Justin Vance is a Musician of New York.

Justin spends lots of time juggling instruments around the city for gigs on saxophone, clarinet, flute, and oboe. He subs on and off Broadway, freelances with orchestras, has been a member of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular for the last five years, and belongs to a woodwind quintet that puts on children’s concerts, including one focused on anti-bullying. As an active member of the Broadway Theatre Committee, Justin redesigned and helps maintain their website, BroadwayMusicians.com. Currently, Justin is performing in the orchestra for The Prom.

“It can be really challenging to keep all the instruments up while still being ready to perform. For instance, during Radio City I wasn’t playing a lot of oboe, so I didn’t really have time to play it much. During a really busy week I had a cabaret that I needed to play oboe on and I barely had time to make sure my reeds were working. I try to pick up each instrument as frequently as possible, but life can make it hard to find the time. One day I had my quintet come to my apartment at 9 AM to record for two hours to send off for a grant, and then I had to run to Radio City. It’s crazy, but it’s really fun having a busy life in music!” #MusiciansofNY

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#MusiciansofNY tells the stories of the working union musicians of New York, with posts about a new musician every Wednesday! Find more Musicians of New York stories here.