An amateur in the New York Philharmonic

Daniel J. Wakin of The New York Times played clarinet with the New York Philharmonic. He had 16 days between receiving the music and stepping on stage to perform but luckily he received help from Stanley Drucker.
“I was told I would be treated like a regular substitute. The brochure for subs that I was given listed payment of $1,980 for a week of rehearsals and concerts, or $198 for a two-and-a-half-hour rehearsal and $396 for a single concert, although alas, I was not to be paid. (The base salary for a regular player is $104,000, though many earn far more than that.)”