An old tune

CHRIS PASLES’ article “Lining up for the Job Market” [April 9] would have been just as valid in 1943, when I graduated from Curtis Institute of Music, as it is today. My experience in this area may be useful to current graduates. I have been involved in a self-imposed double-degree occupation for about 50 years.

Living in a cesspool of uncertainty is the best way I can describe the free-lance musician’s life then and now.

At this point, I decided to become a CPA. Ironically, the better I became at accounting, the more work I received in music. I recall that after a recording session at the American Legion Building, Igor Stravinsky called me over and asked me to look at a royalty statement he questioned.

TIBOR ZELIG

Encino

Zelig is a past president of the Curtis Institute of Music Alumni West.