Clark Matthews

A Day in the Life of Hornist Clark Matthews

My partner jokes, “when I ask you about your day, invariably, you practiced for a bit, sat on some meetings, and took Daisy on a walk. It sounds so boring!!” My boring routine is my shelter for a performance schedule that can seriously throw a wrench into any peace I thought I was going to have.

Driving 25-30k miles per year, I play shows in every corner of New England. Calls can be for pretty much any genre, but guaranteed, no two gigs are the same. Literally played a show dressed in tights, with parading camels and geese last month. Much of this was from memory with a couple days notice. Of course, driving home after the gig, especially in the winter months, can be treacherous.

I’ve been 120 miles from home on the highway in the middle of a blizzard at midnight many more times than is advisable.  Then the next week could be playing with the Boston Symphony. As unique as the gigs are the perspectives of the people. 

There’s something about creating collectively that brings together the diversity of thoughts along with the cooperative spirit. It’s both exciting and stress inducing.

For many freelance musicians there is little job security, so the financial pressures are real. NEMRF developed out of necessity for a wider safety net at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Performing musicians lost their ability to make their income through their established careers. With much of their income being independent contractor status, many musicians were not entitled to unemployment benefits. Now as in the beginning of the pandemic, NEMRF continues to provide relief to performing musicians in need. Some days I’ll take an occasional boring day.