Working in music: the pianist

Abstract

We investigate the careers of 908 alumni of an international UK conservatoire, including 211 pianists. During the last five years, 82% of alumni worked only in music, and 7% only outside music. Women performed less and taught more. The tendency for pianists to perform less, and teach more, than other alumni has diminished. However, female pianists who graduated since 1990 have performed less than male pianists, particularly in recent years. The article adopts an approach that may be used to compare the careers of musicians graduating from conservatoires in different countries, and with different specialisms, and offers some benchmarks against which such comparisons may be made. Conservatoires that know the careers of their alumni, how these are changing with time, and how they compare with those of other institutions, may adjust their curriculum to support their future alumni—or use it to influence the shape of future alumni's careers.