"Freeway Philharmonic': California's freelance musicians

The freelance musicians of northern California call themselves the Freeway Philharmonic because they spend so much time driving between small orchestras scattered through an area that spans more than 200 miles, north to south. A freelancer may drive 120 miles in one direction to play with one orchestra, and a hundred miles in the opposite direction to play with another.

Freeway Philharmonic portrays the freelance life by focusing on six musicians. In 55 well-edited minutes, it does a better job with its subject than the longer 2004 PBS documentary, Music from the Inside Out, which profiled the Philadelphia Orchestra.

The Philadelphia Orchestra movie contained too many scenes in which musicians rhapsodized about the value of music. It needed more bits like the section in which David Kim tells how he decided to abandon the life of a soloist and take up his current position as the Orchestra's concertmaster. Freeway Philharmonic, by contrast, focuses on the day-to-day realities of the freelance lifestyle. It looks at nitty-gritty matters like scheduling, auditions, the pleasures of carpooling, the impact on marriage and family life, and the devastating effects of minor injuries.

Bucking the odds

Most of the freelance musicians profiled in Freeway Philharmonic hope eventually to land a job with a major orchestra. But they know they're bucking the odds. Karla Eckholm, the bassoonist in the group, notes that the San Francisco Orchestra has only had two openings for bassoonists in 20 years.

An orchestra position offers musicians a steady paycheck (and less commuting), but these freelancers also feel it provides artistic virtues. When you play with the same people year after year, one freelancer points out, you know how they react and you can produce a better product.

On the other hand, he says, a group of freelancers can sound more spirited. And Eckholm extols the pleasures of playing all the different kinds of music she gets to work with, as she fills dates with chamber groups and chamber orchestras.

A few Philadelphia differences

Northern California isn't the only area with a thriving freelance community. Philadelphia's busy corps of freelancers is one of the treasures of the Delaware Valley. Freeway Philharmonic should give every Philadelphia music enthusiast a better understanding (and appreciation) of the musicians who play with the Opera Company, the Pennsylvania Ballet, Orchestra 2001, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Vox Amadeus, Philomel, the Mendelssohn Club and most of the other groups that keep our music season humming.

There are differences, of course. Philadelphia freelancers spend so much time playing with the same people, as they hustle from job to job, that they resemble a single ad hoc regional orchestra that keeps assuming new configurations. Many local veterans seem quite content with the pluses and minuses of the freelance lifestyle. And the Chamber Orchestra, the Opera Company and the Pennsylvania Ballet offer the core players dependable work that softens the financial insecurities.

Still, I'm certain they will all see reflections of their own lives in Tal Skloot's insightful documentary. Our Philadelphia freelancers may not cover as many miles as their California colleagues, but they travel the same road.