Tubist turned Marketing, Andrew Schwartz shares with great honesty the “terrifying financial prospects” of his career as a gigging musician and how that was at odds with his personal need for financial stability and predictability. He speaks about the messy journey to get to know himself and figure out what would come next after music school
Andrew Schwartz holds a degree from the University of Hartford and pursued a Masters from The Manhattan School of Music in Tuba Performance. He received an MBA from Georgia State University and now works in marketing insights for Central Garden & Pet. He lives in Decatur, GA with his wife and daughter.
QUOTES
“I could see orchestras filing for bankruptcy, and it was terrifying. I was under the impression that if you make it, you make it. But if the Philadelphia Orchestra is filing for bankruptcy then no one is safe.”
“This is the thing I want to do (orchestra concerts), but if I’m asleep at concerts then what are we doing?”
“I was barely living above the poverty line in NYC.”
“I had no idea what the real world was like.”
“If I got an MBA, that would give me two years to figure it all out.”
“I don’t know if I’ve gotten over that my identity is what I do.”
“My biggest fear was winning a job, the orchestra was bankrupt, I would have to move or there were no other jobs.”
“In the real world you need to be a whole person.”
“One big thing I took from music is storytelling.”
LINKS
PODCAST TEAM
Production Support from Molly Jenkins
Audio Engineering from Frazer Ruddick
Theme Music Composed by Danna Yun
Theme Music Performed by Jasper Ly
RECORDED
Recorded on 05 July 2021