Alberti Publishing

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci’s plans for a harpsichord-viola machine have finally bee realized, 490 years after the genius’s death.  According to a New York Times article, “The instrument, called a clavi-viola in Italian or harpsichord-viola in English, has emerged from myth into Times Square. A realized version went on display Thursday at the exhibition “Leonardo da Vinci’s Workshop,” which is running at the Discovery Times Square Exposition. The exhibition opened last month but the clavi-viola arrived late.”

The National Endowment for the Arts has released its findings from a study that examined the income of American professional  musicians.  The study, which concluded in 2005, found that the median income for musicians was $22,600.  The following findings are directly quoted from the NEA:

Professional musicians are among the older artist groups, with a median age of 45 in the 2003-2005 time period. Twenty-nine percent are under age 35, and 27 percent are minority. Only 36 percent are women, the lowest female proportion besides architects, announcers, and producers.

Forty-six percent of musicians have bachelor’s degrees or higher and
10 percent are enrolled in school.

Slightly more than 40 percent of musicians work for private
not-for-profit organizations, the largest proportion of any artist
occupation. Another 44 percent are self-employed, with only 13
percent in for-profit companies. Thirty percent of musicians work full
time all year. The median income for all musicians is $22,600.
Like other groups, musicians are more numerous in the more
populous states of California and New York. However, the highest
proportions of musicians are in Tennessee and Hawaii.