Monday, March 21st, 2011
Preparation for Longy Seminar
A few thoughts before the seminar.
Each Wednesday afternoon, Longy School of Music‘s Chair of Vocal and Keyboard Studies, Brian Moll gathers a talented group of singers and collaborative pianists together. Of the many seminars I have given, this group was one of the most diverse in their experience, interests and backgrounds that I had ever worked with.
I think that diversity of perspectives, combined with a highly-supportive environment created just the right recipe for what was, I believe, my best seminar to date. So much of the impact of these seminars is determined before I even walk in the door. The academic season, the interpersonal climate or even the timing of the event during the day play huge roles.
I was also delighted to have several distinguished guests participate in the seminar: Brian Moll, Karyl Ryczek and Sarah Bellott.
Sarah Bellott on Longy Seminar
A message from Sarah Bellott, Student Services Coordinator at Boston University School of Music. Sarah and I had met at the NETMCDO conference in January in NYC. She is a very intelligent, energetic and creative counselor; we were all fortunate to have her insights.
Our new E-Workbook may have also shaped this dialogue to be just a bit more focused that normal. Students downloaded and began tinkering with the workbook before the session. In addition to saving time, perhaps this pre-install helps prepare the participants, giving the session some context.
I also reviewed resumes before the session, which helped us jump right in to deeper conversations. My feedback and edits seemed to be very valuable for the singers and pianists alike. We were able to review some patterns that I noticed, such as alignment issues, too many fonts, too many font sizes, too creative with colors and lines, significant experiences not highlighted well, multiple page resumes, and wasted space with wordy section headers.
Several students had such genuine interest and earnest curiosity about my approach that we continue follow-up conversations over phone and email even now, weeks following the seminar. Longy School of Music is a gem and I am excited to continue work with them in the years to come!
Tags: Action Items, Alignment, Boston University, Brian Moll, Colors, E-Workbook, Experiences, Font Size, Fonts, Karyl Ryczek, Lines, Longy, NETMCDO, Resume, Sarah Bellott, Section headers, Seminars, Video, White space
Posted in Seminars | 5 Comments »
Friday, February 11th, 2011
This latest seminar at DePaul was complete breakthrough. I don’t know exactly why, perhaps it was the compressed time frame or the opera rehearsal to follow or the pressures of the academic season, but each of these students brought such an earnest and heart-felt contribution to this discussion. I have to call it a breakthrough!
I was very glad to have Rob Krueger, the Associate Dean for Administration stop by the seminar. I had met Rob originally while I was a student at DePaul a few years ago. Then I was able to reconnect with him at the NETMCDO Conference in NYC last month. He and his team provide a very supportive environment for students. Their goal is similar to mine — to help students take that ever-challenging jump into a fulfilling, stable and lucrative professional life.
We followed a compressed version of the organizational seminar, and began introducing elements from the new electronic workbook. I learned a bit more about how to facilitate a computer-focused discussion.
For one thing, I believe my future seminar attendees should download and install the e-workbook before the seminar. This can save us a lot of time. I typically like to customize and tweak the workbook right up until the seminar, so I will have to get more disciplined about making changes, but I think this is the direction to pursue in the future.
It could be that singers will even complete a section or two of the workbook on their own before the seminar, then we can begin the discussion by focusing on the results, rather than the process. It could be that I develop a two-part e-workbook in the future — part one is due to be submitted before the seminar starts, it is a pre-requisite. Then we will take part-two as a group, which will help us analyze, process and synthesize. I’m liking it.
Thank you Jane Bunnell, thank you Rob, and thank you to the dedicated and sincere students at my alma mater, DePaul University. Go Blue Demons!
Tags: Breakthrough, Chicago, Conference, DePaul, Download, E-Workbook, Jane Bunnell, NETMCDO, New York City, Rob Krueger
Posted in Seminars | 6 Comments »
Monday, January 24th, 2011
My trip to NYC for the seminar at MSM also included my first conference with the Network of Music Career Development Officers, or NETMCDO.
The 2011 Conference took place at the historic Player’s Theater, directly next door to the famous Cafe Wha? where Bob Dylan so many of his early songs. I had read about Cafe Wha? in Dylan’s bestselling memoir, Chronicles, Vol 1 and was excited to be taking in the energy of Greenwich Village.
Day 1 Panelists
On the first day of the conference we had an excellent panel of prototypical entrepreneurial musicians. I was blown away at how creative, intelligent, articulate and passionate these panelists were. Classical pianist, rock guitarist and entrepreneur Kimball Gallagher had some anecdotes to share which I have since passed on several times. After graduating from Juilliard, he raised funds to buy a piano by dividing the portion into 88, the number of keys on the piano. “Buy a key” became his hook. Putting in this effort to brand his fund raising turned a difficult and uncomfortable ask into a fun and memorable opportunity for his supporters to get involved. There is a huge lesson in there for all us — both as performers and as entrepreneurs.
The other impressive panelists included violinist, violist and teaching artist Katie Kresek, drummer and theater owner Michael Sgouros and pianist Orli Shaham who created a series of concerts in NYC called Baby Got Bach. I have also repeated the title of her series to friends several times — catchy and descriptive.
Here were some of my key takeaways:
- Schools of music should encourage integration between disciplines and help students take independent initiative.
- We may resist the idea of marketing a product, but we do it all the time — even when we convince someone else to do something as simple as joining us for a movie, that is marketing.
- Emancipate the students from rigid curriculum — facilitate the space required to innovate.
- Encourage students to move away from an encirclement attitude about generating audience.
- Sometimes you have to give your music away without much (or any) financial reward. Some projects may be worth it to you to build repertoire, your network or exposure — consider these non-paying gigs to be investments.
- Some formative experiences came when trying to make a concert relevant to a four year old. It is not dissimilar when entertaining a 44 year old — you have to tell a story and make the concert have an arch of drama.
- Practice talking about your pieces. Often it is the talking not the playing that will truly set your product apart.
- Read the Art of Possibility by Zander.
Discussions, Bucket-Lists and New Friends
The conference discussion was moderated masterfully by composer and bassoonist John Steinmetz. Angela Myles Beeching, writer of Beyond Talent and John Blanchard, director of MSM’s alumni affairs division, also helped bring shape to the conference.
Here were some of my lessons-learned:
- Work to teach attitudes. An entrepreneurial attitude is the most important asset a student can develop.
- Destroy the myth that musicians can either have a) success as a performer or b) work in another career. There are many shades of gray in between.
- Develop a legacy. The concept of a legacy can be a very powerful motivator and a useful exercise to envision where you would like to go in life & career.
- Learning happens “when students are ready” and not before. Our job is to be available and informed for when the opportunity arises to help.
- Music business is project-based. It is not linear as some other careers.
We surveyed many different things that each music student should be able to do by the time they graduate and tried to form these skill sets into three buckets. We labeled the buckets in many different ways, but the simplest way for me to think of the three is 1) personal / life skills, 2) entrepreneurial / business skills and 3) development of the product and performance.
I was fortunate to meet many new colleagues at the conference. Establishing this new network has encouraged me that we can put our heads together and truly solve some of the issues that seem to consistently bog down music students. These experienced professionals generously lent their many years of experience and knowledge to the conference and have already started lending their creative energy toward helping Velvet Singer continue to provide solutions for classical singers.
Thank you to:
Tags: Andrew Dell'Antonio, Angela Myles Beeching, Anthea Jackson, Ar Adler, Art of Possibility, Ashley Starkins, Attitudes, Baby Got Bach, Berklee College of Music, Boston Conservatory, Boston University, Business Skills, Cafe Wha, Caldwell College, Carnegie Hall Weill Music Institute, Casey Molino Dunn, Catherine Radbill, Cleveland Institute of Music, College of Charleston, Colorado State University, Courtney Blackwell, Craig Sabbatino, Curtis Institute of Music, Daniel Pellegrini, Daniel Swenson, David Cutler, David Gilson, David Maves, DePaul University, Dina Pannabecker Evans, Duquesne University, Eastman School of Music, Edna Landau, Edward Klorman, Ellen Schantz, Emancipate, Encourage, Erik Privert, Felicia Miyakawa, Howard Felton, Initiative, Integration, Jan Bottomer, Japan, Jeffrey Nytch, Joe Mount, John Blanchard, John Steinmetz, Juilliard, Julie Woodard, Justin Kolb, Katharine Knight, Kathleen Hacker, Kathy Liperote, Katie Kresek, Kazumi Minoguchi, Kim Foster Wallace, Kim Haack, Kimball Gallagher, Kimm Julian, L. H. Dickert, Legacy, Linda Berna, Linda Holzer, Manhattan School of Music, Mankato, Marian Liebowitz, Mary Loiselle, McGill University, Mellon Music Management, Michael Sgouros, Michelle Stanley, Middle Tennessee State University, Midwestern State University, Minnesota State University, Muendo, Music Academy of Monmouth County, Nan Childress Orchard, NETMCDO, New England Conservatory, New York University, Nicole Sorge, Non-Paying, Northern Illinois University, Northwestern University Bienen School of Music, Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music, Octave Performing Arts, Oklahoma Baptist University, Orli Shaham, Patrece Robinson, Personal Life, Phyl Naffziger, Players Theater, Product, Project-based, Rachel Messler, Rider University / Westminster Choir College, Rob Krueger, Roosevelt University / Chicago College of Performing Arts, Rosanne Sonatore, Royal College of Music, Ruth Morrow, San Diego State University, Sara Adams, Sarah Bellott, Stetson University, Sung-ah Han, Susan Helfter, Talking, The Colburn School, The Juilliard School, The New School for Music / Mannes, Thresa Swadley, Toho School, Tremeur Arbor, University of Arkansas Little Rock, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Denver, University of Indianapolis, University of Kansas, University of Louisville, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, University of Southern California, University of Texas Austin, University of the Arts, Valarie Jacobsen, When ready, Winthrop University, Xavier University, Yale University
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– Brian Moll, Chair of Vocal and Keyboard Studies at Longy School of Music.