent most of the past decade working as a music teacher myself. I by no means want to diss on the "humble Christian mechanic or carpenter or janitor;" I'd be more than happy to have the community come to a place where a career in music was seen as merely equal. My "more than average" comment is taking into account the large percentage of Anabaptists I know who are hardly in "humble" careers but are employed making luxury items for wealthy people. I doubt you'd disagree yourself that someone teaching music to young people is benefiting society more than someone making multi-million dollar homes.

No, I wouldn't disagree with that.

I wouldn't either...but it isn't valued as much. That seems pretty clear in a number of ways.

Not valued as much by whom?

[seeking-artist]

No, I wouldn't disagree with that.

But, unless I've been misreading you, I've gotten the impression that you are still wary of more Anabaptists pursuing a career in music, particularly in performance. I still don't understand why; maybe I'm missing something. I get the economic concern, at least partly, although some of that circles back to a lack of appreciation for the arts in many Anabaptist communities in the first place. In other words, as an appreciation for the performing arts rises, it will become easier to Anabaptists to have careers in music while staying in the community, primarily supported by their own communities. And by support, I simply mean that the communities have an interest in purchasing the services offered, whether that's music lessons, ticketed performances, etc.

[mike]

No, I wouldn't disagree with that.

But, unless I've been misreading you, I've gotten the impression that you are still wary of more Anabaptists pursuing a career in music, particularly in performance. I still don't understand why; maybe I'm missing something. I get the economic concern, at least partly, although some of that circles back to a lack of appreciation for the arts in many Anabaptist communities in the first place. In other words, as an appreciation for the performing arts rises, it will become easier to Anabaptists to have careers in music while staying in the community, primarily supported by their own communities. And by support, I simply mean that the communities have an interest in purchasing the services offered, whether that's music lessons, ticketed performances, etc.

Yes, I'm wary of a career in music performance being a viable option economically, particularly within the conservative Anabaptist community for which performance art is pretty far down the list of things they would shell out money for. There may be other reasons to be wary also, which others have brought up, but I haven't gotten into those. I have a family member who has studied and played instruments for many years, and is skilled. Some of his projects do make a little money, such as recording jobs and playing on live shows. But I am pretty sure it is not enough to earn a living, because he hasn't given up his day job yet.

[seeking-artist]

Yes, I'm wary of a career in music performance being a viable option economically, particularly within the conservative Anabaptist community for which performance art is pretty far down the list of things they would shell out money for. There may be other reasons to be wary also, which others have brought up, but I haven't gotten into those.

At some point, aren't these two the same thing? If there are "other reasons to be wary," and these are shared by large segments of Anabaptists, then this is precisely why it's hard for music performance to be viable economically, right? The economic point just seems to be downstream of other concerns.

[JohnH]

In other words, as an appreciation for the performing arts rises, it will become easier to Anabaptists to have careers in music while staying in the community, primarily supported by their own communities. And by support, I simply mean that the communities have an interest in purchasing the services offered, whether that's music lessons, ticketed performances, etc.

Why should they be "primarily supported by their own communities"?

In my business, we primarily serve the general public and thus are "primarily supported" by the public at large. I would not expect our primary customer base to be other church people.

The same is true for roofers, people who do cement work, framers, car mechanics, accountants, and so on.

If the performing arts are worth pursuing and are worthwhile... wouldn't it be better to be a witness to the broader world at large?

You mentioned you teach piano lessons - it would seem worthwhile to be teaching the general public and promoting the values you see, and if you feel Christian values are expressed in the arts, then you could use teaching piano as a worthwhile witness for that.

[mike]

Yes, I'm wary of a career in music performance being a viable option economically, particularly within the conservative Anabaptist community for which performance art is pretty far down the list of things they would shell out money for. There may be other reasons to be wary also, which others have brought up, but I haven't gotten into those.

At some point, aren't these two the same thing? If there are "other reasons to be wary," and these are shared by large segments of Anabaptists, then this is precisely why it's hard for music performance to be viable economically, right? The economic point just seems to be downstream of other concerns.

Maybe. For the group I'm a part of, there is nothing preventing anybody from paying money to go to a concert if they want to. But theoretically, there might be concerns about the type of music itself that would be upstream of the economic concern. If somebody wants to spend the money for an Oasis chorale concert, nobody would care. Or Southern gospel, or a classical concert. As long as the music isn't something considered way out of bounds, I wouldn't imagine anybody would care about the money spent.