Clara Kim doesn't have a typical day as a freelance classical musician.
The 42-year-old violinist has played many roles in her years of performing music, including working with an ensemble, teaching and freelancing at various gigs. Even with a busy schedule, Kim tries to practice playing her violin an hour every morning.
“I have always enjoyed the variety of what I do,” she said. “Every day is different.”
Kim juggles multiple jobs to pay the bills. She currently works as a soloist on projects that are often in collaboration with contemporary composers and as a guest artist in ensembles such as A Far Cry, Talea and 48 St. Stephen; she directs Midori’s Orchestra Residencies Program and the new series Noise Cabinet at Capitol Modern; and she teaches at Punahou School and Hawaiʻi Youth Symphony’s quartet programs.
Those music jobs bring in an average annual income of $45,000 to $50,000.
“I do truly love being a classical musician, but there have been very distinct moments in my life where I was ready to quit and just thought I don’t know if this is worth all these hours of agony or trying to figure out what the next step is,” Kim said.
Making a living as a classical musician can be difficult, especially in Hawaiʻi.
The question is: Can classical musicians afford to live locally?
“It’s difficult. I would say it’s not impossible,” said Michael-Thomas Foumai, a composer in residence and director for artistic engagement at the Hawai'i Symphony Orchestra on Oʻahu.
Like many classical musicians trying to sustain a living, Foumai works on side hustles that he calls his dream jobs. Other than working at the orchestra, he teaches at the University of Hawaiʻi West Oʻahu and composes music for projects.
His three jobs add up to more than $100,000 a year. But it’s not enough to meet Hawaiʻi’s high cost of living.
“All three jobs I must do in order to live here, and even that is not enough,” Foumai said. “So I do have to lean on the support of my family for help. This is something that I often don’t like to admit to, but it’s a real thing.”
Foumai’s work is hybrid, and he mostly writes music at home. He works from late nights to the early morning — sometimes staying up as late as 3 a.m.
Classical musicians at symphony orchestras across the U.S. have different salaries. At orchestras in New York, Chicago and Boston, base salaries often exceed $130,000.
Musicians in the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra make more than $1,100 per week, but in a season of 21 weeks. And that’s not enough to live in Hawaiʻi. So musicians do other work, like performing at weddings and teaching at high schools or colleges.
Many musicians consider factors like the incomes they share with a partner or whether they have family in Hawaiʻi.
“We are paying them (the classical musicians) a fair wage,” Foumai said. “Can we do better? Absolutely. Our musicians deserve to be paid the world because they’re so talented.”
HSO is the largest orchestra in the state with 64 core and 20 per-service musicians. It’s also unionized.
James Moffitt is a longtime clarinetist and lecturer based on Oʻahu. He started working for the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra in 1981, when it was known as the Honolulu Symphony.
He’s also the president of the Musicians’ Association of Hawaiʻi, the union that represents professional musicians across all genres. He said the union is currently preparing for negotiations with HSO.
“We do our best to keep up with the cost of living,” Moffitt said, adding that he can’t go into detail about the negotiations.
Passion versus making a living
Classical music is all about the money, with orchestras often turning to government and donor dollars to thrive.
The nonprofit Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra has a nearly $6 million budget generated by ticket sales and donors.
Foumai said the misconceptions of classical music are that it’s expensive and reserved for the elite.
“You see the orchestra back in the day wearing their tuxedos,” he said. “There is this kind of snobbery that many orchestras cannot shake off at all.”
But that’s not the case.
Foumai added that HSO has some of the lowest ticket prices in the U.S. Some are under $100. That’s to make concerts affordable for people locally.
Other orchestras will charge more. Foumai said the cost of a ticket to the last seat of Walt Disney Concert Hall is $400.
"The orchestra must make a living, too. We have to pay our musicians,” Foumai said, adding that there have been many discussions on whether or not to raise ticket prices to keep it affordable for Hawaiʻi residents.
Many musicians stick around because they’re passionate about what they do. Musicians who juggle multiple jobs either spend the night at a friend’s house to catch up on rest before going to the next job, get family or spousal support, or live in the affordable living complex in Kakaʻako.
Classical musicians historically worked multiple jobs to make ends meet, including renowned composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven.
For Clara Kim, the life of a classical musician is something worthwhile.
“There are always parts of the job that are not as glamorous or not as likable,” she said. “For me, in the end, I had to figure out a way to balance those things against each other.”
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