SAccording to French theorist Bernard Lehmann, behind the uniqueness attributed by black clothing to a symphony orchestra, there is a universe full of contradictions. Nothing is more true, in the opinion of sociologist Dilma Fabri Marão Pinocheri, who attended the day-to-day activities of the São Paulo Municipal Theater Symphony Orchestra for two years (2004-2005), collecting information and testimonials about professional training and insertion of these musicians in the job market. Previously, she had participated in the government project for the Brazilian Classification of Occupations (CBO), which, given the profound transformations in capitalism, aimed to re-describe all existing occupations in the country. This project had an important contribution from Unicamp, the subject of a report in issue 256, in June 2004.

A study everyday of the Symphony of the Theater Municipal

“Musicians are not just artists, but also workers; they are artist-workers”, defines the sociologist, whose research resulted in a master's thesis supervised by professor Liliana Segnini, from the Faculty of Education (FE). “This is a new theme, as the sociology of work in Brazil has always been very focused on the production and service sectors”, she adds. That work for the CBO led professor Liliana Segnini to coordinate a thematic project approved by Fapesp, “Work and training in the field of culture: teachers, musicians and dancers”, which runs until 2007. Dilma Marão's dissertation is included in this project.

The sociologist found the Municipal Theater in a difficult time, dependent on the budget allocation from the Department of Culture and without holding public competitions to hire musicians and dancers for more than 10 years. “Within our methodology, the research should begin with stable musicians, employed within the orchestras, and then listen to autonomous musicians. But the so-called precarious workers were already in the orchestra, subject to temporary contracts of three or six months, without any type of security”, says Dilma Marão. At the time, the orchestra maintained a stable body of 115 musicians – a number that varies according to the complexity of the work performed –, with only 40% hired.

Without access to official information, the sociologist estimates, from hearsay, that the average salary in the orchestra ranges from R$4,5 to R$5, with differences within the very hierarchical structure made up of conductor, soloists, concertmasters and Tuttistas. Within the violin section (group that uses the same instrument), for example, we have the concertmaster (first violinist, who eventually replaces the conductor), the concertmaster (who stands next to the concertmaster and can replace him if necessary) and the Tutti players (who make up the orchestra's integral sound).

“The salaries of permanent and temporary musicians are equivalent. But if temporary workers are not guaranteed labor rights, public servants have a base salary of around one thousand reais, on top of which additional payments are added that they will lose upon retirement”, explains Dilma Marão. The researcher witnessed the insecurity of unemployed musicians when the government changed, with the departure of Marta Suplicy and the entry of José Serra. “There were no major changes in the orchestra, but it was a very distressing moment,” she recalls.

The women - Also concerned with gender aspects, the sociologist's attention was drawn to the problems of women – 26% of the orchestra's body –, particularly those who are not protected by social security and who become pregnant. “They play until the ninth month of pregnancy, accompanying five-hour operas inside the pit [a space reserved for the orchestra on a lower level than the stage]. The conductor pretends not to see and the woman pretends she is not pregnant. The sacrifice is part of a companionship scheme, as colleagues will take their places when they have the baby. This is the only way to get pregnant or get sick in the theater space,” she notes.

The issue of space is an aggravating factor in working conditions. Dilma Marão remembers that the Municipal Theater, opened in 1911, was not created with the purpose of housing stable bodies, even though today there is the Symphony, an experimental orchestra, two choirs, the city ballet, a string quartet and schools of music and ballet. “The theater was designed to receive large companies from Europe, which creates problems in organizing the work of all bodies. There are, for example, no places for suit rehearsals. The musicians change clothes in the pit, where they also keep instruments costing a few thousand dollars. Dust can cause respiratory problems, which is serious for wind musicians,” he points out.

Professional training and salary

Sociologist Dilma Marão explains that a musician's professional training has universal characteristics, such as appropriate ages to begin learning: a guitarist who intends to become a professional must begin at the age of 5 or 6, including to acquire the physical ability to play the instrument; but there are instruments that allow learning later, as it is impossible for a child to play a double bass, for example. Another universal characteristic is the presence of the family, the basis of musicians' careers in Brazil and around the world. “The vast majority have their parents or relatives who are also musicians as their biggest supporters,” she says.

It turns out that in Brazil the family also needs to sponsor the child's studies, which reveals a total omission on the part of the State in the training of its musicians. In Eastern European countries, such as Bulgaria, primary and secondary schools have specialized music schools, which offer normal subjects in one period and, in the other, only music. France has its respected public conservatories. “The professionalization of French musicians in a private conservatory is unthinkable. In Brazil, on the contrary, we have a majority of private institutions, with the Tatuí and Piracicaba conservatories being the most sought after”, observes Dilma Marão.

At the São Paulo Municipal Theater Symphony Orchestra, the sociologist interviewed just one musician who said he was encouraged to practice in elementary school. “Music teaching is mandatory, within the discipline of artistic education, but there are strong controversies among the teachers themselves, who are forced to also deal with dance and visual arts without having training for all of this. Teaching to sing is not teaching music, much less encouraging professional training as in schools in Bulgaria”, criticizes Dilma Marão. In her opinion, the church plays a much more important role in this sense, especially evangelical churches, where music is historically encouraged.

The private teacher is another mandatory figure in Brazil, present at all stages of musicians' training, including when they are at the conservatory, at university or on a scholarship abroad. “This master-apprentice relationship has been going on for a long time. It is common for musicians to seek higher education interested in theory or even to learn another instrument. His real instrument, however, he improves with a private teacher”, emphasizes the researcher. As a rule, the private teacher is an illustrious name, who will be at the top of every CV, following specialization courses and even university. “Musicians relativize the importance of higher education in their training, even because many of them, when they arrive at university at the age of 17 or 18, are already working professionally. Not infrequently, they seek a diploma to pursue another activity in the job market, such as teaching at their own universities,” she explains.

Survival – Professional training and insertion into the job market for Brazilian musicians are closely associated aspects, which has a good and a bad side, in Dilma Marão's opinion. “The musician, as a worker, lives from playing. At the end of his adolescence he already works in the symphony, gives private lessons, is called by record companies, sets up groups to 'make money' at weddings, baptisms and other events. On the other hand, training is hampered by these precarious work alternatives, when the ideal would be for the musician to invest in learning until the age of 25, in order to enter the market qualified”, he notes.

So many activities result in addictions – technical and others. Dilma Marão collected the sad testimony of a soloist, a child prodigy who learned to play everything that was placed at his fingertips. At 17 he was already in the symphony and accompanied international artists. “For a teenager, success is dangerous. He started going to parties and bars and ended up having drinking problems. During a concert at the Municipal Theater, he suffered a breakdown and was no longer able to play. Because of this single failure, he stopped being the first soloist and receiving invitations. The glamor of the artistic profession is another aspect that must be worked on”, he ponders.

Aging in the profession is another complicated issue. The wind musician, for example, will no longer have the same breathing capacity as he did when he was 20 years old. By the way, Dilma Marão cites another theorist, Pierre-Michel Menger, for whom artistic professions are perhaps at the forefront of recent transformations in capitalism. “It is common to see the flexibilization of labor relations when it comes to unskilled professions, in which the worker can be easily replaced. In the artistic world, they are very qualified professionals, who have been qualifying their entire lives, and who are still replaced relatively easily.”