My Audience Connection class is in full swing and below I post my first sound clip of the semester. Lawren read a blog post by Molly Sheridan (Mind the Gap) about a school band t-shirt that “created” an uproar. Darwin is turning in his…now where did he go exactly?…….
audience connection
Book Review – The Savvy Musician by Dr David Cutler
So you want to be a musician? and Are There Too Many Musicians? These are two questions asked in the introduction by Dr David Cutler author of the soon to be released book The Savvy Musician. With doom and gloom seemingly around every corner for the arts, this book is a like a GPS for musicians to find an alternative route, one that wont just bring a check whilst biding ones time waiting for a “regular job” to appear. No, David goes so far as to suggest that alternatives can help the art form itself become relevant! My neck is sore from all the nodding I was doing whilst reading this, and so I decided to write my first ever book review……..
Back to School Special!!!
Next week my class The Audience Connection starts up again and like last year it will be podcast and I will post highlights at Houndbite. This class deals with current affairs in the arts world and so just like last year, I am asking for topic requests. Either send one as a comment on this post or send me an email. I will post highlights from these discussions. Below is a clip from one of last year’s requested topics…..
How about Savvy Music Schools?
The Savvy Musician, a book by Dr. David Cutler comes out in November. There is some publicity being generated about the book’s upcoming release and the potential impact it might have on those musicians seeking careers in non traditional venues. I haven’t read it (advanced copies are available) but an article about it raises some questions for me as to the motives of schools that think that entrepreneurship is the answer for musicians who are not finding work in “traditional” musical settings. The potential problem in music schools creating stand alone entrepreneurship programs, is that it treats it a little like alternative medicine…..i.e not taking it seriously
Dancing Maestros on the Jumbotron……
In a “review” by Lawrence Johnson, he ranted about the use of the Jumbotrons at the Ravinia festival. OK I can see that there might be some who want the “traditional” experience, but the setting is far from traditional in the concert going sense, accessibility is something that needs to be taken into consideration and he actually has a solution to his problem and doesn’t even realize it…….
Response to Joe: Bursting the Programming Bubble…on the road again!
Joe over on Butts in Seats challenged our blogging community regarding programming and Bill as usual hit a slam dunk. My take is that we place too much faith in programming as being the answer to our woes when the real problems lie in the attitudes and motivations behind the programming. This notion we have to be ahead of the curve, ahead of our time, ahead of the audience might make some in the biz feel good, but it actually can make us less relevant and appear desperate which could end up alienating us from our audiences….
The New Golden Age – Defending the Jury pt. 2
With so much attention being paid to Tsujii (including from me) I wanted to be sure to not overlook the other gold medalist Haochen Zhang, his extraordinary ability and unbelievable upside potential. If not breaking barriers like Tsujii he certainly dispelled a myth and if some feel that the jury took a chance with him, well they are supposed to take a chance!….
Cliburn: Striking Human Gold! – Defending the Jury part 1
There are so many things people are hoping for in the winner of the Cliburn. Every 4 years this veritable Piano Olympiad usually picks a winner who possesses pure virtuosity, stage presence and superb musicianship. Expectations are high for the Pianists and the pressure is intense to say the least. This year was different and also special as with both winners two myths were busted, and with one, the expectations were suddenly turned around on to us the audience……