Gerontius Forum: Choirs and Choral Music: General discussion: Remuneration for Directors


	MAIN INDEX	SEARCH POSTS	WHO'S ONLINE	LOG IN

Home: Choirs and Choral Music: General discussion:
Remuneration for Directors

Forum sponsored by:

hague161
Novice

Oct 28, 2010, 10:33 PM

Post #1 of 6 (100815 views)
Shortcut

Remuneration for Directors	Can't Post

I've been directing a 40+ strong Gospel choir for around 2 years. I have around 35 years music teaching experience. Now that I'm retired I need to achieve an income from this work. How much do directors of amateur choirs get per rehearsal or per annum in the provinces? Can anyone help with some ball-park figures.

soulagents
Novice

Oct 30, 2010, 2:05 AM

Post #2 of 6 (100797 views)
Shortcut

Re: [hague161] Remuneration for Directors [In reply to]	Can't Post

Hi - I can only comment based on my own experience but I currently conduct three choirs, two are 'village' choirs with a membership of around 50 and the other is a well-established male-voice choir of around 45. All three are based in the rural North-West. I am in the hands of the committee with regards to remuneration but obviously have the choice to walk away if I feel it's insufficient. I currently earn £800, £1000 and £2000 per annum respectively.

I have posted elsewhere that I feel that it's important that the choir recognises your professional input and it also offers an incentive for any replacement conductor in the future. I admit that the first figures are low but these actually reflect what the membership can afford and I'm not yet sufficiently arrogant enough to expect them to raise their fees just to support my own ego! Neither do I expect to earn a living from choral conducting (although I'd like to!).

I hope this helps and I'd like to encourage others to add their thoughts and actually have a discussion on these discussion boards!

hague161
Novice

Oct 30, 2010, 9:38 AM

Post #3 of 6 (100780 views)
Shortcut

Re: [soulagents] Remuneration for Directors [In reply to]	Can't Post

Thank you so much Soulagent. I agree with you and I agree with you regarding recognition of professionalism and also with the encouragement for people to make these real discussions. I've never seen a message board before where there can be almost 5000 views to a message and not a single reply. Why is this???

choirmanager
Novice

May 9, 2012, 11:46 AM

Post #4 of 6 (91547 views)
Shortcut

Re: [hague161] Remuneration for Directors [In reply to]	Can't Post

I am in the process of setting up a community choir in Suffolk and hoped the Gerontius forum could advise me on the sort of fees payable to good, experienced MDs. My post has had a number of viewings but no reply yet.

I agree with you that this seems rather strange for a website that is supposed to be able to answer questions like yours and mine.

BTW, I have currently been quoted £35, £60 and £72 per session for MDs to lead my 50-60 strong community choir. I want to pay a fair and reasonable fee but just don't know if I'm being undercharged or overcharged.

hague161
Novice

May 9, 2012, 12:07 PM

Post #5 of 6 (91543 views)
Shortcut

Re: [choirmanager] Remuneration for Directors [In reply to]	Can't Post

What you can pay is determined by what you charge. If the choir is 50+ strong and they are paying £5 per session then you are getting an income of £250 + Then you have to pay for the hall say £50. What other expenses are there and what's your role. Do you write/arrange the music etc? I would say that the least that it would be fair to pay a good director would be £72. Pay them too little and they'll do the obvious thing and set up a choir of their own.

choirmanager
Novice

May 9, 2012, 12:33 PM

Post #6 of 6 (91541 views)
Shortcut

Re: [hague161] Remuneration for Directors [In reply to]	Can't Post

Thanks for the feedback. I agree with you completely but at present I am in startup mode and our weekly subs are nothing like the £5 you mention (do choir members actually pay that much in subs?).

However, all being well I plan to go into 2013 with a strong memebership that will happily pay £3-£4 per session and then I can offer both the accompanist and the MD a fair fee. I just need to find an MD who wants to 'buy-in' to the vision I have for the choir and take a reduced fee in the early stages.

Search for (options)

Developed by Alberon Ltd, Oxford, UK using Gossamer Forum