—by Adrienne Knauer

Adrienne Knauer
Originally from New York, Adrienne Knauer is a professional freelance harpist and teacher in the greater Philadelphia area. She loves the challenges that come with being an entrepreneur and is always trying to come up with creative ways to incorporate the harp in live events.

If you look at the job listings by instrument on www.musicalchairs.info at any given time, there is usually an average of two to four principal harp job openings. For the entire world. This is the reality we face as more harpists enter and finish college every year, studying to be orchestral harpists. Even if an orchestra job isn’t your goal, what does your post-music degree landscape look like? How much money can you really make as a freelance harpist, and is that income worth the effort? The answer isn’t black and white, but if you do your research and are prepared with the right tools, then you get that much closer to making your dream career a reality.

If you’re like me, after you finish college, you quickly discover that practicing for orchestra auditions doesn’t pay your rent, car bill, school loans, and health insurance (cue Destiny’s Child “Bills, Bills, Bills.”)  Needless to say, I’ve spent a lot of time over this past year and a half since graduating teaching myself how to be more of an entrepreneur than a musician. What we need is an overhaul of how higher education prepares harpists to make a living. If we want the harp to remain relevant, then we must teach students how to make money in music. If I had been armed with everything I’ve been teaching myself for the past year and a half, such as marketing, website building, networking, budgeting, pricing, etc., I could have taken the gig world by storm like the confident, optimistic graduate I was, instead of having to work various side jobs for a year and a half to support myself.

If you are a harpist who is looking at studying music in college or currently in college, get a piece of paper and answer these questions: How do you want the harp to be a part of your life when you’re done with school? Do you want to perform and teach equally? How much money do you need to make to live comfortably? Can you be satisfied living off an annual salary of $10,000 or $100,000 or somewhere in between? Will you have student loans and a car loan? How much rent can you afford each month? Paint the ideal lifestyle you wish to have. Write down your dreams to see if they are realistic and adjust accordingly. Simply contemplating these questions before you finish school will help you get an idea of how to prepare yourself for the “real world.” Meet with harpists in your area and ask them what works and doesn’t work for them.

If you’re already in college, talk to your professor about real-life opportunities and prospects after graduation. If you are researching colleges, ask your prospective professors this as well. Ask them what classes or resources the college has to help you prepare to run your business post-graduation.

If you truly want to make a living as a harpist and be self-sufficient, you need to start thinking of yourself as a business. I hate to say this, but when you’re out of school, it doesn’t matter if you can play the Hindemith Sonata flawlessly. What matters is business skills to build a career that puts your harp chops to work. Be an advocate for your education. Take business classes that aren’t required. Make friends with marketing majors. Learn how to build your own website. Network with people who can help you enhance and sell your craft. Because, at the end of the day, if you can’t make money doing what you love, you’re going to have to do something else (cue “Bills, Bills, Bills” again).

This shift in how we think about the harp as a career doesn’t entail a lot, but it is an urgent topic. We need to think outside of the orchestra box. We are doing an injustice to so many young, promising musicians by making them believe the only way to make a living is through a traditional orchestra job.

We need to change our mindset. We need to show people that the harp can add something they didn’t even know they wanted to their events. Think about the Cronut—the wildly popular pastry that is a cross between a croissant and a doughnut—if chef Dominique Ansel had never sold it, how would you ever know you needed it in your life? We need to make harp the Cronut of the music world.

Is it possible to make freelancing a sustainable lifestyle? That’s something I’m still trying to figure out. After a year and a half of holding side jobs outside of music, I can now support myself entirely with teaching and freelancing. (Side note: I teach piano and flute in addition to harp.)

If I can offer one piece of advice, it is to learn how to teach piano to supplement your harp income. We’re all in this together, and sharing honest advice will benefit us all. We all want a vibrant and growing harp culture, so let’s open up this conversation about realistic careers in music, let’s shift how we prepare the next generation, and let’s create new sustainable models for being a harpist in the 21st century.