Ballet Musician

A ballet musician performs in the orchestra for a ballet company. The orchestra is made up of the same instrumentation as a traditional symphony orchestra plus piano. Performing with a ballet company is a team effort. While the music of a ballet is an integral part of the performance, much of the orchestra’s job is supporting the dancers. This requires a lot of attention and focus to ensure that the dancers and orchestra are aligned with each other.

A ballet musician is hired by audition. Many professional musicians obtain a bachelor's, master’s, or even doctoral degree, but a degree is not necessarily required to obtain a spot in an orchestra. A ballet musician needs to have great focus, advanced playing abilities, and to work well in an ensemble. Many performances happen in evenings and weekends so a ballet performer will have a schedule that reflects the company’s performance schedule. Some dance companies will travel and their musicians may travel to other parts of the country or even around the world.