The professional insertion of musicians unfolds within a labor market characterized by limited opportunities and high instability, particularly in Peru, where the number of orchestras and formal artistic positions is reduced. In this context, teaching emerges as a significant employment pathway. This dynamic is reflected in Orquestando, an initiative of the Ministry of Education that provides free extracurricular music education and employs professional musicians as teachers.This paper presents an advance from an ongoing doctoral dissertation on professional identity and career trajectories. Grounded in symbolic interactionism, it analyzes how musicians construct meanings around their professional decisions through interactions within family, school, and institutional contexts. The objectives of this phase were: (1) to identify key biographical events that influenced the decision to pursue music as a profession, and (2) to explore participants’ perceptions of their first teaching experience.The current phase includes ten professional musicians from Orquestando in Lima and Callao, all holding a five-year higher education degree in music. In Peru, music degree programs are distinct from teacher education programs; none of the participants held a university degree or official certification in education, although some had completed complementary pedagogical coursework. In-depth interviews (approximately 90 minutes) were conducted via Zoom. The Ageven matrix and participants’ CVs supported the chronological reconstruction of key events. Narrative analysis was conducted manually using predefined and emergent categories, oriented toward addressing the research objectives of this stage.Orquestando is structured into three levels: Level 1 emphasizes group-based musical literacy with a playful approach, while Levels 2 and 3 include students who read music and receive more individualized instruction. Teaching was perceived as less complex in Levels 2 and 3, whereas Level 1 and formal school contexts posed greater challenges.Most participants primarily identified as “musicians,” some as “musicians who teach,” and only one as a “teacher.” This doctoral research advance highlights tensions between artistic training, labor market structures, and professional identity, contributing to greater visibility of musicians transitioning into teaching without initial pedagogical training.