It’s called a furlough.

As the end of my 31st season with the Oregon Symphony draws closer, I’ve thought about how I’ve answered the question “What kind of job is it, to be in the symphony? Is it full-time? Do you have to supplement your income?” Lately, I’ve answered that, yes, it is a full-time job during the season. Some of us teach and do outside gigs to make ends meet or to save money. But we don’t play for about nine weeks during the summer months, so we have a schedule similar to what public school teachers have. People usually respond with something like “Oh, that’s great! You get the summer off – a nice break.” And I’ve started to say, it’s really a furlough. We get health insurance coverage during that time, but don’t get paid. Some of us take unemployment benefits during this time (though it’s become more and more of a pain to apply for and to receive benefits), while others do summer festivals to close the gap, or a combination of both.

I’m hoping that the term of art becomes ‘summer furlough’ instead of ‘summer break’. I think it makes an important distinction.