Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner What do professional pianists get paid for a concert?

I realize there is a huge range but if someone knows of any examples or ballpark figures I am curious about this.
Not sure if it's true or I remember correctly, but I think a poster said Lang Lang gets 80K and that was a few years ago.

Is there a pay difference between concerto and solo performances? Does it depend a lot on the venue(the same pianist getting paid more for a Carnegie Hall performance vs. a less impressive venue)?

It would probably make sense to break any figures down according to several "levels" of performer with the highest level including superstar draws like Lang Lang, Kissin, Argerich, Schiff, Trifonov,Yang.

From what I've heard, there do indeed seem to be tiers. I was told by one pianist that 5-10K is what well known pianists tend to get, but it depends on the engagement. Some really popular musicians can get 20K, but superstars can get 50K or more. I don't know if they get this for every engagement though.

I'd Imagine someone like Mitsuko Uchida gets more in Carnegie Hall than the Wgmore Hall, as the latter is a very small recital hall, but all the greats want to play there, so the situation is probably more complicated than a simple matter of tiers.

What's your estimate of the number of pianists in the 20K and 50K ranges?
This seems to make sense because if the hall is quite small the ticket receipts would have to be less, and I'd guess that the receipts have to cover most of the expenses.

I don't know the number, but I understand it's quite small. Think of the number of pianists who are well known to music fans in general, and not just to us piano nuts.

The top dogs lower their fees greatly if they are invited to glamorous venues, which can be like a vacation to them - Lucerne and Verbier come to mind.

Who would say no to the chance to go to a beautiful mountain resort for a few weeks, mingle with the great and the good, let their hair down and play some off-beat but enjoyable stuff (like the William Tell Overture for 8 pairs of hands on four pianos ) with fellow top dogs, get plied with good food and with all expenses paid?

Yes I'm sure Verbier and the like are very attractive to pianists. Mitsuko Uchida also plays some tiny venues in the UK when she's ramping up to touring with new repertoire. I remember her discussing this when she started playing the Diabelli Variations. Sokolov sometimes plays very small venues, even though he sells out all the great concert halls of Europe year after year.

"Tiers" of joy to some, I suspect!

Cheers!

I don't get a warm and fuzzy feeling when I read "This concert is made possible by ...." in the play bill ... is the way it's going sustainable?

Same way I don't want to know why the NBA pay checks gets higher and higher by the season, same for golf tournament when we know that young people today are not playing golf the way it used to be.