Fair stipend for paid singers
  • WittManWilsonWittManWilson
    Posts: 76
    I have about four choir members showing up for Easter Sunday (average size of the choir is around 15). If I were to pay for a few singers to join us for one rehearsal and to sing for Easter Sunday, what is the going rate for that? My parish is located in southwestern Ohio.
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,451
    going rate


    Sketchy concept.

    Put an ad on Craiglist asking for people to do it for free.
    Tomorrow, put the same ad up, but offer $10.
    Keep increasing it until qualified people show up.
    Then you'll know what the fair market price is.

    (BTW- When people show up willing to do it for free, you'll suddenly realize why parishes pay musicians so little.)
    Thanked by 1R J Stove
  • JPike1028
    Posts: 95
    It depends on the experience of the singers, the difficulty and amount of music they need to learn, etc. As a professional singer, I would ask for $100 for a service plus rehearsal. I have seen some offers for as low as $50, though.
  • marajoymarajoy
    Posts: 781
    For Easter I would say probably $50+ for EACH rehearsal and service. For a regular Sunday you might be able to get away with $40. (I'm in NE Ohio. But then again, not only is the cost of living even probably different from here to there, but depending on exactly where you are, you might not even be able to get qualified singers... for any price, unless you really know where to look.)
    Thanked by 1Spriggo
  • francis
    Posts: 10,668
    Depends where you are. Out here in timbuktoo, we charge a bit more than the usual. I usually offer $150 - $200 per musician, but that usually requires a rehearsal or two, a dress and then the service.
  • Ruth Lapeyre
    Posts: 341
    $100 per service $50 for rehearsal
  • R J StoveR J Stove
    Posts: 302
    Adam Wood, that's a very good suggestion. Wish I'd thought of it. (Meanwhile, I find that in Australia paid singers in Catholic churches get slightly more than the figures given here; but then life in Australia is so much more expensive than life in the States - as far as everything save health insurance is concerned - that that's not surprising. Last time I sang at a Presbyterian service, a good while ago now, I got $150 just for turning up, before the ceremony had even started.)
  • hartleymartin
    Posts: 1,447
    You can have the scenario where only a certain number of people are paid in the choir and the rest are volunteers. Let us say that you have 8 paid members (2 for each voice) plus the organist and/or choirmaster. These people would be expected to appear for rehearsals and masses every week as well as take on extra roles such as cantoring the psalms and singing solos.
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