tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30678240733531079492024-02-07T07:27:01.703-05:00Recovering OboistIn-depth interviews with professional musicians who simultaneously have non-music careersAmy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-5189466879875998442013-11-14T11:08:00.000-05:002013-11-14T11:08:02.469-05:00David Carpenter, composer <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD0ROxPLD_EIqPuStjmWao_nx_icZDPG88SHQJZnXl0aFj51q_3lCsrB31W29cQbgvsFzPL8L6UbDXFDA_QarNjDHGMCV-TWV4p4BQyQtTKQQcq6EHbuhRh2h7QL4kIrF4b58Wv_oI1ks/s1600/carpenter-color-032013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD0ROxPLD_EIqPuStjmWao_nx_icZDPG88SHQJZnXl0aFj51q_3lCsrB31W29cQbgvsFzPL8L6UbDXFDA_QarNjDHGMCV-TWV4p4BQyQtTKQQcq6EHbuhRh2h7QL4kIrF4b58Wv_oI1ks/s200/carpenter-color-032013.jpg" width="128" /></a><a href="http://davidowencarpenter.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">David Carpenter</span></b></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">’s
music has been performed throughout the U.S., including venues at the Aspen
Music Festival and School, the Oregon Bach Festival, the Brevard Music Center, and
the International Double Reed Society Conference. His music has been performed
by the Temple University Concert Choir and Chamber Orchestra, Network for New
Music, Momenta Quartet, Pascal Gallois, the Argento Ensemble, and the Delaware
County Symphony, where he was composer-in-residence for the 2012-13 season. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">David held a residency at the MacDowell Colony and a
fellowship at the Boyer College of Music at Temple University, where he earned
a doctor of musical arts degree studying with Dr. Maurice Wright. David has taught
at West Chester and Temple universities. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Eight scenes from David’s opera, <a href="http://davidowencarpenter.com/the-age-of-innocence/"><i>The Age of Innocence</i></a>,
based on the novel by Edith Wharton, will be performed on Sunday, November 17,
2013 at 3 p.m. at Christ & St. Stephen’s Church, 120 West 69th Street, New
York City. Admission is free. <br />
<br />
In addition to his composing career, David does donation processing in the
Advancement Department at the Curtis Institute of Music.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What
is your typical schedule and the balance between Curtis and composing?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
started at Curtis in April 2012 as a part-time temp. I was made permanent in
August, but still part-time; that’s the scope of the job. This job has been a
blessing because I get health insurance. It’s incredible. I can’t tell you how
many people are floored when I say I’ve got a part-time job with health
insurance that I don’t have to pay for. I’m very lucky to have that.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m
at Curtis for only 4 hours a day, and it goes so fast because I have to get a lot of things done. It’s almost a relief to do my job and to get away from
composing for a while, and not have to check my personal email. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After
4 hours, you’re tired, and it’s dangerous to have the afternoon off because you
want to take a nap. But what I do actually, is, go to a practice room and do at
least a half hour of composing whether I want to or not. I have to be
disciplined about it, and keep at it, because otherwise I feel like I’m not
really being a composer if I’m not writing music. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
used to work in a library for 8 hours a day, which was very depressing because
that’s all you get to do. You go home, and you’re tired, and you’re not feeling
creative. Everyone at Curtis knows I’m part-time, and I’m glad people there
know that I have this opera and this other life. </span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For
the 2012-13 academic year, I worked at Curtis and also taught music theory,
solfege, and composition at West Chester University. Having the teaching job,
in addition to my Curtis job, made me feel validated as a musician.
Unfortunately, due to budget cuts, my position at West Chester was eliminated
for fall 2013, but I’m hoping to teach there in the spring. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But
not teaching this fall allowed me to concentrate on the upcoming
performance of my opera. Time is such a valuable commodity, and I’m lucky to
have the afternoons free. If I was teaching the same time as Curtis and the
opera, I just don’t know if I would have been able to deal with it. So I just
do my job at Curtis, and no one asks me to do more than 20 hours, and then I go
home and work on all the publicity and fund-raising for the opera. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Interestingly, I haven’t really composed for 2 months, because I’ve been working so
hard on the opera production. But that has been very validating as well. It
tells me that I have something that I think is worth showing to the world, and I
have people who are willing perform it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<b>Tell us more about the opera.</b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When
I was at Temple, I had a fellowship which gave me the financial stability to
write a very big work for my dissertation. It’s often very difficult to get
such a large work performed, but I was lucky enough to have a few scenes
performed at Temple. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Donna
Gill, the pianist who I worked with there, liked the piece, and suggested that
we do some scenes in New York. We’re doing about an hour’s worth of scenes.
Donna is doing this pro bono. She’s a wonderful pianist who’s worked at
Juilliard and still works at Temple. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
will be at the final rehearsals, but Donna has worked with the singers one-on-one
for the past month. You don’t want the composer there the whole time, and I
trust Donna’s musicality in realizing my music. We also have a professional
stage director, Andrew Chown. So the singers will not only be singing their
parts, but acting them, too. And we needed only minimal staging for this
production—a couple of chairs and a table.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Aaron
Copland once said, “You have to be lucky.” I am lucky to have this performance
happening in New York. That’s tremendous. This opera is very dear to my heart.
I love the story; I love still the novel after all this time, and I really want
to share this with people—that’s why this performance in New York is free.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What
are your motivations for having a non-music job?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
have a doctorate in music composition, and I’m not a particularly skilled
instrumentalist, so I don’t have the option of doing performance gigs. There
are some composers who are wonderful pianists who can do that; I’m just not
that type of musician. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I do
need to supplement my composing income. I’ve done that so far with teaching or
by having another job to support myself. Before Curtis, I worked in libraries
and at a museum. Some people do all adjunct work; some people have another job
like I do. That’s how I’ve pieced it together, and I’ve kept my identity as a musician, which
has been a good thing for me.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My
Curtis job gives me a stability that even if my adjunct job disappears, I have
the income and I’m not paying for my own health insurance, and I am very
grateful for that.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
was very fortunate to have had the fellowship at Temple, as well as a
fellowship at the MacDowell Colony to work on my opera in the fall of 2010. The
MacDowell residency didn’t seem real. You get your own studio, they feed you, and
give you a stipend so you can pay your rent at home while you’re gone. They pay
for everything, and every day I was expecting someone to give me a pail and a
mop and say, “OK, clean the bathroom.” It was an amazing experience.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But
that’s what they do. They see you’re serious about your work as an artist, and
they make it financially possible for you to do that. You need financial
grounding to do creative things, and that’s why musicians and artists are always
looking for that backing. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Is
there any overlap between the skills required for your Curtis work and those
required for composing?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
think being a creative artist, you tend to be rather obsessive, and that’s how
I tend to approach composition, working at a very detailed level.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Interestingly
enough, in my job at Curtis, there’s a huge amount of detail. You’re doing the
same thing over and over, but you have to interact with colleagues to make sure
it’s right and consider all the people affected by what you do. I think my
obsessiveness as a composer really helps in my job. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As
far as how my Curtis job helps my composing, I’ve learned a lot about fundraising,
which has been useful for my campaign for the opera. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m
using <a href="http://www.hatchfund.org/project/the_age_of_innocence_a_new_american_opera">Hatchfund</a>;
they know how to work with artists. First of all, you have to apply and show
that you’re a serious artist. The donations are tax-deductible, and with every
donation, Hatchfund asks that the donor give at least 5% more, which goes to
maintaining the website and their staff. The published goal and amount raised
is the artist’s money; they’re not taking a cut.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Having
just begun to learn about fundraising, I have more and more admiration for the
professional fundraisers in the advancement department at Curtis. The “ask” is
so hard to do. It’s gotten easier, but it’s still weird. They told us at
Hatchfund, sometimes the reason people don’t give is because they weren’t
asked. So I’ve gone through sending mass emails to people, and I’ve been meeting
people, talking to them, sending them emails, and doing the ask. It’s still
difficult for me, but I have gotten results.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And
I make sure to send a thank you immediately. I’ve been very good about that,
and of course my job taught me that. That’s one of the biggest parts of my job
at Curtis: generating thank you letters. When I see a donation to my opera,
they get a thank you within 24 hours. That’s how you make them feel good about
what they’ve done. Otherwise, the donors feel their money has gone into a black
hole and you’re not really grateful to them. To keep track of all the
donations, I have an Excel spreadsheet which lists donors’ names, my dates of
contact with them, and the date and amount of their donations. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What
compositions will you work on after the opera performance?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
As for where things will go from there, I’m not sure. I hope the
performance of the opera in New York leads to more connections, more exposure; maybe
even a teaching job. For the moment, I probably would like to stay in Philly.
It’s a good place to be. I can afford it, and New York is right next door.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As
far as current composition projects: I have a nephew who was born in 1996; he lives in France with my brother, his father. For his first birthday in 1997,
I wrote him a theme, and his present every year is a variation on that theme.
So I have to get to writing variation 16 this year.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
also wrote a string trio in 2012—some Curtis students played one movement from
it, and I’m trying to add two other movements to it. That’s what I was working
on before the opera tidal wave. It’s always important to be composing, though
that composing is a lot easier when you know you’re going to get a performance.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What
advice do you have for young composers?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A
composer composes. That’s the most important job. But it’s so tough to get
attention. You go through a lot of self-doubt, and you wonder if it’s really
worth someone’s time to listen to your music. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What
I’ve learned -- and I knew this before I started my doctorate, but I know it
even better now -- is to have that idealism to pursue your musical life, you
have to have a financial grounding first. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It
should be so obvious, but there are some people who don’t realize it early
enough, especially people getting doctorates. They need to know that they’re
going to have a very, very hard time getting teaching jobs in academia.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You
get the doctorate to teach. There’s really no other reason to get it. The problem
is, schools churn out so many people with doctorates in the humanities, and so
few can find jobs. Schools don’t seem to want to deal with this real, practical
problem. It’s not that I don’t think people should get doctorates. I was
grateful for my experience at Temple, and I’m glad I did my doctorate there.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But
I think it’s unfair, especially for people in their 20s, to get accepted into
these programs, go into huge amounts of debt, and then have little chance of
actually landing a teaching job. So being able to interact in a positive way with
people who are willing to support you financially is very important for a
composer. And you don’t have to give up your integrity as an artist to do this.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That’s
the other thing that I think artists have to be really savvy about: You have to
be able to relate to a potential donor, to give someone a reason for being
excited about what you’re doing, which is not easy. And even if they are
interested, sometimes they need a little nudge to make that financial
commitment—often they want to give, but they’ll put off giving because they’re
so busy. It’s hard to motivate people, but I think artists need to be really
aware of how to connect with people. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I<a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>f you just put yourself out there, you might get some nice
surprises, because people really do want to help. I think that young composers
need to know how to deal with financial realities, especially if they’re
getting a master’s or a doctorate in composition. If you really want the
degree, by all means pursue it, but I would avoid going into debt at all costs,
and be sure to have a plan for making ends meet once you’re out of school.
Being a composer is a wonderful thing, and I wouldn’t give it up for anything,
but just be ready for a serious uphill climb to be successful at it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Learn more about David’s
opera <a href="http://davidowencarpenter.com/the-age-of-innocence">here</a>.<br />Photo (c) by <a href="http://www.joelperlish.com/" target="_blank">Joel Perlish.</a> </span></i></div>
Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-47273369808482339172013-10-13T12:32:00.000-04:002013-10-13T12:32:22.798-04:00Lawrence "Larry" Gilliard, Jr., actor and clarinetist<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvMspgzCRdCtQDigogxLgds3zT0lZEknmWbCiUT4FxylcHoQDfAoBVnAO8j-Af7J6KH_RgZ5ETvCBO5vHdWRYJbw3ZeM2YW09f2Gd8J09N9oCWrSO8M6Wq1KcFknHnaXsxr_s9-3rQ7-k/s1600/the_walking_dead_bob_stookey_cropped_27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Once the music has got you, it never lets you go," said</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Larry Gilliard, Jr.—an acclaimed actor who debuts tonight on </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Walking Dead</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvMspgzCRdCtQDigogxLgds3zT0lZEknmWbCiUT4FxylcHoQDfAoBVnAO8j-Af7J6KH_RgZ5ETvCBO5vHdWRYJbw3ZeM2YW09f2Gd8J09N9oCWrSO8M6Wq1KcFknHnaXsxr_s9-3rQ7-k/s1600/the_walking_dead_bob_stookey_cropped_27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvMspgzCRdCtQDigogxLgds3zT0lZEknmWbCiUT4FxylcHoQDfAoBVnAO8j-Af7J6KH_RgZ5ETvCBO5vHdWRYJbw3ZeM2YW09f2Gd8J09N9oCWrSO8M6Wq1KcFknHnaXsxr_s9-3rQ7-k/s320/the_walking_dead_bob_stookey_cropped_27.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mr. Gilliard has appeared on television in <i>The Wire,</i> <i>Army Wives</i>, <i>Friday Night Lights</i>, <i>Law and Order</i>, <i>CSI</i>, <i>Southland</i>, and <i>Homicide: Life on the Street</i>; in films including <i>Straight out of Brooklyn</i>, <i>The Waterboy, Gangs of New York, </i>and <i>Cecil B. Demented</i>; and in Pulitzer Prize-winning play <i>Top Dog/Underdog</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mr. Gilliard trained in clarinet at The Juilliard School before leaving in his final semester of study to pursue acting</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">, where he found more opportunities for self-expression than in classical music. After a hiatus, he returned to the clarinet, using the skills acquired in acting training to enhance his musical artistry. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">He recently shared </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">his knowledge in the seminar “Acting for a Better Audition” at the University of Maryland Clarinet Day. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Following the seminar, he also performed at the closing concert.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mr. Gilliard's lecture encouraged students to think about what art is, and encouraged them not to abandon creativity solely for the pursuit of perfection.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">He demonstrated this point by leading students in a variety of acting exercises <i>(pictured below) </i>to hone their listening skills in different ways than they are accustomed, instructing: “What I say means nothing; what I mean means everything.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That is, the notes on the page are not enough to convey feeling to an audience, which is what separates art from, say, a child’s drawing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Nonetheless, Mr. Gilliard stated that it is integral to know the music well enough so that you can get past thinking of the technique and start expressing yourself: “Listening is the foundation of acting and music. Once I know my lines, I can listen.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Classical music, sometimes criticized for a perceived disconnectedness from the audience, is described differently by Mr. Gilliard. He believes that musicians have an advantage over most actors because of the opportunity to communicate directly with the audience: “I’m acting for a camera with a million eyes and you get to play in front of [people].”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mr. Gilliard encouraged the students to think of a narrative or image to help convey what they feel about the music: “The composer gives us a roadmap. Add your own story, scene by scene, because a lot of times, we don’t know what the composer’s was...Rain falling down a building—that’s so much more interesting than a decrescendo.”</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Finally, once you have that vision, commit to it, wholeheartedly. Mr. Gilliard described an experience at an audition where he was unaware of his surroundings, he was so deep in his vision for the scene: “I don’t know what I did when I was in that scene, that story. You don’t have time to think, ‘I was flat or sharp. I screwed up.' If you go to your story, you cannot go wrong. Trust.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">He even had a useful job interview/audition tip for any field: “Don’t ever go in asking for something. Go in offering something.‘This is what you get if you pick me.’”</span></div>
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Following the seminar, I had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Gilliard one-on-one about his dual life as an actor and musician:</span></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">AM: You mentioned the isolation, and being limited as far as expression with the clarinet. I’m wondering if you feel like the classical training contributes to that.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">LG: Well, you know, it’s necessary to achieve a certain level of professionalism and technique. You have to spend time with your instrument, the notes, the music, and with yourself, too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But I think now it’s important to teach the younger kids that you can also express yourself. So they’re coming up with both—learning technique but also that there’s a time and a place to be expressive and not worry about the notes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What does this piece mean to you? How does it sound? How does it make you feel? What do you think about it when you hear it? So that they can be a little more open. A lot of musicians before us weren’t taught that.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Classical is very structured and it’s very easy to just get locked into something. It could end up cutting off your creativity because you’re so focused on, “Oh my God, it’s Mozart. I have to be perfect. It has to be Mozart.” </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And it does, but there’s still room for creativity even with Mozart. If you take that Mozart and you make it something that you can relate to, it’s still going to sound like Mozart to everybody out there, but it’s going to mean something different. It’s going to mean something for you. It’s Mozart, so it’s the Classical period and you have to play it in a certain way. You don’t have to make it into a Romantic piece just to be expressive with it. You just have to make it mean something to you, so that there’s some feeling in it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>AM: How do you fit practice time in around your acting career?</b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">LG: I just try to make time to practice, even if it’s an hour or two a day. I haven’t played consistently in a long time, so I can only hold the instrument for so long and my embouchure isn’t as strong as it once was. I can only play for a certain amount of time before I just can’t play anymore. I have to take a break. So I just make time to practice and that’s it.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>AM: Did you stop ever for a long period of time?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">LG: Yeah, I played maybe twice a year. I’d pick it up and just play some notes because I was learning acting and working as an actor. I would hear clarinet on the radio and then I’d pick my horn up and just play a little bit…and of course it wasn’t very good, but…</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>AM: Do you have specific tips for getting back into shape after time off?</b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">LG: The thing is, you never forget. If you’ve played for a certain amount of time, it never lets you go. So once you leave, you can always come back and start with your basics and work your way back up. Because you know what it should feel like, what it should be, and it’s still in your body. It’s just a matter of reworking the machine.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I haven’t played professionally in a while. I’m hoping to do more of that. Like I was saying, it comes back to you. Now I think I’m getting into a place where I’m feeling like I want to play more. I’ll continue acting, but I just want to play more. So today, this gives me an opportunity to get back out there.</span></div>
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div>
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Many, many thanks to Mr. Gilliard for participating in the interview and to Mr. Robert DiLutis, University of Maryland Professor of Clarinet, for helping make it happen. It was truly an honor, a pleasure, and an experience I will never forget!</span></i><br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i>
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.denofgeek.us/tv/the-walking-dead/156108/first-pic-of-larry-gilliard-jr-in-the-walking-dead-season-4"><span style="font-size: x-small;">First photo credit</span></a></i></div>
Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-61102235373252629032013-09-30T22:27:00.000-04:002013-09-30T22:27:16.793-04:00New Gig<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqlipBxWHHC0gl2ckh6Y_sjNNk3kB477BnEac3h_x6NVCXwJCJJ38Q6Wj5MON0YwE8_UZRdOECZhKjqv_QLi6sGE8l8j51VcCY2YpxoWIo16uA2_irBFWviy1sWlOdP8lIJnuo6-DWluk/s1600/uarts.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqlipBxWHHC0gl2ckh6Y_sjNNk3kB477BnEac3h_x6NVCXwJCJJ38Q6Wj5MON0YwE8_UZRdOECZhKjqv_QLi6sGE8l8j51VcCY2YpxoWIo16uA2_irBFWviy1sWlOdP8lIJnuo6-DWluk/s1600/uarts.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Dear Readers,</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It is my pleasure to announce that I have been hired for a part-time consulting gig at the University of the Arts <a href="http://corzocenter.uarts.edu/">Corzo Center for the Creative Economy</a>.</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Corzo Center helps UArts students and alumni launch creative enterprises. </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Additionally, certain services are free and open to the public, including the <a href="http://corzocenter.uarts.edu/programs/consulting">Open Office Hours</a>, which provides one-on-one consulting sessions with experts in a variety of fields relevant to those working in the arts. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">UArts has hired me to do sessions on grantwriting and fundraising. These will take place the first Monday of every month and you can sign up <a href="http://ohours.org/amiller">here</a>. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Again, these are free and open to the public, so please spread the word. The October sessions are already booked up, so please consider planning ahead to November and after. Virtual sessions will be available from November on via Skype.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />This will not affect my responsibilities at the Curtis Institute. In fact, this year will be as busy as ever - please check out the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/curtiscrescendoclub">Curtis Crescendo Club's new Facebook page</a> for information about our upcoming events.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I look forward to seeing some of you soon,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Amy</span></span>Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-10960612805018125082013-08-13T09:44:00.000-04:002013-08-14T15:45:32.876-04:00David DePeters, percussionist and Executive Director of IRIS Orchestra<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i><span style="line-height: 115%;">David DePeters is percussionist and Executive Director of IRIS Orchestra, and frequently appears with leading orchestras throughout the United States, including The Philadelphia Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music.</span></i><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">So
you’ve been a member of the IRIS Orchestra for 9 years. How did you also
become Executive Director?</span></b></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://irisorchestra.org/">IRIS</a>
has been around for 13 years, but I was not involved when it first started. I didn’t
know anything about it. It was created by Michael Stern, who I went to Curtis
with, and the Executive Director of the performing arts center in Germantown,
Tennessee, which is the big suburb east of Memphis. So it’s technically not in
Memphis, although most of our donors and subscribers are from Memphis.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">When
I first went down to IRIS, I had been playing full-time in the Baltimore
Symphony but was never given the job permanently. I kept doing well at the
audition, but it was just never going to happen. My wife’s in the Philly
Orchestra, so I left Baltimore and came back to Philly.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I
ran into Michael Stern at a festival, and he said, “Oh, you’ve got to come down
and hear my orchestra in Memphis. It’s really good.” And I said, “Why would I want
to go to Memphis? What are <i>you</i> doing in Memphis? What’s going on in
Memphis?” And he said, “No, really. Come once. You’ll really get it.” So I did,
and after the first rehearsal, I said, “Call me anytime, and I will come.”</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The
idea was for the orchestra to be the anchor of this performing arts center, so
the patrons would have something to rally around and come to the center
multiple times, instead of just a bunch of touring one-off shows that come and
go. So they created IRIS, and it’s a fantastic thing. </span></span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">At
its founding, IRIS was funded by the City of Germantown -- the only
municipally-funded orchestra in the country. Then things happened, and the city
had budget issues. They’ve got firemen, policemen, garbage trucks, and things
they have to do, and eventually they decided that they could no longer fund
IRIS the way they’d been funding it.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">When
our funding got cut, I had been playing there for several years and by that
time was Personnel Manager. Rather than have it go away, Michael and I created
our own 501(c)(3), got a board, got some significant donors on our side, and
created our own orchestra. That’s been going on for 7 seasons.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In
the first 6 years, we had 7 Executive Directors. I’m the 8th Executive
Director, and I’ve been doing it for about a year. We were having a hard time
finding somebody who knew Memphis, knew the music business, and could
multi-task. The orchestra runs so thin, staff-wise -- we have 2 full-time and 2
part-time people.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">So we didn’t just need somebody who could be an Executive
Director; we needed somebody who knew how to market an orchestra, sell tickets,
and raise money, because we weren’t hiring a marketing person, a development
person, and a PR person. The Executive Director needed to do everything and we
couldn’t find that.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In
spite of the administrative turnover, the orchestra was getting stronger, better,
and more successful. Things were going well, but we were beginning to lose some
ticket sales and donors, mostly because we didn’t have anyone keeping an eye on
it.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">So
that’s how I became Executive Director. Basically, we tried a whole bunch of
other people, and for one reason or another it just didn’t work out.<b> </b>I
had turned it down a few times before, because I didn’t want the time
commitment and the travel, and also, I didn’t think I was going to be good at
it.</span><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Were
any of the other candidates professional performing musicians?</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">None
of them were. We first looked within Memphis, and then we looked within the
music industry. We found somebody from a New York management firm, and that
didn’t work out at all. So we went back to look at the people in Memphis, and
they all had strengths and weaknesses.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">But
the problem was, because they weren’t musicians, nobody had “drunk the
Kool-Aid.” None of them were so convinced that IRIS had to work for reasons
other than it’s a great orchestra that does really great things in Memphis --
but because the idea of IRIS to a musician is a unique and really great
concept. It’s a chamber music group and a festival all rolled into one, and it
just took somebody that had to fight for it.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I
have some good friends who, after school, had done their own thing, and we came
back together because of IRIS. At that point I had played full-time in the
Baltimore Symphony and the Buffalo Philharmonic, and I played part-time in The
Philadelphia Orchestra for a long time.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">IRIS
was a completely different experience. It was incredibly good friends that came
together like it was a festival. They had amazing energy, love, and fun, and
the positive vibe onstage was something I had never felt -- and I had been a
musician for a long time.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">As
I got to know more of the musicians, I realized, all of these people are
bringing an incredible wealth of musicality and love for what they do to the
community. Some of musicians have been doing this for 13 years.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Everyone stays
with host families -- they don’t stay in hotels, they stay with real people --
and some orchestra members have been staying with the same family the whole
time. Their hosts have gone to see recitals in New York City, and the musicians
have flown down to Memphis to see their host family’s kids graduate from high
school. They’ve gone on vacations together.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">It goes beyond feeling like they
are extended families; some of the musicians look at these hosts as almost
closer than their parents or siblings. It’s almost a little easier to be a tiny
bit removed in order to feel more open with people.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">So
the relationships with the hosts made it another connection in Memphis and
Germantown. I had no idea; I wasn’t prepared for that until I went there and
saw how important the orchestra was to the musicians. Not just because they
loved the orchestra, but they loved going there. Where else do you see that?
Somebody else in another orchestra does a job and they go home. IRIS musicians
are actually committed to this community. It’s really amazing.</span><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Certainly
you have the passion and you know the music better than most people, but how
did you acquire some of the skills that you needed, for instance, to do
marketing, or some of the financial stuff? Did you have specific training?</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I
had none. I went to Curtis and I failed English my first semester. It’s
embarrassing but true. I had no knowledge or special training.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Long
before IRIS, I took a winter off from music. I was done with Curtis, had played
in the Buffalo Philharmonic, and came back to Philly and was subbing in The
Philadelphia Orchestra and Baltimore Symphony and just decided to take 1 winter
off. I was a little burned out. I was getting only so far in auditions, getting
to the finals in everything and not winning jobs.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">So
I took a winter off, and went to be a ski instructor at a resort called
Whitetail that had just opened up about 3 hours from here. I learned through
that experience there’s really nothing you can’t do if you’re not afraid to ask
stupid questions.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I
was very fortunate. The guy who took me under his wing and became my best
friend and roommate out there was one of the great ski instructors on the East
Coast. I basically got nursed by these really incredible skiers and ski
instructors.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">They not only taught me how to ski better, but how to be a better
teacher and communicator, how to run a business, and how to make yourself, as a
ski instructor, a business.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Eventually
I became Assistant Director and Technical Director of the ski school, so I was the
instructor who trained the instructors. I had meetings on marketing the ski
school, selling tickets for the ski school, things like that. I started
learning things, but the most important lesson was just ask stupid questions
and get right answers.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Ultimately that’s what’s
going on with IRIS. I have no idea how to do finance. We have a really great
accounting firm. I ask stupid questions of our bookkeeper every day. She always
has the right answer, and so we figure it out together.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Another
thing was, I weaned into the Executive Director job from being first a
musician, then Personnel Manager, then General Manager. I learned a lot from my
predecessors. You start building knowledge, learning what to do, taking the
good stuff, and finding out the bad stuff. But I never went to school for any of
it.</span><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">I
don’t know if this is an issue for percussionists, but staying in shape is an
issue for wind players. Did you have to deal with that when you came back to music
after the winter off?</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Three
or four months off wasn’t that big of a deal, physically. I had my equipment
out there so I was still tapping around, though not nearly as much as I should
have.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">But in April, when I started playing with the orchestras again, I came
back fresh, loving music, wanting to be there, and enjoying myself. All of the
other musicians had been playing concerts since September, and by April they
wanted to kill each other.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">That’s
actually another great thing about IRIS. You never sit next to the same person.
It’s about 130 musicians, from which we choose anywhere from 25 to 65,
depending on the repertoire. There are no principals, no official
concertmasters.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Everything is rotated, and in the concert, you might be sitting
Principal Oboe to an oboist from The Cleveland Orchestra, and second on another
piece. Everyone is paid the same. String players rotate by concert, so you
might be concertmaster one time and in the back of the seconds the next.
Everyone is on completely equal footing.</span><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">I
wanted to ask a little bit about some of those recent situations, the really
extreme, “musicians versus management:” Minnesota, St. Paul, Atlanta, etc. How
do you balance a role in IRIS that’s both -- maybe that egalitarian structure has
something to do with that?</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I
don’t think there’s a conflict, and I don’t think there has to be. I think it’s
really individual, and it depends on the person.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">For IRIS, I have street cred,
because they know my playing. I’ve sat with these people in the orchestra, and
I see them in Philadelphia and New York. I was just down in Naples, Florida,
and I ran into IRIS people there. You run into IRIS people wherever you are. So
they see me, doing what they’re doing, and I think that gives me some
credibility.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The
one thing I’m struggling with as an administrator, is there are good and bad
people in every walk of life. There are really good doctors and really bad
doctors. There are good lawyers and bad lawyers. There are good administrators
running orchestras and there are bad administrators running orchestras. And to
be perfectly honest with you, there are good musicians and bad musicians
playing in really great orchestras.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">So, often the conflict comes not because
good people and good people can’t see eye to eye, but because bad people and
bad people can’t see eye to eye. And the good people aren’t able to weave
through those bad people.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The
thing that struck me the most in the past year since I became Executive
Director is how hard the staff people work, and how much they care about the
orchestra and the musicians.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Way too often, musicians immediately say,
“The staff people are bad people. They’re frustrated musicians. They don’t get us
because they come from the business side of things.” There are those people,
but I’m finding there are far more who are just trying to figure it out.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In
a lot of ways, you’d rather have it that way. The people who scare you the most
are the people who think they know it all, and who go from orchestra to
orchestra screwing them all up. And so often that’s what happens: You get an
administrator who totally screwed up some orchestra and then you find out that
they got a better job at a different orchestra. How the hell did that happen?
You see it all the time.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The
rule I try to go by is, the biggest mistake you can make as an arts organization
is searching for a silver bullet that will fix your problems. A new Music
Director is not going to fix your problems. If you think it is, there’s your
problem. Cutting the orchestra salaries and benefits is not going to fix your
problem.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">There is no silver bullet. There are multiple things that must happen
over many years to take an orchestra, a business, or any not-for-profit from
one place to another. Too often, those plans want to shrink the timeline in
order to somehow make everything right, right now. And it’s not going to
happen. It’s not going to change right now.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The
thing I keep telling my board is, it’s not necessarily about sustainability.
Sustaining yourself is looking for that one thing that will make you
sustainable. You’re never going to be sustainable with one thing.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">You have to
be adaptable, not sustainable. Adapting yourself will allow you to move,
change, grow, shrink, and do the things you need to do to make it work now, and
hopefully, therefore, in the future.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">That
was one great thing I got out of skiing. When you’re skiing, you’re always in
motion, and you’re never in balance. You’re never looking for a place where you
are in balance -- and if you find that one spot, you’ve already moved beyond
it. You have to be constantly moving through balance, searching for your
balance; reacting to your speed, the snow, the part of the turn you’re in.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">All
of these things have to happen, and you have to sometimes change big things,
sometimes very small things, but you have to change those things. You have to
adapt to what’s going on around you. You can’t go down a hill and say, “I was
in balance.”</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">And
in 1 season, or 5 seasons of an orchestra, you can’t say, “I am sustainable.”
For me, that was one great thing I got out of truly a technical aspect of
skiing. I changed my focus on all of life, but certainly how I deal with IRIS.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">We’re done paying for this season. We raised enough money, and we sold enough
tickets. We’re raising money for next year already. That doesn’t mean I stop
raising money until July 1. As far as I’m concerned, we’re not sustainable,
because there are so many things that are going to happen next year that I
don’t yet know about.</span><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">How
do you continue to meet the demands of your performing career, as far as
practice, preparation, just being rested enough, that sort of thing? And is
there a busy season for one job versus the other?</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">It’s a little different because we only get together 5 or 6 times a year.
It’s not a full-time orchestra. I’m not raising $40 million. We have to raise
about $1 million. There’s no way I could be playing and running a bigger
orchestra.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">When
I was Personnel Manager, there was a busy season for IRIS. I did my hiring in
the summer. Now as Executive Director, I’m full bore 7 days a week.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The thing I
have to learn in this job, and I haven’t learned yet, is how to turn it off for
a day or for a week. I don’t know if I can do it. At intermission of today’s
Philadelphia Orchestra rehearsal, I was on my computer going over a sponsorship
packet and sending it back to the designer with edits. And then I had to walk
out onstage and play.</span><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">How
do you switch gears mentally?</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">It’s
sort of developed over time. I’m not sure I’m good at it, but I’m a lot better
than I was. I try really hard to give myself incremental moments -- while I’m
onstage, I’m 100% focused on whatever’s onstage. I try very hard not to look at
my phone, not to focus on anything that I have to do 1 minute after I walk
offstage. When I’m onstage, I really want to be solely onstage.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">When
I walk offstage, I make a mental note: “OK, in this rehearsal, I realized I
need to go over 3 things. I will go over those things tonight at 8:30 when I
set aside an hour for that. It’s now 1 PM and I’m done with rehearsal. From 1
until 7, I have these other things I have to do.”</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Then I don’t think about the
stage, but at 8:30 PM I’m back to thinking about the stage. I give myself that
period of time, and when it's up, hopefully I’ve accomplished
what I needed to and can get back to the other work.</span><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Are
you still auditioning?</span></b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">When Baltimore didn’t work out, auditions were pretty much over for me. After
that, I started playing with the New York Philharmonic, and to be perfectly
honest with you, I make so much more money between New York, Philadelphia, and
IRIS than I would playing in the Baltimore Symphony. The musical experiences
are really special and amazing. I’m really lucky to be in a position where I
get to play with two of the greatest orchestras in the world.</span><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">What
about family and free time?</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">That’s the hardest stuff. The worst thing about it is the personal life. For
me, it’s too easy to only focus on work, and I struggle with that. I have to
figure that out a little better. I travel a lot and I’m really fortunate that
way. I’ll be up with the New York Philharmonic for most of May and I was just
down in Naples, Florida playing with the orchestra there.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">My
wife and I were recently in Corsica for a week-long vacation. I have to give
myself 2 hours of work a day, or I don’t enjoy the other 22. As long as I know
what’s going on in the office and in my emails, as long as I feel like I’ve
been productive for 2 hours, then I can sit back and relax.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">But
sometimes you can’t do that. At that time, there was also a very important
grant proposal due. So I was up at 2 AM Corsica time, talking to Philadelphia,
whispering in the dark, on my computer, about to wake up the house so I could
get the grant stuff done. If you have a staff that can really take care of
things for you when you are gone, it may be a little easier. But because we’re
so thin, if I don’t do it, it doesn’t get done.</span><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Are
any of your fellow IRIS musicians also involved in the administrative side?</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I think that’s another pretty cool thing. It’s sort of a musician-run
organization. When I became Executive Director, we hired trumpeter Darin Kelley
as our Personnel Manager. Carina, who’s a clarinetist, is our Community
Engagement Liaison. And of course Michael Stern does a lot, and he’s also Music
Director of Kansas City and conducting all over the world. The only person who
isn’t a musician is our development person, who lives full-time down there.</span><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">What
advice do you have for young musicians who are considering becoming
professionals?</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I
was talking to a friend about that this morning. It’s a totally different scene
than when I was in school. When I was 21, I said to myself, “If I ever say that
when I’m 50 I’m going to smack myself in the head.” But that is the truth. It’s
a different scene. It’s not worse; it’s not better.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">When
I was in school, 90% of the students were focused on 3 things: They wanted to
be soloists, chamber musicians, or orchestra players. And that was it. That’s
what you did. For the most part, people were saying, “I’m going to get my shit
together, practice really hard, win an audition, and spend the rest of my life
in that orchestra. Wouldn’t that be great?”</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">A
lot of things have changed to make that different now. There has been
tremendous growth in orchestras over the last 25 or 30 years. Look at what
orchestras were making when I was 21 compared to now -- it’s a huge difference.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">But clearly, they outgrew themselves in many ways. I’m not sure where
orchestras are going; it’s up to a lot of factors. Pendulums swing. But it’s
absolutely true orchestras have to figure out ways to better balance ticket
income and budget. How are they going to do that? I don’t know. We struggle with
it, and that’s one of the many questions that wakes me up at 3 AM.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">But
also, it was a huge deal when we first bought a CD player. It was like $500, and
it <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>was this massive thing. Now to be able to go to Naxos
and hear pretty much any piece that’s ever been recorded and study it -- that
is amazing. To be able to self-produce CDs or YouTube is fantastic.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">This
doesn’t belittle the hard work it takes, or mean that it’s an easy life, but
the opportunities to decide exactly what you want to do, and to go create that,
didn’t really exist 30 years ago.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">So
the advice for younger people is, ask a lot of stupid questions. Don’t be
afraid to look dumb. You don’t know everything. The older you get, the more
you’re going to realize you know less.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Don’t be afraid to really put yourself
out there to do exactly what it is you want to do, and then find that path. You
don’t have to follow the path of your teacher or your parents. It’s really so
much more open now.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I’m friends with the guys from Time for Three and Project
Trio. They’re perfect examples of finding your own path. They’re incredibly
talented musicians who have created themselves. There are all sorts of ways you
can find your way.</span></span></span><br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><i>Special thanks to Martha Hitchins for suggesting that I interview David and for connecting us. -AM </i> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
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Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-4643826167269348362013-07-29T10:29:00.000-04:002013-07-29T10:29:52.282-04:00More Failures<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYK390BYTnt6EFqZuWTpq5ZlfKZhUvRNIO1_m9z3Di-ODOYx37n6psZ_KYEFCMXvHn0ljpDVDpB_dxFL0CIb05twOWBcGWtSdcrurUCR30ZNMjI_IMSMUzp5N_ORIUKtl-fHuGPNMHBgw/s1600/success.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYK390BYTnt6EFqZuWTpq5ZlfKZhUvRNIO1_m9z3Di-ODOYx37n6psZ_KYEFCMXvHn0ljpDVDpB_dxFL0CIb05twOWBcGWtSdcrurUCR30ZNMjI_IMSMUzp5N_ORIUKtl-fHuGPNMHBgw/s1600/success.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One thing I enjoy about fund-raising is having clear goals. There are many qualitative measurements -- relationship with the funder, strength of the project, quality of the proposal -- but ultimately, the results are quantitative: How much money did we raise at the end of the year?</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Interviewee <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/09/dan-mcdougall-double-bass.html">Dan McDougall</a> talked about a similar satisfaction he gets with his work at Curtis, which involves a lot of data entry. He said, "</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">At the end of the day, I can point to something and
say, 'That’s done,' versus a concert that is played and goes out in the air and
it’s gone. The music side is satisfying in a different way, but it seems less
permanent to me."</span> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For my recent Curtis performance review, one measurement I looked at was how many proposals we submitted that were funded. We had a roughly* 78% success rate. When I shared this information with my supervisor, he said that this year, he would like "more failures." </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I thought that was an interesting way to describe it. Of course, we want more successes, right? </span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But when I thought about it more, it made sense. He wants us to get in front of more funders, which will result in more rejection -- but also more feedback, more contact with donors, more refinement of our proposal-writing and research, and hopefully more money raised. Musicians go through the same process with auditions, sometimes being rejected dozens of times before winning a job.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This reinforced my belief in the importance of defining your own success -- especially in a business that is rapidly-changing, full of rejection, ultimately subjective, and has myriad career possibilities, like music; or in fundraising, which can be assessed in many ways and the outcome is somewhat out of your control; or if you have <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/p/blog-index.html">multiple careers</a> and compromise is inevitable.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And does success always have to mean being the best? As I've <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/10/whats-my-motivation-again.html">written</a> before, I have already achieved an unimagined degree of personal success with my music, considering I started my career thinking I would never play professionally, but there are a lot of musicians that wouldn't be happy doing what I do. At Curtis this year, of course I set dollar goals -- but also goals for new proposals submitted, meetings with funders, and research on the field to appropriately benchmark my program.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I think assessing success also means being truly candid about failure. This was another exercise I did in my performance review. What didn't go as well as it could have, why, and how can I do it better the next time? And that's another goal we have this year: getting </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">feedback after a request is declined.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One organization, GiveWell, has a comprehensive page called "<a href="http://www.givewell.org/about/shortcomings">Our Shortcomings</a>" about all of the mistakes -- and then, improvements -- it has made since its founding. <a href="http://philanthropy.com/blogs/money-and-mission/transforming-failure-into-success/27635">Ben Cameron</a> of The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation encourages arts organizations to embrace the possibility of failure -- otherwise, they will never take risks. Diane Ragsdale has written about the concept of "<a href="http://www.artsjournal.com/jumper/2012/07/are-we-a-sector-defined-by-our-permanently-failing-organizations/">permanently failing organizations</a>...</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">those that persist even though they are no longer achieving their goals."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Failure is only failure if you have a limited definition of success and if you don't learn and improve from mistakes. </span>How do <i>you</i> define and measure career success? Are there other organizations like GiveWell you can think of that openly share their mistakes and what they learned?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>*If you want to know why I say "approximately" in reference to something
that should be a hard number, please <a href="mailto:amymilleroboe@gmail.com">email</a> me and I will explain it to
you. </i></span>Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-6173486083328226392013-05-06T14:43:00.000-04:002013-07-28T00:06:49.468-04:00Weekend Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW-xwN2EQDlTv0sFxLAs19VdT5cosewKD00PDRsI_zJzZP9uUrLu2ew3Q18wApt1wyHTVnsqiWwuVh-XzFQekH91wfcoAG0D1-0wEflKKxED_PIdqh0jpMqUK3t42ttueMOm_8KOAtEco/s1600/weekend+update.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW-xwN2EQDlTv0sFxLAs19VdT5cosewKD00PDRsI_zJzZP9uUrLu2ew3Q18wApt1wyHTVnsqiWwuVh-XzFQekH91wfcoAG0D1-0wEflKKxED_PIdqh0jpMqUK3t42ttueMOm_8KOAtEco/s1600/weekend+update.jpg" height="146" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">This weekend's events would not fit into a status update:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">On Friday, I worked at Curtis from 8 AM to 11 AM, did a few errands, picked up my rental car, and headed up to Bethlehem for the first weekend of the <a href="http://www.bach.org/">Bach Festival</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">I had every intention of doing more Curtis work when I got to my hotel, but until I had dinner, worked on reeds, and got ready for the concert there just wasn't enough time.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">People in Bethlehem love their music, exemplified by the interesting sonic experience walking from the hotel to the church. In 10 short minutes, I heard a brass band playing patriotic tunes, an alternative rock band (with two female musicians!), and a Suzuki violin class all doing outdoor performances. </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Friday night Bach Festival concert opened with the joyous Cantata 119 -- French-overture style, lots of loud, low notes and double-dotted rhythms. I had a fun time goofing around backstage with <a href="http://bachinbethlehem.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/five-questions-with-tom-goeman/">Tom Goeman</a> (</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">assistant conductor/organist/pianist) </span>and <a href="http://imgartists.com/artist/benjamin_butterfield">Ben Butterfield</a> (our distinguished guest tenor) before going back onstage to sight-read the choruses on Cantata 1.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">After the concert, I was hanging out on Facebook and my old friend and fellow musician Brent Fisher was "checked in" at the Hotel Bethlehem for a weekend getaway. A few Facebook comments/messages and a quick drive across the bridge and we were catching up on the past ten years over drinks. Brent and I go way back to high school when we did all of the PMEA District, Region, and State Festivals together.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">On Saturday, I slept in, practiced more, and then made my usual stops in downtown Bethlehem: The Attic, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Designer-Consigner/108417625933346">Designer Consigner</a>, and Johnny's Bagels, where the cashier asked me about my oboe d'amore case: "Is that a band instrument?" "Yes, actually, it's an oboe. I'm with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem for the festival." "Cool!"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then came the B Minor Mass. I have a different favorite movement each time we do it. Going in this time it was the horn/two bassoons/bass solo. After the performance it was the Agnus Dei, which we do with the unbelievable countertenor Daniel Taylor:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/n5Ea4j-Si3M?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">After the performance, a lovely couple, Mr. and Mrs. Kert Kadyk, came up to me and told me that they met at the Bethlehem Bach Festival in <i>1954</i>. They are both Temple music grads like me!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then I apparated back to Philadelphia and somehow managed to be at Verizon Hall by 8 PM for The Philadelphia Orchestra concert of Strauss, Korngold Violin Concerto starring Hilary Hahn, and Mahler 1. My sister and brother-in-law were in town for the concert and we had a nice visit over post-concert drinks and brunch Sunday morning.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">After brunch and more practicing was the Curtis <i>Grand Season Finale Gala</i> (<a href="http://carrigain.smugmug.com/">photo by Chuck Sterne</a>) at the Kimmel Center. It was the best gala since I started at Curtis and was also the most successful fund-raising effort, grossing more than $400,000. Thank you to all of our sponsors and attendees!</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0z2azJekyO1Wsn7WvsPgXFZWiUe3wWpx_LlbsAw9kECxuG5JtKoi6ZVb1ZhvmD99q7G8bs1n-9hOyHhXfZKFUHtARjMATxPMO0YF-6cge-w6NPWvY8lPfe6JLQVFHgzcexNm81nmteVU/s1600/gala.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0z2azJekyO1Wsn7WvsPgXFZWiUe3wWpx_LlbsAw9kECxuG5JtKoi6ZVb1ZhvmD99q7G8bs1n-9hOyHhXfZKFUHtARjMATxPMO0YF-6cge-w6NPWvY8lPfe6JLQVFHgzcexNm81nmteVU/s1600/gala.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Curtis Orchestra outdid itself with its all-Wagner program. Say what you want about Schonberg, but it's no surprise that that's where music went at the turn of the 20th century after Wagner, Mahler, and Strauss. There was no place left for it to go; chromaticism was bursting at the seams. The orchestra was joined by <a href="http://www.heidimeltonsoprano.com/">Heidi Melton</a> -- who has the loudest and most beautiful voice I have ever heard come out of a human being!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Eric Owens was the other featured soloist. In addition to being a superstar at the Met, he is an oboist and also a Temple alum! At the post-concert reception, I asked him how he got <a href="http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/he-sings-he-conducts-and-hes-not-bad-on-the-oboe/">back into shape to play oboe at the Aspen Festival</a>, and he said, "A little each day." I asked if he had any reed advice. He said it's important to know when to "leave well enough alone" with the reeds instead of trying to make them perfect right away with "just one more scrape." Rather than obsessing, usually when he would come back the next day they would be fine.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">This week is going to be another busy one: Round 2 of The Bach Festival this Friday and Saturday, a repeat of last weekend. Please join us! I'll also be raising money for Curtis, including representing the school at the Arts and Business Council Annual Awards and helping throw a party for the <a href="http://www.curtis.edu/crescendoclub">Curtis Crescendo Club</a> Contributing Members on Thursday.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">I
am really lucky that these are my jobs and I am inspired by the singers
in the Bach Choir and the generous volunteers and supporters of Curtis
who do it for fun and out of kindness and a love for music that we share. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">I
told one gala patron about my crazy double life and this crazy weekend
and he said, "You'll do much better in development than you will as a
musician." That may be true, but I can't see my life any other way. For
me, it's all about the music and I don't even have jobs so much as a way of life and passionate drive that is about supporting music in any way
possible.</span>Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-70536134023252182612013-04-26T10:05:00.000-04:002013-07-28T00:07:51.227-04:00Compartmentalization vs. Multi-Tasking/Day Job vs. Moonlighting<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhph-KdqcZvJAoRbC_nA8eQwaKaLzKcu-TCEc5UhirCxwwK4Xr4MwPUqmEsLB69mmU1d_R5v3NpF4KGr77I7xdVdvNM9yJxt52Xn57GvIBNu5UFQ3RoEEjxc17cUYP1Q01sBVrEENFYJzY/s1600/multi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhph-KdqcZvJAoRbC_nA8eQwaKaLzKcu-TCEc5UhirCxwwK4Xr4MwPUqmEsLB69mmU1d_R5v3NpF4KGr77I7xdVdvNM9yJxt52Xn57GvIBNu5UFQ3RoEEjxc17cUYP1Q01sBVrEENFYJzY/s1600/multi.jpg" height="181" width="200" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Several of you have inquired about how my <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2013/02/dont-call-it-comeback.html">new position at Curtis</a> has impacted my performing career.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I’m
still preparing, practicing, and performing; the <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/p/my-performance-schedule.html">Bethlehem Bach Festival</a> starts next week. </span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But the schedule is different than before. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Even though each career <i>could</i> demand all of my time and focus right now, it's not possible.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
<a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/08/getting-back-into-shape.html">previously wrote</a>, “My [Curtis] job is about as 9 to 5 as it gets in the
arts.” In times of intense concert or audition preparation, I would go
home right at 5 and practice from 6 until midnight. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
used to be entirely compartmentalized: When I left the office, I would
put the blinders on, forget about it, become a different person, and
focus entirely on my music.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Now I am working a lot of nights for concerts and <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/10/how-is-special-event-like-performance.html">donor events</a> that sometimes </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">last</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> until midnight. I also have a lot more work and responsibility in general, which means a 9 to 5 day is impossible.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So my schedule and working style have had to change. Here are some examples: </span></div>
<a name='more'></a><ul>
<li><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If
I have a function at night, sometimes I practice the oboe in the
morning and go into the office later -- 9:30, 10, or even noon. </span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">There
have been a few instances in recent weeks where I’ve practiced between
the hours of 5-7: after the “work day” is over, and before an event. </span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sometimes
I leave at 5, go home and practice until 10 or 11, and then pick back
up with Curtis stuff until midnight or 1 AM. I can send emails, do
research, and write 24/7; my neighbors would not like it if I was
practicing the oboe at 2 AM. I am also a night owl and would much rather
be working at 1 AM, not 9 AM. </span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I still compartmentalize. Earlier this week, that meant closing my office door for
two hours and writing a proposal to a major funder. Last night it meant
not opening Outlook, sitting down, and having a marathon practice
session. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But
now, multi-tasking is necessary to keep up with both careers. Sometimes
I will leave my email open and take “practice breaks” to do something
for Curtis. I listen to music I’m preparing when I’m in the office. </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As
I’ve <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/08/getting-back-into-shape.html#more">said before</a> about gigs, “As long as you can do what you need to do
at the job, that's what really matters.” It doesn’t matter how many
hours you practiced, if you have 2 reeds or 20 reeds, or if you can play
the entire Strauss Concerto from memory if the job is to play fourth
oboe on a run-through of the last movement of Mahler 1.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
now apply this sentiment to my life at Curtis. When you’re working all
of the time, you’re not punching a clock. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/11/interviewees-shared-characteristics.html">Nearly every person</a> I’ve interviewed has some kind of flexibility in one or both of their careers. <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2013/01/jacob-smith-bassoonist-arts.html">Jacob Smith</a> even said it’s in the “DNA” of PCMS/Marlboro. </span>As long as the work gets done,
I do not need to be in my office from 9 to 5. I am fortunate to be one
of many musicians who work at Curtis, and the school values that part of
my life and what it brings to my work there.</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i> </i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>POSTSCRIPT: </i>I was writing this post late last night and this morning when I woke up, interviewee <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/11/shannon-langman-mezzo-soprano-and.html">Shannon Langman</a> posted <a href="http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2013/04/25/splice-time-in-new-ways-to-have-more-of-it/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BrazenCareerist+%28Penelope+Trunk%29">this article</a> by Penelope Trunk called "Splice Time in New Ways to Have More of it." Talk about timing!</span>Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-20358215897243120492013-04-11T08:07:00.000-04:002013-07-28T00:11:04.918-04:00Samantha Wittchen: Harpist, Sustainability Consultant, Writer, Artist<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Sam Wittchen is a freelance <a href="http://www.thewittcheninitiative.com/">harpist</a> in
Philadelphia and teaches harp at the University of Pennsylvania. She attended
the Eastman School of Music where she studied with Kathleen Bride. Sam is a
graduate of the University of Virginia and co-founded the sustainability firm
<a href="http://ispringassociates.com/">iSpring</a>. She is also a freelance writer for GRID magazine, as well as a freelance <a href="http://www.manfadesign.com/">designer</a>, and serves as board chair for <a href="http://www.flashpointtheatre.org/index.html">Flashpoint Theatre Company</a>.</span></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Tell us how you ended up going from
studying harp at Eastman to founding your sustainability firm.</span></b></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">My mom is a
harpist and a businesswoman, but she actively tried to convince me not to be a
harpist. I was insistent, so she got me a little harp when I was a kid, but it
became painfully obvious after 1 or 2 lessons that I did not want to practice. She
recommended I switch to piano, which is a common instrument for harpists to
start with. I played piano for years and didn’t have any interest in switching
back to harp. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">For years—I
don’t know how I got this in my head—I thought I was going to be a pediatric endocrinologist.
And then I did horribly in biology in my 10<sup>th</sup> grade year. Since I
liked playing the piano, I decided I would be a musician instead. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">My mom advised
me how hard it is to get into music school for the piano, and that’s when I
switched back to the harp. It was strictly a pragmatic decision: Which one has less
competition? It was probably not the smartest decision I have ever made,
because there was a lot of ground I had to make up. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">My mom taught me, and
neither of us would recommend that a child study with his/her parent. But
somehow I got good enough to audition at a couple of different places. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Between my
junior and senior years of high school, I attended a week-long harp seminar at
Eastman with Professor Kathleen Bride. We had lessons and master classes and
gave a performance at the end of the week. I really liked it and her as a
teacher. Plus, my mom had attended Eastman, and I had family in Rochester.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s why I ended up choosing Eastman. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">When I was in
music school, I discovered that I didn’t want to do most things that people do
with music degrees, like play in an orchestra, sitting in the back and never
being heard. I also didn’t think I had the patience to teach at that time. So
why would I finish this degree if I wasn’t going to do anything that actually
requires it? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">That’s when I
decided to transfer. I had already started taking engineering courses at the University
of Rochester, but it was so grey and depressing there, I couldn’t stay. I
transferred to the University of Virginia and finished there with a mechanical
engineering degree. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I continued to play harp at UVA. I had very different
opportunities compared to Eastman. I played in pit orchestras and did more
jazz-type stuff, which was way more interesting to me than classical.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">When I
finished the engineering degree, I wasn’t really thrilled about typical
engineering jobs, either. Luckily, I graduated in 2001, and there were a lot of
companies looking for engineers to do non-engineering things. They thought that
engineers in general are pretty good problem-solvers and analytical thinkers,
and they were interested in re-training engineers for their specific jobs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">So I actually
went into financial services for a little while, working for SEI Investments in
Oaks, PA. Then 9/11 happened. I was working in an arm of the company that was
devoted to helping extremely wealthy people. I asked myself: “What am I doing?
I’m helping rich people get richer—what’s that doing for the world?” I didn’t
know what I wanted to do; I just knew it wasn’t that. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">And so I just
quit. I had developed a little bit of a nest egg by that point, so I could live
for a while if I couldn’t find a new job right away. It allowed me to
re-focus myself and start performing and doing other stuff more. And I went to
France for a month. I did all those things you do when you’re in your early 20’s
and you don’t know what you want to do with your life. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then I started to run
out of money and decided to start working again. I went to
work for an engineering consulting company. It was very small, and they didn’t
have anybody to do any of their marketing. I had kind of this creative side in
me. I took art classes from childhood all through college. It was pretty
traditional painting and drawing, but I thought it might be interesting to get
into more design-type stuff. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">So while I was at that small engineering firm,
they offered me the opportunity to start doing their marketing, because they didn’t have
anybody there who was capable or interested in it. As I started doing it, I
really liked it. It’s good left-brain right-brain all together in one. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">After I was at
the consulting company for a little while, I got the feeling that I wanted to
go back to school, so I applied to get my Ph.D. in renewable energy in 2004. At
that time it was wacky because Bush was still in office, and there wasn’t a
whole lot of federal money out there for clean technology or renewable energy.
There were only a handful of doctoral programs that even existed. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I applied to
the University of Massachusetts at Amherst through their mechanical engineering
department. (A lot of the work that was being done at that time was through
some sort of engineering discipline; you didn’t see any of the programs that
you see today that were specifically focused on sustainability or energy.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I
got accepted, but they couldn’t tell me whether I was funded until August, and
the program started in September. I decided that I didn’t like that tentative
answer, and I wasn’t going to do the program if I wasn’t funded. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Since I
really liked the design stuff, I decided to go in that direction for a little
while. I got a job as a designer for a marketing company for a couple years. I
also started teaching harp at Penn during that time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I liked the work, but not so much the
company, so I decided to try freelancing as a designer, so I could continue to
play my harp and take on some more students for extra income. I did that for
about a year. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Then my mom was
leaving the third company that she helped found. I was kind of bumping along
doing my design thing and I said, “We should just try and do something
together.” She had the real business experience—she’s got an MBA—where she
could be the adult in the room when we went to go look for clients. Although I
felt like I had a lot of technical knowledge, it was going to be difficult to
get people to listen to me because I was 28 at the time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">At first we
thought we were going to be an innovation firm, helping companies enter new
markets and grow their products. We tried doing that, and we found it was
really hard to sell innovation and to explain what our value proposition was
and why they needed to hire us. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">In the
meantime, Obama had gotten elected, and it looked like he was going to devote
significant amounts of money toward sustainability and energy efficiency. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">When
my mom and I started working together, we decided we wanted to work in areas
where we could really make a difference—environment, health care,
education—where we saw big, meaty problems to be tackled. So we decided to take
the innovation concept and apply it to sustainability.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9LbyEzVOOWpT_4Sj2rT9XU4kz7r5q9o5P2lGl9MWdMqw37V-dHhUwIyyTxbpLs5x43ExlIDWm1lD028-v2OyPuOUwusbDJhyF10FVT0EAzOFt67cGH1lIfsyFqtWBiP4hsUMDb9FGVPQ/s1600/pro+sam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9LbyEzVOOWpT_4Sj2rT9XU4kz7r5q9o5P2lGl9MWdMqw37V-dHhUwIyyTxbpLs5x43ExlIDWm1lD028-v2OyPuOUwusbDJhyF10FVT0EAzOFt67cGH1lIfsyFqtWBiP4hsUMDb9FGVPQ/s1600/pro+sam.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Tell us about your company.</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">So we founded
<a href="http://ispringassociates.com/">iSpring</a>, our sustainability consulting firm, in 2008. We work primarily with
commercial and industrial clients, helping them become more sustainable and use
less energy and water; manage their carbon footprint; and produce less waste. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">It’s
been more on the operational side of sustainability—helping companies in the
trenches change their processes and make them better. In the last
year or so, we’ve started shifting more toward metrics, measurement, and
reporting around sustainability. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">One of the things that we have found is that
on the operational side, the technology’s advancing and people are starting to
understand that efficiency’s important—especially the people doing the work,
like the plant engineers and the building managers. They’re all about
efficiency. It’s not a hard sell for them because they get sustainability is
going to make them more efficient, save them money, and make their operation
run better. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Where they’ve had difficulty, I think, is in translating the work
that they do—which is good work—to people who are at the executive and
management levels of companies controlling the purse strings. Engineers are
typically not terribly great communicators, and they don’t really have a lot of
time to sit down and make the business case for the management. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">So, we’ve shifted
into helping companies determine the right metrics, measure progress, and
report in ways that are easy to understand in order to make the business case. It
is a great confluence of my technical training and my artsy, designy side. My
goal is to mash everything together. If I could find a way to bring music into
it, it would be the Holy Grail of work. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I also have a
job as a freelance writer for <a href="http://www.gridphilly.com/"><i>GRID</i></a> magazine, which is devoted to sustainability
in our local area and therefore directly related to my work at iSpring. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">So what’s, if there is one, a typical
day for you—the balance between music and the business?</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">The bulk of
my work falls into these different categories: teaching, performance,
sustainability, writing, or design. I pretty much have no typical schedule. It
depends on the week and whether or not I have performances. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">In general, I’m not
a morning person; I get up around 9 AM. Then depending on the day, sometimes
I’ll go to teach right away, or sometimes I’ll work for iSpring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll usually work until 6 or 7 PM, unless I
have a rehearsal or a meeting. So I’ll get up later but I’ll keep working a lot
later.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I guess one
of the downsides of working for yourself is you can always be working. I
definitely fall into that trap probably more often than I should. It’s gotten a
little better since I got married; when I was living by myself, I would just
end up going back to work after dinner or going out and doing something else.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I think this is maybe more of an issue
for wind players, as far as staying in shape and keeping a regular practice
schedule. Is that an issue for you? Do you take long periods of time off?</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I don’t
practice very much, but I will of course put in the time when I’ve got
something coming up or if I’ve got a new piece to learn. But I don’t just sit
down and practice for the hell of it. I’ve never been that way, and it doesn’t
seem to have negatively impacted me, so I’m not inclined to do it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I and a bunch
of friends do an annual “Johnny Cash Night” at a local bar, playing all Johnny
Cash tunes with a crazy instrumentation, which was last week. I had not been
playing or practicing and I destroyed my fingers at the show because I had no
calluses. You’re playing in a bar, and you’re playing really loud, and when we got
done I had blisters that are still healing. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">That perhaps indicates I should practice
a little bit more than I do so I can at least keep my calluses up, but I don’t
generally spend a huge amount of time practicing for the sake of practicing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">What are your hobbies?</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I’ve been
learning to play the ukulele. I like it a lot. It’s the first time I’ve ever
played an instrument that I can easily take places with me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">This year I
decided I really want to become a better seamstress. The only way I’m going to
get better is by practice. So this year’s goal is to just do a sewing project a
month. I did the same thing last year, doing an illustration a month. By the
end of the year, you have this body of work, which is really neat. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">It gives you
something to drive toward and it makes you find the time to do something each
month if you have this goal. I like using recycled, reclaimed materials whenever
possible, often from The Resource Exchange. I made some business card holders
that are <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/manfadesign">for sale on Etsy</a> and I also made a wallet last month.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I play
Ultimate Frisbee, which is going to start again soon with spring league coming
up. My husband and I also do renovation on houses that we own.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Is there correlation between the music
training and the engineering training, or between the two careers now in your
professional life?</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I think
there’s this single-minded, patient attitude that you need for both. It
requires a lot of focus to get through engineering school, and it requires a
lot of focus to be a musician in general—in music school, specifically. To sit
for hours at a time and really focus on one specific thing carries over between
the two fields. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">An electrical
engineering professor at Penn told me that when he’s looking for student lab
employees, he will always take somebody who’s also a musician over anyone else,
because he knows that they have the discipline and focus to do well. I do think
it’s true—the discipline really carries over. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">But I think I
would have a very difficult time making it through engineering school or music
school now. As I’ve gotten older, there are so many things that I find
interesting and would like to spend my time doing, that I would have a hard
time focusing on just one thing. I don’t know that I could just keep the
blinders on for four years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Do these other fields—engineering, writing,
design—inform your music in any ways?</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">One thing
that’s different for me now than it was when I was in school—especially when I
was taking piano and harp lessons—is that I feel like I had been so focused on
classical.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Now I’m a lot more open to random musical experiences. I don’t know
if that’s specifically because of engineering or writing or anything, but I
think it has to do with being well-rounded in a lot of different areas. I do
let that seep into my music stuff, instead of just writing something off as not
“serious” music or something like that, and I think I did that for a while. And
I don’t think that’s uncommon for people who go through a conservatory.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">The same
thing’s true for art. For a long time—especially when I was taking very traditional
drawing and painting—design, to me, was what you did if you couldn’t make it as
a “real” artist. Which is just a stupid attitude, but that was the attitude I
had for years until I discovered that design is really its own legitimate discipline.
I was not able to see that when I was younger and now I can.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In general, what would you say to
young people who are considering music careers?</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I don’t
believe that I was the most technically proficient harpist the year I applied
to Eastman, but Professor Bride saw at the harp camp how I worked in a lesson
situation. I think she knew that I was going to listen to her and was teachable. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I don’t think
that I appreciated it at the time, but now as a teacher, I totally understand the
value of having a student that really listens to what you say, internalizes it,
and then makes improvement as a result of it. Those are the kinds of students I
want, so I can only imagine that those are the kinds of students that she
wanted, as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I haven’t had
any students who want to be professional musicians. Since I teach at an Ivy
League school, they want to be lawyers, doctors, engineers, or politicians. </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">But
I would tell them, absolutely go and do it, if you think that is really the
important thing for you to do. But do it with your eyes wide open and realize
that it’s not going to be an easy road, and that there’s only a very small fraction
of people that become concert performers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">So start thinking early about how you
can be more of an entrepreneurial kind of a musician, where you find different
avenues for your music, and it may not be playing your harp all the time. It
may be teaching, it may be songwriting—who knows? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">For harpists,
orchestral jobs are few and far between. You pretty much have to wait until
somebody dies or retires for something to open. Whenever it does, there’s a
whole bunch of movement in all of the orchestras: All of the people who are in
the lower-tier orchestras move up to the next one, and then nothing happens for
another dozen years. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">So especially
for harpists, go for it, but you need to know what you’re getting into. I do
still fundamentally believe it’s doable, but you can’t assume it’s going to be
like it was a generation or two ago. That’s not the reality of a musician these
days. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">At Penn,
because my students are not music majors, I think it’s helpful that I don’t
have just the music thing going on. I understand they’ve got other stuff that
they need to spend their time on. Practicing is probably not their top
priority. I ask that they give it their best, and that they make as much time
as they can for it, and that they make progress over the semester.</span></div>
Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-8848597509445615182013-03-24T12:18:00.000-04:002013-07-28T00:14:00.065-04:00Recap of ArtsReach Conference and Weekend in NYC<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">On Friday and Saturday I went on my first business trip to the <a href="http://www.artsreach.com/">National Arts Marketing Conference</a> at NYU presented by ArtsReach. It was geared more toward ticket office managers and marketing directors but I got plenty of ideas for the <a href="http://www.curtis.edu/giving/annual-giving/annual-fund/curtis-crescendo-club/">Curtis Crescendo Club</a>, corporate and foundation giving, and even <i>Recovering Oboist</i>!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAZJ0GbK76BAbj-8ifd1HS_xB5gno3kNArdhfAufttLAGr1Mcrgzs1IMlMYUK4bWmTFUepEDM5EMErNJHJvtTYGYt6GQp4GJB0mdPKa56l-xDMeOxmGK4JiAfaXmElGSRrfdypf_3Xpyo/s1600/NYU.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAZJ0GbK76BAbj-8ifd1HS_xB5gno3kNArdhfAufttLAGr1Mcrgzs1IMlMYUK4bWmTFUepEDM5EMErNJHJvtTYGYt6GQp4GJB0mdPKa56l-xDMeOxmGK4JiAfaXmElGSRrfdypf_3Xpyo/s1600/NYU.jpg" height="241" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">A potential pitfall of these types of marathon conferences is information overload and then never being able to implement anything. On the train back to Philly last night, I went through my notes from two full days of seminars and pared it down to what I can realistically start putting into action<i> today.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">The best sessions were with Donna Walker-Kuhne, Vice President of Marketing at NJPAC; Vince Ford, Director of Digital Media at the New York Philharmonic; and Jill Robinson, President of <a href="http://www.trgarts.com/">TRGArts</a>. (Check out their site for webinars, case studies, white papers, etc.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i> </i> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">The most important part of the conference was networking and it was great to meet people from leading institutions including the New York Philharmonic, School of American Ballet, Apollo Theater, and the Park Avenue Armory.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">This networking snagged me a comp to the Armory's sold-out<i> <a href="http://www.armoryonpark.org/programs_events/detail/oktophonie">Octophonie</a></i> sound and light show. The performance was awesome in scope, technical expertise, and uniqueness. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathinka_Pasveer">Kathinka Pasveer</a>, who performed the music aspect, actually worked with Stockhausen for 20-some years. Stockhausen is important, whether you like him or not, so I'm very glad I got to experience it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBbOt_RFkq4QQcAhUOo_UMG5GMI_S5_uG67Z1bBe_voSH7gsJWhPwAGvXUoUBbjOM7fLCgnN7-G1FfSg7r5hTn1qWePnDaT72-ULb2TTiZlNgCZsFv0Z5odmv5dbNbCF0qYMdZSXVaQnU/s1600/Armory.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBbOt_RFkq4QQcAhUOo_UMG5GMI_S5_uG67Z1bBe_voSH7gsJWhPwAGvXUoUBbjOM7fLCgnN7-G1FfSg7r5hTn1qWePnDaT72-ULb2TTiZlNgCZsFv0Z5odmv5dbNbCF0qYMdZSXVaQnU/s1600/Armory.jpg" height="320" width="241" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">I also attended a faculty recital at Mannes and caught up with college friend Caitlin who just had a successful performance at Carnegie Hall and runs the growing <a href="http://www.interharmony.com/">InterHarmony Music Festival</a> in Germany and Italy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYbfzhzoMyfZIedSo38khI4g7IoBcvncUTliW-EEs1l-ZBUV6NxKkAsXv-zfm1_W-kUha14NVLrInX3sff8b0dcrPDmQo-fIbbsUBLatpPFqlxjIfBzJyR_r-3IDeoOSu3yXEVgHNXyrE/s1600/Mannes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYbfzhzoMyfZIedSo38khI4g7IoBcvncUTliW-EEs1l-ZBUV6NxKkAsXv-zfm1_W-kUha14NVLrInX3sff8b0dcrPDmQo-fIbbsUBLatpPFqlxjIfBzJyR_r-3IDeoOSu3yXEVgHNXyrE/s1600/Mannes.jpg" height="241" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Importantly, I feel much more energized, optimistic, and I am ready to dive right back into all of the work I left waiting for me back here. The nonprofit performing arts sector is undoubtedly going through a lot of changes -- that's a fact, not an opinion. We are fortunate to have so many creative, talented, passionate, and capable people who are leading -- or soon will be leading -- the way. The </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">possibilities of the present and future are very exciting and I'm so lucky that this is my work and my life. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Endorsements:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Say what you want about New York City Opera's recent artistic and managerial decisions: They have one of the best <a href="http://www.nycopera.com/aboutus/thriftshop.aspx">thrift shops</a> ever! I picked up a Free People sweater and a pretty little purse, each $15. Their store is on an excellent little strip of 23rd Street that includes the very high-end HousingWorks Thrift Shop as well as a Goodwill, Salvation Army, and SPCA thrift shops that aren't as ritzy but do have nice stuff.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Usually I don't have great luck with restaurants in New York because there are just so many. This time I did a little bit better: I'm a repeat customer at Pick-a-Bagel on 23rd and 3rd (great for thrifting pre- or post-game). After the conference ended, I wandered around and found myself in Little Italy, where I had some excellent, reasonably-priced gnocchi and charming service at <a href="http://benitoone.com/benito/Welcome.html">Benito One</a>. I will be back!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCtyx5x0ONBw-BELx_JHjQoU6daHqDNbaZoff9xmrpdv9jlM0wKa29n2XBa1m8C25hyphenhyphen2_EQQ18adTlvDlmuKkYw6_OSmRQPgeofuQra_tomGI15NVfS97OdBxoiCrPMxLj9-cblETT7xc/s1600/Benito.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCtyx5x0ONBw-BELx_JHjQoU6daHqDNbaZoff9xmrpdv9jlM0wKa29n2XBa1m8C25hyphenhyphen2_EQQ18adTlvDlmuKkYw6_OSmRQPgeofuQra_tomGI15NVfS97OdBxoiCrPMxLj9-cblETT7xc/s1600/Benito.jpg" height="320" width="241" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-59148731763270523792013-03-18T22:19:00.000-04:002013-07-28T00:14:55.016-04:00Recovering Oboist is on Pinterest<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-hJm7iqvro10OhChZ5KG-bApBwBRLW78rJwfxXJ9HuyVwDtRG4_0tnqntIJl0waOg78jzvdRAs51vOqwfxyzxf64lztPju6bLTQOQwaEwgNbiL4ATmm6nFxwhtlXeRUpTSsLU1L-39aE/s1600/pinterest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-hJm7iqvro10OhChZ5KG-bApBwBRLW78rJwfxXJ9HuyVwDtRG4_0tnqntIJl0waOg78jzvdRAs51vOqwfxyzxf64lztPju6bLTQOQwaEwgNbiL4ATmm6nFxwhtlXeRUpTSsLU1L-39aE/s1600/pinterest.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">I went from asking "What's 'Pinterest'?" to totally obsessed within a few hours. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm told that it's used primarily for pictures, but I'm finding it <i>incredibly </i>useful to organize things I read and find on the interwebs. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> You, dear readers, might also enjoy my "Boards":</span><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://pinterest.com/amymilleroboe/work-life-balancemultiple-careers/"><i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Work/life-balance articles</span></i></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sometimes I link to or discuss those <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/08/reader-feedback.html">here</a>, but I read many more than that and will begin to add them to this Pinterest Board. I have also posted links to all <i>Recovering Oboist </i>interviews to date and will add new interviews there, too. It's nice to see the smiling faces of all the interviewees in one place!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://pinterest.com/amymilleroboe/artsbusinessnonprofit-articles/"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Articles about the broader arts and nonprofit sectors</span></a></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">I rarely provide commentary on these issues on the blog, given their complexity and the complexity of my role(s) in the field, but I read about this every day and will "pin" articles I find interesting, useful, or that I plan to revisit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://pinterest.com/amymilleroboe/cool-performances-all-around-the-world/"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Cool performances around the world</span></a></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">When I'm not working -- which is an increasingly smaller amount of time -- one of my favorite things to do is to go to concerts. I will "pin" concerts that I'm attending, wish I could attend, thinking about attending, as well as YouTube of artists I enjoy. I have started with things I might see when I'm in New York this weekend.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://pinterest.com/amymilleroboe/">Please follow me on Pinterest</a> if any of the above sounds interesting or useful to you!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">And I have many excellent interviews coming up here soon, so please stay tuned -- and thank you for reading.</span>Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-77199918483027394802013-02-28T21:18:00.000-05:002013-07-28T00:15:27.966-04:00Big Week<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Quick recap of a particularly busy week that's only halfway over!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Oboe</i> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">This week I achieved a goal I've had since age 18: I made a recording to enter in the <a href="http://www.idrs.org/dronline/?p=989">Gillet International Oboe Competition</a>. Countless thanks to pianist <a href="http://www.timribchester.com/www.timribchester.com/Home.html">Tim Ribchester</a>; recording engineer <a href="http://www.georgeblood.com/StaffBios.html">Drew Schlegel</a>; and the Curtis Institute, where I recorded.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv7FRlvI5XgbFGupJ9xRfjiM-GRI34jbuOPN46lVXF_kGX_CnKVeMgofPOnZOctaN7NI_ZW4djUFZ96gOA4jrmzALMJfPRMy1kQq07-oCPvI0-RdCrSft65xSFM5qJzQ2uVemrYgNXSVg/s1600/fch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv7FRlvI5XgbFGupJ9xRfjiM-GRI34jbuOPN46lVXF_kGX_CnKVeMgofPOnZOctaN7NI_ZW4djUFZ96gOA4jrmzALMJfPRMy1kQq07-oCPvI0-RdCrSft65xSFM5qJzQ2uVemrYgNXSVg/s1600/fch.jpg" height="241" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Also thanks to all of my friends and family for being supportive and patient during the past several weeks of particularly intense preparation. I'll try to post some of the audio here after the competition judging is complete.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Wednesday and Thursday I worked with The Bach Choir of Bethlehem on its <i><a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/11/greetings-from-inn-at-bethlehem.html">Bach to School</a> </i>in-school programs. Today's performance marked the program's <a href="http://www.mcall.com/news/local/bethlehem/mc-bethlehem-bach-to-school-20130228,0,2685813.story">20th anniversary and the milestone </a>of the 100,000th child in attendance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Curtis</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Many, many proposals in progress, and tomorrow is our next event with the <a href="http://www.curtis.edu/giving/annual-giving/annual-fund/curtis-crescendo-club/">Curtis Crescendo Club</a>. It's sold-out so at some point I'll post a recap instead of plugging it in this post.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Coming Attractions on the Blog</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">This weekend I am taking a day trip down to <a href="http://www.music.umd.edu/special_programs/clarinetday">UMD's "Clarinet Day"</a> to attend a seminar by the extraordinary actor <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0319142/">Lawrence Gilliard</a>, probably best known as D'Angelo on <i>The Wire.</i> He is a Juilliard-trained clarinetist and his class is on using acting techniques to enhance your musical performance. I am a huge <i>Wire </i>fan so this will be pretty amazing and I look forward to writing about the experience for you.</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>In Memoriam</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rest in peace, dear Bill Bennett, and sympathy to your friends and family. Here is his heartbreakingly beautiful performance in Tchaik 4.</span><br />
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Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-4494535487849969072013-02-14T21:02:00.000-05:002013-07-28T00:15:48.752-04:00Don't Call it a Comeback<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp9RQpfERG9kNQtB5CmDWp2DmOiSc2KrKHE5ZkOhq-s8JmuFTtBbrvD3xp5_BLKr6ghK3KlXsWdeMZiZspRa8OBkQSXTNCjYhQSttTLGaFIh7EnE1kHZ8rGVLrHLbWVXpP_khkoT8PtCY/s1600/comeback.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp9RQpfERG9kNQtB5CmDWp2DmOiSc2KrKHE5ZkOhq-s8JmuFTtBbrvD3xp5_BLKr6ghK3KlXsWdeMZiZspRa8OBkQSXTNCjYhQSttTLGaFIh7EnE1kHZ8rGVLrHLbWVXpP_khkoT8PtCY/s1600/comeback.jpg" height="149" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Faithful readers, please forgive my disappearance. If you saw my <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2013/01/recovering-oboist-goes-to-la.html">last post</a>, you know that I went to Sunny California for a week. It was part business (audition for Santa Barbara Symphony) and part pleasure (hiking, shopping, wine tasting, concerts, beach, relaxing). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Countless thanks to my wonderful hostesses, tour guides, and friends <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/12/dawn-webster-trumpeter-and-acupuncture.html">Dawn</a> in Los Angeles and Jasmine in Santa Barbara.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">When I returned to Philly and Curtis, I got the news that my esteemed supervisor accepted a position at The Wharton School. I am honored that Curtis has promoted me to his position of Director of Institutional Relations. This means that instead of just writing grant proposals and reports I now oversee all corporate, foundation, and government giving to the school and will supervise a new hire who will fill my old position.</span><br />
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have also been working on some oboe projects: a recording for the Gillet Competition, several <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/p/my-performance-schedule.html">upcoming performances</a> with The Bach Choir, and another upcoming audition. Plus I submitted my essay to <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/11/majorannouncement.html">Dr. Savage's book</a>, taught a grantwriting seminar for the Curtis students, helped throw a big event for the <a href="http://www.curtis.edu/crescendoclub">Curtis Crescendo Club</a> young patrons group, </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">found a new apartment, and have been doing some independent research on the classical music field.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yep, that all happened in less than one month.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Even though I haven't been posting here, I have been doing some blog work behind the scenes and have an excellent series of interviews forthcoming with a high-profile percussionist (<i>by reader request!</i>), a dancing oboist, and a harpist at a green energy company. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, as always: Please stay tuned, please keep feedback and interview suggestions coming, and thank you for reading and promoting my blog. </span>Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-81906378132335787022013-01-16T09:42:00.000-05:002013-07-28T00:17:22.043-04:00Recovering Oboist Goes to L.A.<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Readers, I'll be in Sunny California from January 17-23!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSq4Q1IsqzDwU_YSZ6EEf1KA32TIDsqS5bX2cYGu-6w4pyBqXVy6ApxlzCG2oKw32cY2FIzeiTlR-waRh92wlAMxsSFeNB47iYkUuuRR11Neuu_IvrJH8xYAcEv0O7eeoJ9aDfz8IR5Fs/s1600/carrie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSq4Q1IsqzDwU_YSZ6EEf1KA32TIDsqS5bX2cYGu-6w4pyBqXVy6ApxlzCG2oKw32cY2FIzeiTlR-waRh92wlAMxsSFeNB47iYkUuuRR11Neuu_IvrJH8xYAcEv0O7eeoJ9aDfz8IR5Fs/s1600/carrie.jpg" height="200" width="149" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My trip includes two days in L.A., where I'll catch up with interviewee <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/12/dawn-webster-trumpeter-and-acupuncture.html">Dawn Webster</a> and be the ultimate fangirl at <a href="http://www.laco.org/performances/212/">LA Chamber</a> and <a href="http://www.laphil.com/tickets/midori-plays-eotvos/2013-01-18">LA Phil</a> concerts. Then I'll drive up to Santa Barbara for four days with my BFF <a href="http://www.polsci.ucsb.edu/people/student/jasmine-yarish">Jasmine Yarish</a>. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">I will be armed with my smartphone, laptop, and my <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Digital-Flash-Recorder-ICD-PX312/dp/B004M8SSZK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358346854&sr=8-1&keywords=digital+voice+recorder">new digital voice recorder</a> so there's no limit to what I might post from the road!<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i> </i></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strike><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>First person to name the SATC episode this still is from wins a souvenir from L.A.!</i></span></span></span></span></strike></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i> </i><span style="color: magenta;">U</span><span style="color: magenta;">PDATE: Jeannine K. is the winner! </span><i> </i></span></span></span></span>Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-80881230947143229292013-01-14T09:24:00.000-05:002013-07-28T00:19:22.804-04:00Michael Lisicky: Oboist, Author, and Historian<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=4,4,1,1&id=MichaelLisicky"><b>Michael Lisicky</b></a> is second oboist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He
is also an author and historian and has written five books on the histories of
downtown urban department stores. (Visit <a href="http://www.departmentstorehistory.net/">here</a> or <a href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=4,1,24">here</a> to purchase.)<i> </i>He has been sought out by <i>CBS Sunday Morning</i>,
<i>Bloomberg</i>, <i>Fortune</i>, and other leading news sources as an expert on this field.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGJSRJGXDc_xS1tARmOys-V1tk2vgTH-qYtXoECkgmojI1KrYIPvPnNuvD7zVPAxzbs_AO8SwcIh6q2Pl6QlePwYtCePVAkpVUvfbPKA28Dp8AcfUEL294-mg_G8_RH79AGMymG0Y5RZo/s1600/lecture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGJSRJGXDc_xS1tARmOys-V1tk2vgTH-qYtXoECkgmojI1KrYIPvPnNuvD7zVPAxzbs_AO8SwcIh6q2Pl6QlePwYtCePVAkpVUvfbPKA28Dp8AcfUEL294-mg_G8_RH79AGMymG0Y5RZo/s1600/lecture.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I think you are the only person I’ve
interviewed so far who has a full-time symphony orchestra job. Everyone else
has been a freelancer. What is your typical schedule?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">This year marks my twenty-fifth season as a symphony musician. I am an
oboist with the Baltimore Symphony and am a former member of the Richmond and
Savannah symphonies. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">My orchestra schedule consists of the typical full-time symphony schedule,
which amounts to the average eight services a week. As a second oboist, I’m
usually on stage all of the time, almost every piece. People tend to look at my
job as some type of blessing or privilege and sometimes it is. But it’s also my
job. And it forms the basis of my income and provides health benefits for
myself and my family. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">A few years ago, I decided that I wanted to act on an interest or passion that
I have always strangely had: department store histories. If you can explain to
me why you like certain colors or why you like certain scents, then I’ll try to
explain this uncommon interest in department stores. For me, it’s about
history, not shopping. I don’t know why I’m interested in department stores.
I’m just wired that way. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">As a child, I never thought that these institutions
would go away. But I’ve learned that nothing is forever. Their stories
fascinate me. Most date back more than 100 years and they all had their place
and purpose. In the big picture, many things don’t last more than 100 years and
it’s impossible to turn back the clock.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">After much prodding from people who knew about this hobby, I tried my luck
on writing a book. It was on Hutzler’s of Baltimore. I didn’t think that
anybody still really cared about Hutzler’s but I was strongly proven wrong.
Hutzler’s went through six printings in eight weeks. All of the sudden I had a
new identity in Baltimore. I was no longer just a musician in the Baltimore
Symphony, I was the person who wrote the Hutzler’s book who plays in the BSO. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Since then I’ve written four other books, each with their own level of success.
It has changed my life. Certainly the BSO knows about it, but I like to keep
this part of my life separate from my ‘department store life.’ It brings me joy
and that is important. I fret too much about the future of my profession and
this brings me happiness as it allows me to focus on other things.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">My orchestra schedule has not changed. The symphony does not provide me any
more flexibility with my lectures and signings and I frankly don’t ask for it.
The symphony has to come first and I schedule everything around it. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Can you talk about family and
non-career (free/hobbies) time and how that fits into the mix?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am married to oboist Sandra Gerster and we have a daughter, Jordan, who is
13. Sandy and I met at New England Conservatory back in 1982 but we didn’t get
together until 1998 when we happened to get married on a whim at the ICSOM
conference in Las Vegas. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sandy and I also perform quite often with BSO Principal Oboist Katherine
Needleman in an oboe trio, <a href="http://www.triolamilpa.com/">Trio La Milpa</a>. The group has done some very interesting
things, both musically and by performing in unusual places. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEQ-CaZrVtHEdJ-CLhhAWlvW5CRLs1FbxCAqVm87omiGFNynZ0rfCz5CVZ2_wbZLhmzwypHPl9klSut1cENvcyFvQuliuYEmcqg6ptRsxJipbSl86Yk8oigNbSVxw1p8YVFOVCshWTRu4/s1600/trio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEQ-CaZrVtHEdJ-CLhhAWlvW5CRLs1FbxCAqVm87omiGFNynZ0rfCz5CVZ2_wbZLhmzwypHPl9klSut1cENvcyFvQuliuYEmcqg6ptRsxJipbSl86Yk8oigNbSVxw1p8YVFOVCshWTRu4/s1600/trio.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">For a while I
concentrated a lot of energy trying to find and schedule concerts for the
group. It was fine for a few years but when the economy tanked in 2009, people
stopped hiring and if they were going to hire, they’d choose a string quartet.
I understand that even though what we provide might be a little
more….different, in a good way. But you can’t make a living from oboe trios, or
from writing department store books.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">You must be particularly efficient at
reed-making. Do you have any advice you can share? Do you process your own
cane?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’ve never been interested in reed making. It’s not my thing. I could care
less about all of the gadgets and bells and whistles. I’ve never even gouged a
piece of cane in my life. I used to be very embarrassed by that but I’m old
enough now that I see it as a badge of honor. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">You don’t always need the perfect reed all of the time. I’ve learned to
compensate for that but there are times when you do get stuck. I spend about
1-2 hours a week on reeds. I feel that if the cane is of decent enough quality,
you can get something going. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Some people do enjoy the science of reed making and live by measurements,
etc. That’s fine but it’s not me. How many times have we heard that line,
“Don’t let the reed play you, you play the reed.” There is some truth to that.
Life’s too short. Just make sure that you have a decent embouchure and that
you’re blowing correctly.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Do you have specific
training/education for your non-music career?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’ve learned that if you can talk the talk and that you have access correct
and comprehensive facts and data to back up what you’re saying, you can be an
expert at anything. (It is pretty bizarre to have <a href="http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/01/09/how-amazon-ate-sears-lunch/"><i>Fortune Magazine</i></a> and <i><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3445_162-57553904/reinventing-the-department-store/">CBS Sunday Morning</a></i> seek you out for your opinion of today’s state of retail. Aren’t
I just an oboist?) </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">But I do want to learn more about preserving and honoring history, whatever
the subject. As I said, the music business is too precarious. Later this month,
I will start the <a href="http://advanced.jhu.edu/academic/museum/">Master of Arts in Museum Studies program at Johns Hopkins University.</a> I never wanted to go back to school but I’m going to try it. This
is the scariest thing that I’ve ever done in my life and I have an irrational
fear of taking tests, and I have the results to back that up.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br />Are there aspects of your musical
education/training that help you in your other career? What about vice-versa,
aspects of your other career that help you in your music career?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’m not afraid to pick up a phone and blindly ask somebody to talk to me.
When I first started to talk to people, I always mentioned that I was a
musician with the Baltimore Symphony. It seemed to lend some credibility as if
symphony musicians were a safe and sane breed.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Symphonies relied, and continue to rely, on philanthropic people and many
former department store families were very good community citizens, especially
with the arts. That also helps give me access or credibility to people. I also
am very comfortable with public speaking. I suppose my experience talking with
board members (I was the Players’ Committee chair last year) and audiences has
helped with that. I can give a lecture at the New York Public Library and not
think twice about it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8GJqhbqWFAZQKIH9pzXuebrtf7zKG29wstu_lSGMS8hALGhoQsSVR3iPnw4zCxHfLX5xhsgEmfAZCT7J4IdBiMeNz9KUGbJXv_mrLekdpJIQwjoqyCf0Le209MpXCytNL7Vxaux-jm7g/s1600/wanamakers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8GJqhbqWFAZQKIH9pzXuebrtf7zKG29wstu_lSGMS8hALGhoQsSVR3iPnw4zCxHfLX5xhsgEmfAZCT7J4IdBiMeNz9KUGbJXv_mrLekdpJIQwjoqyCf0Le209MpXCytNL7Vxaux-jm7g/s1600/wanamakers.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Do you have particular strategies for
staying focused/balanced/sane?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Stop sitting in front of TV doing nothing. But watch programs that you want
or need to watch. There’s nothing wrong with TV, just don’t watch it 18 hours a
day. Just get up and move. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Two years and four months ago, I started running and I’ve NEVER missed a
day. I run for at least one hour every day, and that is something that I do
have to schedule. I don’t belong to a gym. I live in downtown Baltimore and I
run outside, at any hour. People tend to leave me alone and I love the thrill
of running through sketchy areas. (For God’s sake, I was born in Camden.) Since
I’ve started running, I’ve lost about 90 pounds. I ran my first full marathon
last October. I actually do love running. But it can be exhausting.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Who are your role models?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’m not sure that I have any role models. I just like to be my own person
and I admire anybody who is not a conformist. I also admire any person, or
institution, that is willing to take educated chances.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What advice would you give to young
musicians considering careers in music?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Being a professional musician is not easy, and hopefully you’ve heard this
before. You have to win a job, you have to get tenure, and then you have to
worry about the health of the job. Don’t just assume there are always jobs out
there. Study the business and make sure that you are skilled at something else.
Double degree programs don’t sound that bad these days. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">And if you’re a student and you are not attending orchestra concerts
regularly or don’t feel like attending concerts, you’re in the wrong field. You
need to have a passion in order to succeed in this business so you should be
attending concerts because you love music. If not, don’t waste your time or
your money.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Is there anything else you would like
to add?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Don’t sit still. Take risks. Do what makes you happy. And buy all five of my
books.</span>Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-78279779375953921822013-01-12T11:45:00.001-05:002013-07-28T00:19:41.586-04:00Jacob Smith: Bassoonist, Arts Administrator, Tech Entrepreneur, and Father<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8868551432156899" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Readers, I am very excited to share with you this interview from 2011 with someone I consider a friend, role model -- and <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/07/how-it-started-part-one-if-he-can-do-it.html">insp</a><a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/07/how-it-started-part-one-if-he-can-do-it.html">ired me to start this project</a>. I think Jacob must have a <a href="http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Time-Turner">Ti</a><a href="http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Time-Turner">me</a><a href="http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Time-Turner">-Turner</a> to do everything he does. Enjoy! --AM</i></span> <br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjszVFkzfNNwARwCGQ6yQ8xDxaRjpRhMpwGxsb4flo9sqD6iTuIBbwKw8HlyuIWb20nDjvmYugO5wmBJaeIAS9PoG_h2_XsFD-w-a8PKl_O9kv3Omr81ottiwirhIgGGtsbBFhN8i60j1k/s1600/jacob.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjszVFkzfNNwARwCGQ6yQ8xDxaRjpRhMpwGxsb4flo9sqD6iTuIBbwKw8HlyuIWb20nDjvmYugO5wmBJaeIAS9PoG_h2_XsFD-w-a8PKl_O9kv3Omr81ottiwirhIgGGtsbBFhN8i60j1k/s1600/jacob.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8868551432156899" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobsmith79">Jacob Smith</a></b> is principal bassoonist with the <a href="http://www.avaopera.com/">Academy of Vocal Arts</a>
Orchestra and plays frequently with the <a href="http://www.operaphila.org/">Opera Company of Philadelphia</a>,
the <a href="http://www.paballet.org/">Pennsylvania Ballet</a>, and is a substitute with <a href="http://www.philorch.org/">The Philadelphia Orchestra</a>.</span><span id="internal-source-marker_0.8868551432156899" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> He is a former member of The Chamber Orchestra of
Philadelphia. He studied with <a href="http://pso.culturaldistrict.org/pso_home/biographies/musicians/goeres-nancy">Nancy Goeres</a> at Carnegie Mellon University
and <a href="http://www.philorch.org/about/musicians/daniel-matsukawa">Danny Matsukawa</a> at Temple University.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jacob
is also Director of Development and Marketing for the <a href="http://www.pcmsconcerts.org/">Philadelphia Chamber Music Society</a> (PCMS) and <a href="http://www.marlboromusic.org/">Marlboro Music Festival and School</a>. He
also owns a web company, <a href="http://www.dinkuminteractive.com/">Dinkum Interactive</a>. He resides in Philadelphia
with his wife Meghan and two sons, Rory and Duncan.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<a name='more'></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What is your typical schedule?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It’s
rather atypical! Kids really add a whole level of uncertainty to any
sense of a normal life or schedule – whether it be sleeping, practicing
or working. It’s a little bit more haphazard -- but it’s becoming less
so as my jobs become more familiar to me and my kids get older (they are
now 4 and 6 years old).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I’ve
been at PCMS/Marlboro five years now – these two jobs really add up to
one job. PCMS and Marlboro are separate organizations but part of the
staff is shared. Marlboro is mainly a summer festival and PCMS is mainly
a Fall/Winter/Spring series.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">During
the day, I work at PCMS/Marlboro, which is located on Walnut Street in
Philadelphia – near Rittenhouse Square. I’m allowed a lot of
flexibility here to do business meetings or phone calls to support the
business that I own. That flexibility and entrepreneurial spirit is in
the DNA of this organization. Tony Checchia, founder and artistic
director, was running Marlboro before he started the Chamber Music
Society. Our other manager in New York, Frank Salomon, is a pretty
auspicious artist manager who also runs the People’s Symphony concerts
and the New York String Seminar. So there’s a little bit of a tradition
of entrepreneurship here.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">An
important part of balancing my work and musical lives is that I’ve
managed to move to just doing the music gigs that work for my schedule.
For instance, I really enjoyed playing with the Chamber Orchestra of
Philadelphia, but over time I realized it simply didn’t work well for my
schedule. It was a lot of daytime rehearsals for only two performances.
The opera is quite the opposite - with three or four daytime rehearsals
and then anywhere from five to eleven shows.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For
the past two years, I served on the board of a major nonprofit called
<a href="http://www.phillycarshare.org/">PhillyCarShare</a> until we sold it this summer to Enterprise Holdings (the
parent of Enterprise and National Rental Car companies). I was chairing
that board for the last year, which was a lot of pressure because it was
a very small board and a very difficult situation in terms of some
really bad financial problems there. That was a good eight months worth
of work, as a volunteer, but it was important to me, so I fit it in.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Can you tell us more about your web company?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sure!
I own a business called <a href="http://www.dinkuminteractive.com/">Dinkum Interactive</a>, in which I’m a partner
with another person. Originally, about 10 years ago now, I started a
company called <a href="http://www.whiteboardmedia.com/">Whiteboard Media</a>, which my wife and I founded when we
were trying to figure out how to afford to be musicians. She’d been
playing in an orchestra in Mexico and had a lot of free time on her
hands. I was auditioning for orchestra jobs and we didn’t know what we
were going to do or where life would take us – so we thought this would
be a useful tool. Finally, we decided we were going to move back to
Philadelphia and “settle down.”</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We
started Whiteboard purely to make cash to afford to be musicians. I
mean, we always had ambitions for the company, but when we started it,
we never thought it would grow into what it did. Anyways, it grew and
grew and then about two years ago I took ownership of a search engine
optimization (SEO) and marketing firm called Dinkum Interactive. I
started ramping down my involvement at Whiteboard, and now we’ve merged
the two companies completely.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We
have about eighteen people at Dinkum, so it’s a lot different than when
I was running my own small “mom and pop” business. Not only do we have
bigger clients (universities, tech companies, etc.) but I no longer have
to do all the various things I was doing before: maintaining
Quickbooks, answering all the emails, taking care of each client. We
have a great team of people here in Philadelphia (they are all virtual),
as well as satellite offices in Argentina and Indonesia, where we do
software development and other things.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">While
on the surface it seems completely ridiculous, running a web company
has really enabled me to bring incredible value to my jobs at PCMS and
Marlboro – where the internet, marketing, and audience development are
more complex than ever. The advanced things I learn through my company
and its clients really give our small nonprofits a leg up and keeps life
very interesting.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Do you have formal training in computer science?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Nope.
I went to <a href="http://www.cmu.edu/">Carnegie Mellon</a>, which is a total techie school. While I
dreamt of being a computer science major (they were all getting job
offers freshman year and dropping out) I’m not really good at coding or
programming. Instead I did a business minor in entrepreneurship at CMU
and took the time to obtain a minor in English Literature.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">While
I do have an instinct for marketing, I feel that it’s a strength I’ve
developed over many years of learning on the job. I recall that my
first bassoon teacher told me that learning to make reeds was easy: just
make 1,000 of them. Basically, the same is true for anything and for me
it’s been that way with websites, internet marketing, SEO, analytics,
etc. So while I have no formal training, I have a good amount of “on
the job” training!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How do you keep track of your schedule?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">All of my calendars are all melded together with Google apps.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Are you able to fit in practicing and reed-making?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Danny
Matsukawa used to tell me that he made reeds only a few times per year.
I thought that was insane, and didn’t believe him because when I first
started studying with him I was making reeds like mad. But I made a lot
of bad reeds. I’m not sure if he sustains the same pace now, but I’ve
been actually able to adapt that (obviously I play a lot less than a
full time professional).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The most important thing for reducing my need
to make reeds and to practice all the time was changing my bassoon - I
feel I have a great bassoon now, a 7,000 series Heckel that I got from
someone’s closet in Amsterdam. Previously I had an “okay” bassoon (a
12,000 series Heckel which I nicknamed “Big Bertha”), but now that I’m
on a more responsive, intuitive setup, I don’t need a perfect reed like I
did before with my old instrument. I can get away with a lot more! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So,
these days I make reeds once or twice per year – a whole bunch of them –
and then refine them slowly as I play and practice, but never quickly.
I’ve always felt that was a better approach. When I was “ruining reeds”
for a living, I was always trying to make them what they weren’t ready
to be. The idea of letting a reed settle into its potential was not
possible because I needed that reed. Now I don’t need that reed so much
because I don’t play all the time.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In
terms of practicing – for me it is now a very enjoyable experience.
It’s like how some people do yoga! It’s like free time. While I don’t
practice every day, I’m always aware that a couple of weeks before I’m
going to play an opera run or something, I start up again so I don’t
embarrass myself. But it’s just such a pleasure because it’s such a
focused activity – totally in opposition ot the crazy life I lead most
days.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Do you ever take a lot of time off from playing, and if so, how do you get back into shape?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This
past summer was very busy at Marlboro. We had our Reunion and 60th
Anniversary Campaign. PCMS had a 25th Anniversary campaign, and that’s
when I was working for PhillyCarShare. So I didn’t take my bassoon to
Marlboro at all. I didn’t play for almost four months!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
actually try to think of time off in a really positive way. For
instance, I’ve always had trouble with my embouchure – I felt like it
was undisciplined and probably wrong…never comfortable. So now when I
come back to playing after a long break, I try to start with the
embouchure first and remember what Nancy and Danny and everyone else
always told me – basically to start over. Without the muscle memory, you
don’t have the bad habits (or the good ones) and you have a chance to
rebuild.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Nancy
used to always tell me to take a month off every summer. I always
thought that was a bit odd – she was telling me not to practice! “Go
hiking, go travel, get outside,” she would say. While I should probably
hike or ride mountain bikes more (like Nancy does in Aspen each summer)
it’s really been good for me to put the bassoon away for a while each
year. I’m a far better musician and player, in fact. While I have to get
back into shape, which is hard, I do feel I have a process now for
rebuilding the core things -- breathing, support, embouchure -- it just
comes right back. It’s a humbling experience, but enjoyable to me.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How do you stay sane?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Well,
music’s a big part of staying sane for me. I feel I have a lot more
appreciation for the act of making music and listening to music because I
didn’t choose to do it all the time.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Playing
makes my schedule crazy and is tiring to add it on top of everything
else I do. But while I really love all of my various jobs, playing the
bassoon is in fact the only thing I’m truly qualified and trained to do.
Picking it up, even during a busy time, makes me feel productive and
at home and so it’s a very important part of balancing things out. If I
didn’t play the bassoon anymore, I think I’d have a harder time what
that -- even though I’d have more time.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Are there aspects of your musical training that help you out with your work in other areas and vice versa?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The
obvious one for me is that I spend my summers at Marlboro, which can’t
help but to make you a richer and more insightful musician. I live in a
cabin nearby to Richard Goode and share meals with great people like
Frank Salomon, Benite Valente, Mitsuko Uchida, and all the others that
congregate there during the summers. There’s a lot of good music
around me, and good musical thinkers that I like to absorb from. I would
like to think that I can phrase a little bit better because I have
spent five amazing summers surrounded by truly world-class musicians and
music.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And
certainly the other way around. I think being trained as a musician
really enables me to do what I do in business and in running the
administrative aspects of Marlboro/PCMS that I help with. The culture at
PCMS/Marlboro, and the culture at my companies, is self-motivated and
continually striving for improvement. Very much a musician’s mindset.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Also
collaboration and teamwork, listening, and being sensitive to what is
going on. There are a lot of very successful instrumentalists who go
into other careers and I think there’s a reason for it beyond them being
smart and talented people who happen to not end up doing music. I think
there’s something to musical training and the artistic mindset that
provides a lot of value in the business world.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Did you ever want music to be your only career?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">No,
and I never have. I’ve always been a little split. Some of the early
conversations that I had with Nancy Goeres when I was choosing to go to
Carnegie Mellon were about how I liked to do other things. And she
thought that was positive. In fact, she has an English degree from
Boston University, I believe, which really is what convinced me to
attend Carnegie Mellon instead of my other options at the time -- the
opportunity to explore areas outside of music.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
don’t mean that just music can’t be satisfying. I just wasn’t able to
focus that much on only one thing. And when you’re in the orchestra,
you’re not the boss. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Who are your role models?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">That’s
a good question. While I never met Rudolf Serkin, he’s a big ghost over
the shoulder here at Marlboro, Curtis, Philadelphia in general. As
such, I feel I’ve learned a lot from his personality and others at
Marlboro.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">One
of my roles at Marlboro is to work with the archives and put together
all the photos and the recordings and stuff – as part of that you get to
know the people a little bit. You see a different generation of
musician (Sacha Schneider, Serkin, Isidore Cohen, Pablo Casals, etc.) and
it feels a little bit of a golden age with a principled focus on
music, the composers, family, and taking care of each other. That has
been inspiring to me, the balance between the great and the small things
in life.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
also really love and respect Chris Macatsoris at AVA. I think he’s a
genius and he’s just awesome to work with. And I really respect my
brother, who was also a musician and went on to be an entrepreneur. He’s
got offices in Singapore and Beijing and New York.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Finally,
Tony Checchia (my ultimate boss and mentor here at Marlboro/PCMS) is an
outstanding role model because he was a wonderful bassoon player before
he became a legendary presenter and manager. He played with the
Baltimore Symphony and other places. But he was always looking for
something else to do, and I’ve got a similar sort of bent, where I want
to do a little bit more. Let’s hope it turns out half as good as it
did for Tony!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Do you feel criticism from your musical colleagues because of your careers outside of music?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
love seeing my colleagues. It’s a lot of fun for me. However I do worry
that they look at me and go, “Oh, man, that didn’t sound so good, you
should be practicing more!” In fact, I had someone ask me if I had quit
playing the bassoon since they hadn’t seen me in two months.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Luckily,
I’m still playing with a lot of the same people, because I’ve kept a
core set of gigs. I really respect them as musicians and people and so
it really motivates me to keep my standards high.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What advice would you give to people who are considering careers in music?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">My
first bassoon teacher sat me down and said, “I can’t in good conscious
recommend that you go into a career in music.” And I respected him for
that enormously, because he told me the truth. And it’s more competitive
now than ever before. However I think studying music was one of the best
things I ever did, or could have done.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
would just recommend that musicians – especially those leaving school
and figuring out what to do next - not to undervalue themselves. When I
first entered the business world, I was charging people $200 to do a
website and I should have charged $20,000. I was doing work that was
worth $20,000 but I just didn’t know it, because I was in the musician
mentality of “hoping to get a gig.” And the hardest thing for me to do
over the last ten years has been to raise my prices.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Even
though the marketplace doesn’t value bassoonists (or oboists!) at the
same level of investment bankers or whatever – they tend to have a lot
of very marketable and desirable skills and talents. They have an
immense self-directed focus on quality, and an aptitude for learning new
things, or communicating with other people as part of a team. These
are incredibly valuable – and difficult to teach – characteristics. </span>Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-57064278187066120192013-01-09T21:57:00.000-05:002013-07-28T00:19:58.226-04:00Go Read Somebody Else Today<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">The internet is a black hole, and today, in particular, I was derailed from my work -- including some new blog posts! -- by a few articles online that I want to share:</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">My <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/p/blog-index.html">interviewees</a>, many of whom do not fit into traditional molds or hold traditionally recognizable titles of success -- CEO, Concertmaster of A Major Orchestra -- instead define what success means to them and set and attain goals based on that. Today, <a href="http://www.artsjournal.com/jumper/2013/01/can-we-change-the-measures-of-success-it-depends-do-we-really-want-to/">Diane Ragsdale has an article</a> considering how arts organizations might (re)define success in the 21st century, rather than continuing to benchmark against outdated or irrelevant goals. She cites what I found to be an interesting <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/opinion/sunday/can-social-media-sell-soap.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=3&"><i>Times </i>op-ed</a> about social media.</span><br />
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/12/top-10-2012-year-in-review.html">In my last post</a>, I mentioned that I recently applied to Temple's Fox School of Business. One of my essays touched on nonprofit ethics, accountability, and transparency as they relate to recent orchestral crises. These issues are way outside of the scope of this blog -- but suffice to say, <a href="http://www.adaptistration.com/blog/2013/01/09/are-ethics-a-lost-cause-in-the-orchestra-field/">Drew McManus' article today</a> caught my eye, compelled me to comment, and got my brain spinning in a lot of different directions about this major problem that is potentially fatal to some organizations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, happy reading for today, and please keep coming back!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>PS: I will be in L.A. and Santa Barbara, posting from the road, from January 17-23! Please let me know if you'd like to meet up for me to interview you <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/10/call-for-interviewees.html">(see my criteria here)</a> or just to hang out!</b></span>Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-34741759077516341362012-12-31T10:54:00.001-05:002013-07-28T00:21:21.611-04:00Top 10 - 2012 Year in Review<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Facebook wants me to click on some app to datamine my <strike>newsfeed </strike>Timeline into a year-end review. Instead, I'll do my own! It was an incredible year in which I fully embodied my motto to "Embrace the craziness." Top 10 after the jump.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Performances</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/calendar/135464763.html">New Year's Eve Concert</a> </b>at the Kimmel Center: It's hard to believe this was exactly a year ago! I teamed up with my friends and esteemed musicians Colleen Hood (bassoon), Elizabeth Racheva (soprano), and Catherine Schaefer (piano) for a two-hour chamber concert for several hundred people. This will always be a highlight of my career.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">In June, Nobuo Kitagawa, Debbie Davis, and I tackled the very difficult <b>Zelenka Trio Sonata No. 5</b> -- and I got my first-ever <a href="http://blogs.mcall.com/lehighvalleymusic/2012/06/valley-vivaldi-in-top-form-at-new-allentown-venue.html">review</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://www.bach.org/">Bach Choir of Bethlehem</a></b>: This is my favorite job and it's impossible to pick just one concert. The Festival's B Minor Mass sounded better this year thanks to acoustical improvements in Packer Memorial Church; I played second d'amore on Cantata 80 and third oboe on Brandenburg 1 (One of the Lehigh Valley's <a href="http://www.mcall.com/entertainment/music/classical/mc-classical-year-in-review-allentown-1227-20121226,0,1568381.story">"Top Classical Concerts of 2012"</a>); filled in <a href="http://bachinbethlehem.wordpress.com/2012/12/08/saturday-concert-wrap-up/">last-minute</a> for the glorious <i>Magnificat</i>; and introduced thousands of children to Bach in our <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/11/greetings-from-inn-at-bethlehem.html">Bach to School</a> programs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKQAofIEPypCiTgsmVjNsnKaRkmBTpMNL-z-hKR65-hf_XBp01cbBWbSKPqWfvcR4je2OirgAWBIu9pr6SFNlfOZmV6cZa34fglMZhqFO0zxjhjYYmJGsafOvihSDg-eB8v-O_H5whjOs/s1600/oboes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKQAofIEPypCiTgsmVjNsnKaRkmBTpMNL-z-hKR65-hf_XBp01cbBWbSKPqWfvcR4je2OirgAWBIu9pr6SFNlfOZmV6cZa34fglMZhqFO0zxjhjYYmJGsafOvihSDg-eB8v-O_H5whjOs/s1600/oboes.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra</b>'s "<a href="http://www.knightarts.org/community/philadelphia/iconduct-a-glimpse-at-the-black-pearl-chamber-orchestra%E2%80%99s-unique-festival">iConduct</a>:" A unique series where brave volunteers from the audience got up and conducted us in Beethoven 5. It was very fun and different to do an interactive concert and to play for such enthusiastic crowds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Curtis</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Good news in the area of <b>government funding</b>: Curtis has been awarded three consecutive grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, including two this year for the <a href="http://www.curtis.edu/performances/curtis-on-tour/">Curtis Chamber Orchestra tour</a> and the production of <a href="http://www.curtis.edu/performances/curtis-opera-theatre/"><i>Owen Wingrave</i></a>. Curtis also got an award from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts that's slightly more than in years past -- at a time when the overall PCA funding has decreased.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's nice to have recognition and support from some <b>new funders</b>: <a href="http://www.daddariofoundation.org/FoundationHome.Page?ActiveID=3091">D'Addario Foundation</a> and <a href="http://www.wophil.org/">Women's Philharmonic Advocacy</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Working with the <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/10/how-is-special-event-like-performance.html"><b>Curtis Crescendo Club</b></a> young patrons group has been a fun addition to my usual grantwriting routine. It's nice to see young people so enthusiastic about supporting the arts. <i>(Plug: We have many more events in the spring semester so please consider <a href="http://www.curtis.edu/giving/annual-giving/annual-fund/curtis-crescendo-club/">joining</a>!)</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinqkpbpUBHlGu8ES53o-Ywt-BtAJ8SwZJ-qDo8t8drHEmvXHDfQtB1NsIuMubW2DS9lfHhBMw17rUcFakzHfZbT5cxZrf3KCvnH-np3Eow9CwkXLEth5TJ1PYIPa_UDCHzm_Tr8l6tBpw/s1600/crescendo+club.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinqkpbpUBHlGu8ES53o-Ywt-BtAJ8SwZJ-qDo8t8drHEmvXHDfQtB1NsIuMubW2DS9lfHhBMw17rUcFakzHfZbT5cxZrf3KCvnH-np3Eow9CwkXLEth5TJ1PYIPa_UDCHzm_Tr8l6tBpw/s1600/crescendo+club.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Other</i> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Going to performances</b> is almost more important to me than playing them myself. This year's highlights were Curtis Opera Theatre's <a href="http://articles.philly.com/2012-03-16/news/31201966_1_madwoman-chester-kallman-alpine-resort"><i>Elegy for Young Lovers</i></a>; New York Philharmonic's "<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/02/arts/music/alan-gilberts-philharmonic-360-at-park-avenue-armory.html?_r=0">Philharmonic 360</a>" at the stunning Park Avenue Armory; The Philadelphia Orchestra's Beethoven 9 at the Mann Center and Brahms 4 at the Kimmel Center avec Maestro Yannick; <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/arts/20121220_Jeremy_Denk_s_piano_recital_does_justice_to_Bach__Schumann.html">Jeremy Denk</a>'s solo recital; and <a href="http://articles.philly.com/2012-08-01/news/32962446_1_sigur-ros-georg-holm-kjartan-sveinsson">Sigur Ros</a> at the Mann Center's new Skyline Stage.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">I finally applied to Temple's <a href="http://fox.temple.edu/"><b>Fox School</b> <b>of Business</b></a> -- something I've thought about doing for years. If I actually get in, I will likely be blogging more about this in the future.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Finally, getting my first article <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/p/about-blog.html">published</a> and <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/p/blog-index.html"><b>launching this blog</b></a>! I dreamed of becoming a writer ever since I was a little kid, so it's indescribably exciting to me that it's actually becoming reality. Meeting the interviewees has helped me personally tackle the challenges of parallel careers, and I hope you find it helpful too. I look forward to seeing what happens my writing next year -- starting with working on my <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/11/majorannouncement.html">submission</a> to Dr. Dylan Savage's forthcoming book.</span> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">A heartfelt thank you to my family, friends, and readers for sharing all of this and more with
me. Happy New Year and see you in 2013. Cheers! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">--AM</span>Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-86256156968323515082012-12-27T19:56:00.000-05:002013-07-28T00:24:06.683-04:00"Go for it, but don't pay for it."<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
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</div>
<span style="font-size: large;">As we hit up post-holiday sales armed with gift cards, make New Year's resolutions to reign in spending in 2013, and hear more about the looming "fiscal cliff," I thought today would be a good day to talk about money. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/IOM0olrdb6M?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">On that note, I wanted to emphasize something <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/12/dawn-webster-trumpeter-and-acupuncture.html">Dawn Webster</a> said when I asked what advice she had for young people considering music degrees. She said:</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><i>"Go for it, but don’t pay for it. Having that debt is a very serious
thing."</i></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: large;">I could not agree more with Dawn's advice. High-level music training has many merits, so if you can land yourself a scholarship to a good school, go for it. You will learn a lot in the training even if you don't even up doing music professionally.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It may seem like a good idea to take out loans
in order to attend a certain school you love. But you have to consider the long-term consequences and how much and how long it's going to take to pay back that loan.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">A<span style="color: black;"> serious debt load is likely to limit your career
possibilities after you graduate -- especially if you try to do music for a career. You will be motivated by the need to make a certain amount of money just to
cover the monthly loan payment -- and that's not even counting other essential expenses like rent, instrument insurance, gas, and groceries. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-size: large;">As a result, you may get locked into doing gigs that you don't like, have to skip auditions because the flights are too expensive, or skimp on instrument repairs or replacement.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-size: large;">Even if you don't have loans, it <i>costs</i> money at first
to
become a
professional musician -- you have to pay for equipment, recordings,
and travel for auditions and jobs.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Although it may sound harsh, I would add that students who do not get scholarships to good music schools should
strongly consider what their career prospects are likely to be in such a competitive field. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Dawn went on to say: <i>"</i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">More
and more people get trapped in [debt], and it really limits what you can
do
afterwards....</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">You might not have
as much
freedom to do what you’d like to do, or even to change your mind if you
take on
a lot of debt. I wouldn’t be in acupuncture school right now if I had
outstanding debt from before."</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: large;">Another statement I couldn't agree with more. E</span><span style="font-size: large;">very single person
I've <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/p/blog-index.html">interviewed</a> considers their music degree to be an asset to their
other field. But if you've
already got debt from your music program, that may limit your ability
to pursue something that requires additional
education and training -- and most likely, loans!<i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-size: large;">Dawn summed up the reality brilliantly: <i>"</i></span><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">[P]eople
are
really going to try to sell you on their schools and no one can
guarantee
you a job. You can work your butt off, but it’s just a fact that there
are so
many really talented, qualified musicians out there." </span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-size: large;">There are countless ways to be a
musician, and there are ways make it happen without a six-figure
student loan bill to attend a brand-name conservatory. If you're a student auditioning for music schools this spring, keep Dawn's advice in mind: <i>"Go for it, but don't pay for it."</i> Good luck!</span><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-39194477533285864892012-12-21T17:32:00.000-05:002013-07-28T00:24:25.544-04:00Jonathan Fink, cellist and Realtor®<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nfIGAMDnpzxfsEMgjqT5hAf7ajEsKeTDa1lvNPz1xbFHCECWVLhyphenhyphendUZfIYJ74IZExgcIwpQD2kpj9L3PuiErGYm4nb3iCygXbCDsnvNL2eOR8jw1XGZnmmbPvprqjve_H-F8Kydrqoo/s1600/Jonathan+Fink+v2+4+x+6+Print+Resolution.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nfIGAMDnpzxfsEMgjqT5hAf7ajEsKeTDa1lvNPz1xbFHCECWVLhyphenhyphendUZfIYJ74IZExgcIwpQD2kpj9L3PuiErGYm4nb3iCygXbCDsnvNL2eOR8jw1XGZnmmbPvprqjve_H-F8Kydrqoo/s1600/Jonathan+Fink+v2+4+x+6+Print+Resolution.jpeg" height="200" width="133" /></a></span></div>
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.04518546433569659" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.philadelphiacityhomes.com/about-us/bio/">Jonathan Fink</a> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">is
a cellist with the <a href="http://www.phillypops.com/">Philly Pops</a>, <a href="http://www.readingsymphony.org/">Reading Symphony</a>, <a href="http://www.harrisburgsymphony.org/">Harrisburg Symphony</a>,
and <a href="http://www.rsq.com/">Rittenhouse String Quartet</a>. He is also a Realtor® with <a href="http://www.kwphilly.com/">Keller Williams </a>in Philadelphia. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">He is a graduate of Philadelphia College for
the Performing Arts (University of the Arts) and resides in Fishtown with his wife Marjorie and children Ben and Hannah. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="mailto:finkjonathan@gmail.com">Email</a> or call Jon at (215) 805-5276. He would love to hear from you!</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How long have you been a Realtor® and what made you decide to pursue that?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">About
five years. The first couple of years I was training in a lot of ways.
When I got to Keller Williams, that’s when my business really took off.
I’ve been here three years.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">When
I started in real estate, around 2007, I was working at Curtis at the
time and I got laid off when they outsourced the recording department.
At the time, I was about to buy my first investment property with my wife
in our neighborhood. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">My best friend and business partner, who’s an
attorney, joined us in purchasing one house. Subsequently, we bought two
additional rental properties. We worked together to get them renovated
and rented. It took about a year and a half, and we really had a great
time. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
had so much fun with that, and I was kind of looking for a new
direction to go in, in terms of another job. So I said to him, “Why
don’t we take these real estate classes at Temple in Center City?” </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
wasn’t really thinking I would get my license. I just thought I would
take the classes and see what happened. And they were fun. I enjoyed
them, and he took them with me. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
think sixty hours of classes is the national requirement. The
coursework varies from state to state, but it’s mandatory before you’re
eligible to take the licensing exam unless you’re already an attorney. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">When I was done with the coursework, I thought, I might as well take the
tests. And then I passed them, so I thought, I might as well give it a
shot and see what happens.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And
I found that I really enjoyed it. I’m almost fifty, and I’ve owned a
home for a long time. I can’t do everything, but I understand how homes
work pretty well. And I know the city very well because I’ve lived
everywhere in it since the 80’s. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So,
it turned out to be good for me. I enjoy the personal contact with
people. I think people who can be honest and blunt about things do very
well in this industry, and that’s kind of my personality. I can come
right out and tell you what your house is worth and my clients really
appreciate that.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Most
of the people I work with are musicians or friends of musicians. As
hard as I may try to reach out to other communities, those are the
people that I know. I have people that I see when I go to music jobs and
a bunch of people from The Philadelphia Orchestra that I’ve worked with
over the years.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />I
think that musicians want to feel like they’re working with somebody
that understands them, and I do. I think that makes them feel
comfortable. As musicians, sometimes we don’t want to have to explain
what it’s really all about, you know? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So, with me, they don’t, because I
already get it. I know what they’re about and I know how they react to
things, for the most part. I mean, everybody’s different; it’s not like
all musicians are exactly the same. But we have some common
denominators.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">With
my real estate business, it’s all about meeting people, making contact
with them, helping them, hopefully doing business with them. The fun
part is when the transaction’s completed. The keys slide across this
very table, and people get really happy. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sometimes there are sellers
maybe for whom things aren’t going so well and they need to get out from
under their home, or they’re moving for another job, and you’re doing
an incredible service. Of course with buyers, there is the excitement of
purchasing, and for me it is the satisfaction I get from completing the
transaction.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz9NeG_R5h_He5mQAKpcwkfl2hAFTvkOSCh8S6vb-398e5LL8u6TOy7oy3QQxYJRtWv3keJAIwQoZcAEAk5pxdYAMNefpBz1PHOEdL9dQFhlsgicwdD9rY_lfsRKWdLIQ0d4-qBoqh1nw/s1600/HSO+Headshot3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz9NeG_R5h_He5mQAKpcwkfl2hAFTvkOSCh8S6vb-398e5LL8u6TOy7oy3QQxYJRtWv3keJAIwQoZcAEAk5pxdYAMNefpBz1PHOEdL9dQFhlsgicwdD9rY_lfsRKWdLIQ0d4-qBoqh1nw/s1600/HSO+Headshot3.jpeg" height="200" width="133" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Are there elements of your musical training or your musical career that help you out in the real estate world?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Houses
are funny things. They have kind of an artistic side to them—they have
personalities in a lot of ways, like music does. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">On the one hand, most
homes will say something to you. On the other hand, they’re very much
dollars and cents—square footage and price per square foot for the area. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So there’s this mathematical side to it, and then on the other side is
this incredibly emotional—and almost artistic—side that you run into
with buyers and sellers.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I think that </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">my ability to bridge those two things is really helpful. I can sense
quickly whether the house is going to be a fit for a buyer or not. I
don’t need long. Sometimes they need longer than I do. A lot of times, I
will show somebody a house, and I know it’s the house they’re going to
buy. I might not say that to them, but it doesn’t surprise me when we
come back to it. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I think that innate sense comes from my artistic
side—the way when you’re sitting in an orchestra and a piece starts, and
we all get a sense right away of how it’s going. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
think that’s something that people don’t think about often with music.
When you’re playing in a group, it’s such a linear experience. You get
on this conveyor belt, and it’s going to keep going and your brain is
making how many bazillions of judgments and decisions every second about
how you fit into what’s going on, where you are in relation to your
stand partner, to the conductor, to what you hear. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">That ability to make
snap judgments and adjust as you go along is such a valuable skill that
comes from music and can be transferred to anything.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">When
you think about it, it’s fairly amazing, and I think that applies as
you’re doing things like showing houses and having conversations with
people about things that are very important to them. I mean, this is
fairly serious business. For many people, selling or buying their home
is one of the top four or five dollar transactions that they’ll make in
their lifetime. So there’s a lot at stake. I think I appreciate that and
can react to what’s going on with it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Is there a lot of financial knowledge that you needed to either have or learn?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">You
have to be able to do math, for sure, but it’s very learnable and not
difficult. But if you’re absolutely math-phobic, then real estate’s not a
good field. I’m pretty good at the type of math I need to do for this
job, which is basically figuring out what it’s going to cost people to
purchase a house or how much they’re going to make when they sell their
house. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We do have tools that can help if you’re not good at it, but it’s
useful to be able to ballpark that stuff in your head and have that
information flow freely.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Since you’ve started in real estate, is there anything you have learned in that career that you take into music?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Oh,
absolutely. That’s kind of the best part of it for me. I think the
social skills that I’ve learned in real estate have helped me in my
music business a lot. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I give Keller Williams quite a bit of credit. They
work hard at being really positive here, and I appreciate that. Anybody
that knows me knows that I can very quickly go to the cynical side of
life if left to my own devices. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I’ve found that I’m a much happier
person when I make the effort to stay positive and to be around positive
people and think that way. Nobody wants to go out and look at houses
with somebody that’s a drag. So it’s really helped me—motivated me,
maybe—to understand more about myself. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Also,
I think that the income from real estate has stabilized our lives in a
way that makes us less dependent on the music business. It makes it
easier for me to play the jobs that I have and really enjoy them.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
like the people that I play with. I love the camaraderie of going to
jobs and hanging out with people. I don’t think I would ever stop playing, because the social aspect
of it is so important to me.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What’s your typical schedule?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Our
schedules change a lot. That’s one of the challenges. But typically
Monday through Wednesday, I concentrate on the office part of the real
estate business. I drop my son off at The Philadelphia School at 8:10
a.m., and I’m at the office by 8:30 a.m. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If everything goes well, I’m
done by 1:30 or 2:00 p.m., or certainly by 3:00 p.m. when the kids are
done with school.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
play in a lot of regional orchestras, so Thursday through Sunday are
most often when gigs happen. When I have a gig, I’m still available to
my real estate clients by smartphone. But I try to do most of the office
work earlier in the week. I’m a bit nuts about responding to people’s
texts or emails almost immediately. Often I can even do this during a
rehearsal or at the break.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If
I’m working with a buyer to schedule house showings, I let the clients
dictate the schedule. Instead of being worried about whether or not I’ll
be available, I ask them when they want to go out, and I work my
schedule around that. If they’re musicians—and I would say 85-90% of the
people I work with are in the creative community—then they have similar
schedules to me. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If they’re not, then I try not to worry about until it
becomes a problem, and it rarely does. Most people don’t want to see
properties at 8:00 on a weeknight. Even if I have rehearsal at 7:00
p.m., I can show a couple properties before that. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How do you keep track of your schedule?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFv_lRtsw3sjCn-XDCEnuGmHOkB1vier3aqooUKyLf-iV7TO84zI-4o-IWW7qc36q83iRD9CXcIyd4cmaBBFHCyNBSPzB3hSNbr2QOdUwfAf_TEimyaHBPaY-9bKF5v8CXRsc0uZlt_7A/s1600/wife.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFv_lRtsw3sjCn-XDCEnuGmHOkB1vier3aqooUKyLf-iV7TO84zI-4o-IWW7qc36q83iRD9CXcIyd4cmaBBFHCyNBSPzB3hSNbr2QOdUwfAf_TEimyaHBPaY-9bKF5v8CXRsc0uZlt_7A/s1600/wife.jpg" height="148" width="200" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">My
wife<i> </i>is a freelance violist and teaches at Waldron Mercy Academy and
the University of the Arts. She’s got a fairly similar schedule to me
but does different things.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We
both use Google calendar. We have been using online calendars for a
long time. We started with AOL calendar. It was the only one I could
find that would allow you to have more than one person share calendars
at a time. And now Google does that remarkably well. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We
have three or four calendars on there and I can turn them on or off. We
have them on our iPhones and iPads. We have two children ages fourteen
and eleven, so every night or every morning, Marj and I look at the day and
walk through it. That way we don’t forget a kid somewhere or forget to
show up to a job or to one of the kids’ activities.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuh8cspVo3YD7c2zfRhWK6d7bCbA1M-bP3ctBQWsCqMlqHCi-XQpzdXjaKvwL_J-kixZIdayctWsyYUtSbv5NxcjUdK_jEjxFKXETww_uImY2Dvg_6hqPmweL_H4vDkDJxPlNjPzDXjTU/s1600/children.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuh8cspVo3YD7c2zfRhWK6d7bCbA1M-bP3ctBQWsCqMlqHCi-XQpzdXjaKvwL_J-kixZIdayctWsyYUtSbv5NxcjUdK_jEjxFKXETww_uImY2Dvg_6hqPmweL_H4vDkDJxPlNjPzDXjTU/s1600/children.jpeg" height="150" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The
kids are our focus. That’s why we do the rest of this stuff, is to make
sure that we’ve got resources for them and that we can spend as much
time as possible with them. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We have one primary babysitter. Anybody with
kids knows it’s a constant reshuffling of schedules to meet the demands
of where they have to go and what they have to do. My daughter is in a
theater group and my son goes to various things all the time.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Now
that they’re older, it’s gotten a little easier in the sense that we
can drop them off as opposed to walking them into things. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But they’re
involved with more stuff the older they get, too. So there’s more of it
to schedule, and they’re not quite old enough to do things entirely by
themselves because it’s not like they drive. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfcWNbX4-mtGehMv5oip1CaoOXxHJmfGVZz3h7dyfZFeKHOtdj2ZwtW6yuXPbD5duBrwKVeOrKmrtQKkDFO6Eqc8PHyhWJXFhGd9H-0OszK_ebtRdo_kVRD0aiMoJHKFIYDGrLwCXZxxg/s1600/airplane.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfcWNbX4-mtGehMv5oip1CaoOXxHJmfGVZz3h7dyfZFeKHOtdj2ZwtW6yuXPbD5duBrwKVeOrKmrtQKkDFO6Eqc8PHyhWJXFhGd9H-0OszK_ebtRdo_kVRD0aiMoJHKFIYDGrLwCXZxxg/s1600/airplane.jpeg" height="200" width="149" /></a></span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What do you do in your downtime?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">My
hobby is flying airplanes. I try to do that about once a week. My
friend owns an airplane and he lets me fly it regularly. He’s very
generous. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Flying
airplanes is also very similar to playing music. They say that pilots
and musicians use the same part of their brains. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Once you take off in an
airplane, it’s kind of that same feeling that you get when a movement
of a symphony starts. You’re not getting off and you can’t just pull
over. Countless decisions get made as you go along, and you have to be
able to quickly respond to changes the same way you do in an orchestra. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It takes up enough of my concentration that I don’t think about anything
else—which isn’t always the case with music, I have to admit. I like
it, and unlike real estate or music, I don’t do anything professionally
with flying.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This
is kind of a hard question. A lot of the players in these regional
orchestras make their living working in a lot of different places. Do
you feel any criticism from those musicians because one of your other jobs
is not in music? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
don’t get that from people. I think people understand that you’ve got
to make a living. I used to feel that way a little bit myself, like, I’m
not a “real” musician because I have to do something else to make
money. But having kids and a mortgage to pay erases that feeling pretty
quickly. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So
no, I don’t. I’m not interested in receiving that kind of vibe, so
maybe that’s why. I’m proud of my work in real estate! I think I
provide a great service and that I’m really good at my job, in addition
to my music career. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Most of the time, people are happy about it and come
up to me at gigs say, “Oh, I see that you’re doing really well, and
that’s great.” They want to talk to me about real estate. And that feels
good. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Who are your role models?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
have different role models in different parts of my life. Musically, I
have to admit to being kind of a Philly Orchestra wannabe. When I moved
here and went to hear the Philly Orchestra for the first time, I was
blown away. I think that they deserve more than they get, and that they
deserve to be exalted as being at the top of their game. I think to show
up and play in that group at that level, all the time, day after day,
requires such concentration and you can’t just phone it in. I’m
impressed by that. I really am. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Real
estate-wise, there are any number of agents here who are doing all the
right things. I really value the agents who are honest with their
clients and with other agents, and who understand that the business is
about working together to a common end—not working against each other.
That’s the kind of agent I want to be. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Here
at Keller Williams, I try to be a leader to some extent for younger
agents. We have something here called the ALC, which is very similar to
an orchestra committee. I’m proud to have been a member of that for two
years. It’s a committee of agents that meet monthly to talk about what’s
going on in the office and make sure that things are to everybody’s
satisfaction. The agent involvement is one of the things I love about
the Keller Williams model.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What advice would you give to young musicians who are considering music careers?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It’s
hard to classify all of them together. If you’re talking about a place
like Curtis, these are the top 1% or less of talent in the country. And
even the people there, what percentage of them are going to land great
jobs? Obviously, some percentage of them will land the best jobs in the
country, but some percentage of them won’t. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And then you think about
other schools that are all churning out so many players. I don’t know;
if you’re not in that top ½ percent, then you have to be thinking about
how you can make another career coincide with your music career.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I’ve
always had other jobs. Real estate is not the first “other job” that
I’ve had. After I graduated from Philadelphia College for the Performing
Arts [now University of the Arts], I was an administrative assistant at
the Philadelphia Dance Alliance. I was also an executive secretary to
the Vice Dean of Clinical Affairs at the University of Pennsylvania
Health System.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I also taught for a long time, and I still teach a
little bit. My wife and I ran an actual music school out of our house
for almost 10 years. This was when our children were toddlers so it
made sense to be at home with them.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
think if you want to play music, you’ve got to have other sources of
income, too. A family of four in Philadelphia, I recently heard on NPR,
is barely getting by on $75,000 a year. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We’ve
just gone through a period where orchestras are taking immense pay
cuts. So if you’re in a major orchestra, you’re in the top three percent
of your field, and you’re making $100,000-$150,000 a year. I know that
seems like a lot of money to musicians. I’m here to tell you from the
real world that it’s not—in any profession, really. That’s not a lot of
money to raise a family in a major metropolitan area. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We’re
lucky in Philadelphia to have a lot of different
avenues for freelancing. I’m working every week, and there is a lot of
work here.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
think it’s easier for string players, because at least there are more
of us being hired. For winds, it’s crazy. We just had an audition for
Principal Trombone at Harrisburg Symphony and fifty people showed up.
That’s crazy! I mean, this is a job that if you did every single
service, would pay about $6,500.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
do think the regional orchestra model can succeed. I think that people
who travel to audition somewhere like Harrisburg think they’ll set up
shop and do a bunch of jobs in this area. It’s attractive because it’s
near Baltimore, Washington, New York, and Philly. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Obviously,
there are kids coming out of school that are going to win top jobs. But
there are fifteen full-time orchestras—thirty or forty real oboe
jobs—in the entire country. And every year, schools are putting out five
or six fantastic oboe players. And it’s worse for other instruments.
The numbers just are impossible, even for the very best.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Teaching is not the same as playing. It’s another job. Some people enjoy that and make a great career out of it. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
think that an overlooked part of the music business—and I didn’t
understand this when I was in college—is arranging and composing. My
wife is a great arranger, and I envy her that talent. I think it’s a
very important skill in today’s market. If you can tell a contractor or a
client that you can arrange parts for specific songs and get the group
together, you’re in a much better position than if you just show up and
play. If I’m giving advice to young people, learn how to arrange in all
styles of music</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">—d</span>on’t tunnel vision into one style. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">You have to have
your hands in different areas to make it in this business. You have to
be able to do everything. </span>Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-59188122418874428292012-12-14T14:59:00.000-05:002013-07-28T00:28:22.505-04:00Updates from Interviewees<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Spokane Symphony is <a href="http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/dec/04/spokane-symphony-musicians-board-reach-agreement/">back to work</a> -- catch its "<a href="http://www.spokanesymphony.org/concert,191,superpops3holidaypopswithsantaandmorihiko#.UMtDvawtdsW">Holiday Pops</a>" next weekend. Bassoonist Luke<b> </b>Bakken (interview <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/07/luke-bakken-bassoonist-and-software.html">here</a>) <a href="http://luke.bowbak.org/">blogged</a> about the labor dispute.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Composer Joseph Hallman (interview <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/10/joseph-hallman-composer.html">here</a>) has launched a new <a href="http://www.josephhallman.com/index.html">website</a>. His <a href="http://www.josephhallman.com/scores.html">scores</a> are available for purchase there, including <a href="http://www.josephhallman.com/support-youth-in-music.html"><i>Transfigured Carols</i></a>, proceeds from which go to support the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra. Earlier this week, Joe was named "Composer of the Day" by <i><a href="http://composerscircle.com/joseph-hallman-2/">Composers Circle</a>; </i>a recording of his beautiful cello sonata is streaming at the link.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mezzo Shannon Langman is featured in this recent <a href="http://artsandculturehouston.com/outstanding-voices/">article</a> about the vocal scene in Houston. The author says she has "imagination
and gumption in spades;" check out our
<a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/11/shannon-langman-mezzo-soprano-and.html">interview</a> (if you haven't already) and I think you'll agree. </span>Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-58462530281304982262012-12-11T11:05:00.000-05:002013-07-28T00:29:40.124-04:00Thank You!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSU89hqPB6YeocCOf6K5vOqSwAKqc05zHEGNG0e8oJULSyC3pX1jE1JBib7X_-GdWnAt1L7hRl6KBA055ul_v4ZQZX7VkDNMVvR8zP9tHfp4dsM2cp-SwdxGB4XoYuSmsG0q8ras4G_kw/s1600/progress+report.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSU89hqPB6YeocCOf6K5vOqSwAKqc05zHEGNG0e8oJULSyC3pX1jE1JBib7X_-GdWnAt1L7hRl6KBA055ul_v4ZQZX7VkDNMVvR8zP9tHfp4dsM2cp-SwdxGB4XoYuSmsG0q8ras4G_kw/s1600/progress+report.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Recovering Oboist </i>has hit more than 2,000 pageviews! </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">In honor of this milestone, I thought it would be fun to do another little progress report on the blog like I <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/10/coming-attractions.html">did</a> a couple of months ago:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Total pageviews: <b>2,109</b> and counting! </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Most popular post: <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/09/dan-mcdougall-double-bass.html"><b>Dan McDougall</b></a>, 107 views and counting</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Second most popular post: <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/11/majorannouncement.html"><b>#MajorAnnouncement</b></a>, 101 views and counting</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Most popular page: <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/p/my-performance-schedule.html"><b>Performance Schedule</b></a>, 62 views and counting </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Readers represent the U.S. and 9 foreign countries.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Most popular referring sites are Facebook, IDRS, and Google</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Popular referring search terms include names of colleagues, e.g., Nobuo Kitagawa, Mary Watt, etc.<a name='more'></a> </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have also done a little re-vamping to the site, including adding a <b>"</b><b><a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/p/blog-index.html">B</a></b><b><a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/p/blog-index.html">log Index</a>"</b> page to the navigation up top to help you find specific interviews easily. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">A few weeks ago, an old friend from college wrote to me on the Facebook and actually thanked me for the blog! All I have to say to that is, <b><i>thank you all</i></b> for reading! I hope you are learning from the interviews and enjoying my posts in between. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">You know by now that I do take your feedback into account, so, as always, please keep it coming. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">And p</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">lease stay tuned for upcoming interviews with cellist/realtor <a href="http://www.kw.com/kw/agent/x322144">Jon Fink</a> and much much more. </span>Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-38160338937843728572012-12-05T19:07:00.000-05:002013-07-28T00:34:03.455-04:00Dawn Webster, trumpeter and acupuncture student<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTN0RkfrupYU8DMx2u4rHJqzxQ5hvgtHEFcCOcLNEPh_4A0U9CIIbCDkB9ghKBrztVg1SohUA3fe5XJQDq3vq9gbVGCmDKN7_AoHhZW5jZAFejjjIfB11Uv3grCwR6SGG8eFyws6DzLsw/s1600/dawn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTN0RkfrupYU8DMx2u4rHJqzxQ5hvgtHEFcCOcLNEPh_4A0U9CIIbCDkB9ghKBrztVg1SohUA3fe5XJQDq3vq9gbVGCmDKN7_AoHhZW5jZAFejjjIfB11Uv3grCwR6SGG8eFyws6DzLsw/s1600/dawn.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><b>Dawn Webster</b>
is a freelance trumpeter and an acupuncture student at <a href="http://www.yosan.edu/">Yo San University</a> of
Traditional Chinese Medicine in Los Angeles. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Dawn studied music and environmental
geology in her undergrad at Rutgers University and earned a Master of Music from Temple University
studying with David Bilger.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">How long have you been in L.A. and
when did you start acupuncture school?</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I moved here
originally around November 2010. I was looking to move to a new city because I felt
like I had plateaued in Philly. So I moved here and it didn’t really go all
that well at first. I mean, I made some connections and was playing a fair
amount, but I couldn’t find a day job stay afloat while building up a freelance
career. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I applied for
more than 2,000 jobs in a period of about three months, mostly focusing on office-related
work because I had a lot of experience in that area. But really anything:
janitor jobs, coffee shops, waitressing. After about three or four months of
that, I realized it wasn’t happening.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">People told
me—of course after I moved—that you need to have a year’s savings before you
move here and try to make it as a freelance musician. I didn’t have that and I
couldn’t find a day job, so I moved back to my parents’ place in New Jersey,
where I grew up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hadn’t lived there
since I was 18 and in high school. But they were cool and let me move back so I
could figure stuff out.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I applied for
a couple hundred jobs back in New Jersey and Philly and wasn’t having success there,
either. I took this as a sign that I should try something else, and started
looking at the medical field. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I like the
idea of helping people. That’s one thing that attracts me to music—interacting
with people all the time, both onstage and in your audience. And that’s why I also
like teaching. I studied science in undergrad, so that’s why I started looking
at the medical field.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Based on my
research, I didn’t want to go into a Western modality because I feel that in
most cases it doesn’t treat root of the problem. In many cases, it does more
harm than good. So I looked at a bunch of alternative modalities and
interviewed people in the professions. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Acupuncture has something going for it,
and there’s a fair amount of scientific research being done on it. And there
are a lot of related treatments you can do, such as massage, herbal formulas,
nutrition, and gentle movement activities like chi gong, yoga, or tai chi. You
also have to learn a certain amount of Western medicine.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">At the time I
decided to pursue it, there was one school for which I hadn’t missed the
deadline. So I applied and within two weeks I was out here in L.A. again. I’m now
in my fifth semester of a twelve-semester program.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">How did you re-establish yourself as a
musician in a new city?</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I knew a
couple people from UCLA through the Banff Festival. I asked everyone I knew if
they knew anyone in L.A., especially trumpet players. I sent emails and
Facebook messages and tried to get together with whomever I could, mostly
trumpet players though. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">As a result of that, I did find an opening in an
all-female brass group, so that set the ball rolling and I got other gigs after
that. I like Balkan music, so I contacted everyone in town for that and I
helped start my own group. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">You have to really be out there and networking. Now
that I’m in school, I don’t really have the time; but I’ve decided that’s not a
priority for me right now, so I’m not going to worry about it, TOO much.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Could you have gotten into acupuncture
school if you hadn’t studied science in undergrad—i.e., what were the
pre-requisites?</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Oh, yeah, definitely.
Different schools have different requirements. My school required something
like 60 or 90 credits. I don’t even think you need a degree, just a certain
number of credits. So there are people here who are quite a bit younger than me
who do not have college degrees. But most people come from really diverse backgrounds.
I think the most popular ones are business or something like massage therapy. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Did you ever have a job in the science
field between undergrad and your Master’s at Temple?</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I had some
internship jobs during undergrad. But I went straight from undergrad to grad
school. I finished at Rutgers in fall 2004 and then started at Temple in January
2005. At that point I didn’t want to do anything with the science that I’d
studied—possibly ever, but at least not then. I really wanted to try the music and
put the eggs in just that basket.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">What’s your typical schedule?</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">In addition
to being in school full-time and freelancing, I work in the library about 15
hours a week and I occasionally work in the clinic as a receptionist. The
library job is good for me because I can multi-task, which is a very big part
of trying to do all of this stuff. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">This semester I’m taking 19 credits and
auditing four additional credits at a different college. It’s kind of intense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many Western docs who do the program say they
find it just as hard if not harder than their programs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s A LOT of memorization AND connecting
the dots.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">This semester,
my schedule has been a little bit scattered. In the previous semesters, I would
go to UCLA from 7 to 9 almost every morning and do a basic practice routine
with friends there, then head over to school for class by 10 o’clock. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">This
semester, since they changed the time from 9-11 (I usually have to be at school
by 9 or 10), and I’m taking a lot more credits, I get practice in when I can.
It’s usually either early in the morning or after 8 or 9 o’clock at night. Sometimes
I work on Saturdays for four hours at the school, but the weekends are freer,
generally.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Are you playing every day in order to
stay in shape?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d imagine that’s
particularly important for a brass player.</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I’m playing
almost every day, but I’m not freaking out about practicing every day like I
would have done a couple years ago. Instead, I’m choosing when I want to
practice. One thing that can help people is to have groups that they play with
regularly. That keeps the motivation level up, because when you’re isolated, I
find it harder to be motivated.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">If you take time off, what do you do
to get back into shape?</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I’ve been
finding really good success with the brass program called <a href="http://patricksheridan.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Breathing Gym</i> and </a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://patricksheridan.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1">Brass Gym</a>.</i>
It’s a routine that was developed by two really great tuba players, Patrick
Sheridan and Sam Pilafian. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">It starts with breathing techniques that we use
probably most specifically as brass players, but it’s pretty relevant to anyone
doing something with their air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’ve
even been doing medical studies with asthmatics for instance, with good results.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I have found
that the results from that program stay even if I’m away from the horn, which
is not something I’ve ever really run into before. So that’s been pretty
amazing for me, not just physically but mentally, there’s so much less stress. I
feel like my playing has gotten better than ever in the last two years just as
a result of doing this program. When I’m off, I just go straight back to the
routine. It may take a day or two but it gets you back pretty quickly.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Also, I’m not
as stressed out as I was when I was just freelancing and worrying about money. I
was so worried about making rent, but now not having that pressure helps, just
being more relaxed in general. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">You said that you had some recent
success with auditions.</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I took three
auditions this summer. First one was Eugene Symphony, second trumpet. I
advanced, but I didn’t win the job. They ended up picking two people to do one-year
trials. They put me on the sub list and said I was their choice after the guys
who won. So for me, that was positive.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">The next
audition I took was Spokane, WA, third trumpet. I didn’t advance; but it was
unusual because a representative from the committee came to talk to us and said,
“We had a really hard time deciding, and we really wanted to advance all four
of you in this round. We really like your playing and we definitely want you to
come back and audition if there’s another opening.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I thought that was kind of
nice. I had never heard of that happening before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are two guys who have been in the
orchestra a long while so it makes me think they were being truthful as well as
nice; maybe the next audition is not TOO far off!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">And I took
Tucson. That one didn’t go as well, but I was happy that I kept my calm throughout
the whole thing. I didn’t make any really crazy mistakes. I wasn’t feeling
awesome, but I don’t think it really reflected in my playing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t take an overnight on Amtrak to an
audition!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">How did you prepare for the auditions?</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Well, I
hadn’t been doing very much classical for a couple years. As soon as I got out
of school, I got interested in Balkan music and was playing a lot with West
Philadelphia Orchestra and my own project, Galata Ensemble, which does Turkish
music, as well as other gigs ranging from wedding bands to indie rock
recordings to early music.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">So I was doing
a bunch of different things, but the classical gigs started going away, maybe
because I wasn’t enough in that scene. I noticed people want to put you in a
box. I’d been told not to tell classical people that I do this other music.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Your practice
has to reflect what you’re doing, to an extent; since I was playing these other
styles, I wasn’t practicing much classical. I found out about the Eugene
audition about three weeks beforehand, which wasn’t a lot of time. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">So I just decided
to really concentrate and go for it. I made the practicing a priority over my
studying, which resulted in one really bad but isolated test grade. I took
lessons with some people in the L.A. Phil. It was hard to set those up at the
last minute, but it was worthwhile because I hadn’t played for them before. They’re
all really nice and had some good comments. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I think that
being in general good shape helps, and the knowledge that you get in classical programs
doesn’t really go away. It’s just getting it under your fingers and getting a
feel for it again, so it wasn’t quite as hard as I originally thought. If I was
taking as many credits as I am this semester, it would have been a lot harder.
I’m not sure how I would have done.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Where do you see yourself when you’re
finished with acupuncture school?</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Right now, I
think I definitely want to continue doing music. I feel like that’s going to
determine what I do after school for acupuncture. I’d like to be in an area
where I’m going to be able to freelance a lot more than I’m doing right now,
maybe in a smaller city where it would be a little easier to be one of the main
people on the scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure where
the best places will be. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I’d also like
to find a place where there’s not as much competition for acupuncture and
Chinese medicine. Here in L.A., there’s a ton of acupuncturists. That makes it
a good place to study, and the general public is into it and more aware of it.
But it does make it hard, career-wise.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">That’s also
part of taking the auditions. If I win something, that’s going to be where I
set up my acupuncture practice. The traditional mode of practice in the U.S.,
at least, is to open your own clinic. I still have another two years in the
program to see different ways that people work. My priority is having a
regular, good-quality place to play and I’m flexible about where it would be.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I’m also
looking into opportunities overseas or on cruise ships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m going to Turkey over break and will visit
a clinic in Istanbul to see what practicing is like there (and hitting a few
jam sessions too!)<i>.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Do you use things that you learned in
your musical training or your musical career in your new field of study?</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Definitely
the ability to interact with largely different types of people. If I was only
in one genre of music, I might only run into one genre of people and only be
comfortable around them. I think in the medical field, you want to have some
decent social skills and be comfortable around most people.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Musicians
always have to work hard, so the idea of discipline definitely transfers into working until the job gets done or you know what you need to know. There’s
always something more to work on or to study, and that’s definitely true for
acupuncture and Chinese medicine, too. Most of the people in my school are very
disciplined. This school usually has the highest pass rates on the board exam I
believe, so I think there’s a high level in general.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Also, time
management and multi-tasking. Even as I’m here talking to you, I have my
notecards up. I’m paying attention to you, but when you were gone for a second,
when the call dropped, I was looking at my flashcards. That’s why I like
working in the library, because I’m getting paid but I’m also can study or do
other things. I think that’s very important—how good you are at multi-tasking. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">And, like I
mentioned before, the brass program that I do is the most efficient and effective
way that I’ve found to practice and keep my chops up. Efficiency is very
important, because you’re not going to have the time, or even energy, to mess
around. You need to go with what works, what’s going to get you results, and do
it in a small amount of time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">How do you keep track of your
schedule?</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I pretty much
keep everything in my head. A lot of my classes, work shifts, and rehearsals
happen at regular days and times. I do use iCal to keep track of any things
that are different, although I find that I don’t usually reference it. But I
think the act of writing it down makes it stick. With rehearsals, there are
usually so many emails going back and forth coordinating them that you know
when they are.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Do you have any downtime, and if so,
what do you do for fun or hobbies?</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">There’s not
as much downtime, but I’ve been trying to travel a little bit more. I went to Mexico
last year to visit a friend. I took Spanish lessons, which was good because I
have a research project coming up in Panama, which I’ll need to know some
Spanish for, and it’s also helpful for gigging in L.A. I was even offered gigs
when I was in Mexico, so that was cool. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">This coming break, I’m going to Turkey.
I love Turkish music, so I’m going to try and do some playing when I’m there,
and also relax. I guess my hobby lately has been planning where I’m going to go
travel and learning about cultures. And I like gardening. I grow things that I
can eat, which saves me money. I also like to cook.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I think
that’s a big thing: It’s ok to have some downtime and do things like that. I
think it’s combining all these things that you want to do in the little amount
of time that you might have. For instance, I like to bike, so I bike to school,
and that’s also a good part of the exercise that I do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I save money which is great too!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">And,
music-wise, in addition to gigs I think it’s good to have an actual, tangible
thing that you’re working toward to keep you going, so you’re not just doing
your job. Even if it’s something small. I just downloaded some new, amazing CDs
and I might transcribe or learn to sing some of these tunes, for example.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Some people don’t like this question,
but I keep trying it with everybody. Who are your role models, or who inspires
you?</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">In terms of how
I live my life, I feel very inspired by the works of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gurdjieff">Gurdjieff</a>. Also some
people over at <a href="http://sott.net/">sott.net</a>, an alternative news website. They have some really
good philosophies on how to live your life in a pretty conscious way, but
dealing with reality.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">At this school,
I have some good mentors. Two of my teachers here were actually full-time
professional musicians before they entered school. One of them, a former
trombonist, decided that he was done with the whole music thing, and was
choosing a new adventure. The other guy, a guitarist, decided he wanted to do
it on his own terms. He didn’t play for a year or two when he was in school,
but he eventually got back into it. He doesn’t gig in public but he says he
practices a couple hours every day. He loves it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">They’re really great mentors
as far as the medicine goes too. I’m very inspired by their style of practice,
their knowledge, and the way they interact with their patients and students at
the school.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">What advice would you give to young
people considering careers in music?</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I would say
go for it, but don’t pay for it. Having that debt is a very serious thing. More
and more people get trapped in that, and it really limits what you can do
afterwards. That was definitely a big consideration for me. I did not go into
debt going to music school; I was actually paid. So I would say, it’s fine if
you want to explore that. Totally go for it and do the best that you can. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">But people
are really going to try to sell you on their schools and no one can guarantee
you a job. You can work your butt off, but it’s just a fact that there are so
many really talented, qualified musicians out there. You might not have as much
freedom to do what you’d like to do, or even to change your mind if you take on
a lot of debt. I wouldn’t be in acupuncture school right now if I had
outstanding debt from before.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Be realistic
about what sort of life you want to live, too. I think one reason I did
reasonably well in Philly is that I don’t need a lot to be happy. I didn’t have
a car. I didn’t need to live in the richest neighborhood or have a huge
apartment. There’s no shame in wanting those things, but you have to know what
sort of a life you want and what financial resources that lifestyle requires. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">There are
still going to be opportunities to play music even if you’re not doing it full-time
in an orchestra. I’ve interacted with many people—especially outside of the
classical world—who have day jobs and play music, and they love it.</span></div>
Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-86613815730977965612012-12-04T22:24:00.000-05:002013-07-28T00:34:24.893-04:00One Reason Why I've Been M.I.A.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI27kO8hoEf8EKsv5dmqiuKAoOqQE77e_bGf2W1gzgDPGyGqcZXWHi6mABRzjeqMHExehQysLyccat5d0vnT5GRjQvZ_d_vKsu-lk1Spmy4jIo6LlUyXGyB_wHGBetP8kQgEEnix5l9k0/s1600/mia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI27kO8hoEf8EKsv5dmqiuKAoOqQE77e_bGf2W1gzgDPGyGqcZXWHi6mABRzjeqMHExehQysLyccat5d0vnT5GRjQvZ_d_vKsu-lk1Spmy4jIo6LlUyXGyB_wHGBetP8kQgEEnix5l9k0/s1600/mia.jpg" height="126" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Readers, I miss you! As you know, the past two months have been crazy between my <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/11/how-i-spent-my-summer-vacationer-rather.html">oboe life</a> and my <a href="http://recoveringoboist.blogspot.com/2012/10/how-is-special-event-like-performance.html">Curtis life</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now, some "extracurricular" projects are a priority for the next few weeks, including: For the second year in a row, I am serving as a volunteer grant panelist for the <a href="http://www.philaculturalfund.org/">Philadelphia Cultural Fund</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">PCF distributes money from the City of Philadelphia to its cultural sector. I believe this year ~275 organizations applied for ~$1.6 million of available funding. (You do the math and tell me if you think that's enough City funding for what the GPCA <a href="http://www.philaculture.org/research/reports/arts-culture-economic-prosperity-greater-philadelphia-2012">report</a><a href="http://www.philaculture.org/research/reports/arts-culture-economic-prosperity-greater-philadelphia-2012">ed</a> as having a $3.3 Billion with a Capital B economic impact.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">PCF uses what's called a "peer panel review process" to determine grant recipients and award amounts. This means that rather than solely the board deciding who gets the money, like with most foundations, </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">a group of experts in the field objectively reviews, discusses, and scores grant applications to guide the board in its decision-making.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm on 1 of the 2 music panels, which will review and rate 20 small/mid-sized organizations. Then PCF's board uses a formula, which factors in our scores as well as the organization's budget size, to determine the award amount.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">One fun part of the PCF process is they also require panelists each to meet in person with a few organizations. This year, I've been assigned as the "site visitor" for the Mendelssohn Club and <a href="http://bach-fest.org/">The Bach Festival of Philadelphia</a>, which I met with today. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">A relatively new organization called <a href="http://cultureworksphila.org/">CultureWorks</a> handles all of their administrative work, so our meeting was at their sweet new office: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOajsc4dz_Suo0vttLG1tPQIF_43xcmHSufOWMNCGgizByyh8qe_nuHDm0T0B2CUo2cBv3ZFtQPZKNtioJSvuE3sFja5Ni6zPt9MXpUhzudJcbQjMrLt7-ygoWFvPzPCq0uGz745EENaM/s1600/cw2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOajsc4dz_Suo0vttLG1tPQIF_43xcmHSufOWMNCGgizByyh8qe_nuHDm0T0B2CUo2cBv3ZFtQPZKNtioJSvuE3sFja5Ni6zPt9MXpUhzudJcbQjMrLt7-ygoWFvPzPCq0uGz745EENaM/s1600/cw2.jpg" height="241" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>Mostly I just wanted to post these cool pics...<br />maybe I should switch to Tumblr.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i> </i></span> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf6xix6wxrDxLRBOqCYaT6bKDFB93aRdELnpZZXUsx4tMFz6I4m_Dtsc3zp089VMXCp_xALXpYOR5YsC6EOky_zOcZWAX4bg7kTUR68ZhDD42TJc9VDub6nYF51z_Hd3L2mqFzbVagHF8/s1600/cw1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf6xix6wxrDxLRBOqCYaT6bKDFB93aRdELnpZZXUsx4tMFz6I4m_Dtsc3zp089VMXCp_xALXpYOR5YsC6EOky_zOcZWAX4bg7kTUR68ZhDD42TJc9VDub6nYF51z_Hd3L2mqFzbVagHF8/s1600/cw1.jpg" height="241" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i> </i> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">CultureWorks is having an <a href="http://cultureworksphila.org/events/2012-12-13-150000-2012-12-14-020000/cultureworks-coworking-grand-opening">open house/house party</a> next Thursday. I recommend checking it out to see some awesome design and learn about what is probably a unique organization in Philadelphia. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Bach Festival is pretty cool, too. And now that I've learned that their principal oboist is Geoffrey Burgess, the man who <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Oboe-Yale-Musical-Instrument/dp/0300100531">literally wrote the b</a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Oboe-Yale-Musical-Instrument/dp/0300100531">ook on the oboe</a>, I hope to check them out this spring (assuming it doesn't conflict with my own <a href="http://www.bach.org/">Bac</a><a href="http://www.bach.org/">h Festival</a> performance).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Serving on the PCF panel is a lot of work, but I really enjoy and value it for several reasons:</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b> </b></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>It improves my own grantwriting</b>. There's almost no better way to learn what works and doesn't work in a proposal than to read dozens of them and participate in a discussion with industry leaders about the strengths and weaknesses of organizations and their applications.</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It's a little bit <b>nosta</b><b>l</b><b>gic</b>. The first grant application ever I did was for PCF back in 2007 when I worked at the Relache Ensemble and was my introduction to this crazy field.</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's <b>fun</b>. Yes, I am a geek, but I honestly like reading a ton of grant applications and talking "shop" about them with my colleagues.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's a good way to see what's going on in the <b>sector</b>. My general conclusion last year was there is a lot of good work being done and we need to cultivate more support for it!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">I value transparency and integrity and I think the peer panel review process ensures <b>fair distribution of YOUR mone</b><b>y</b>.</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">After last year's panel meeting, I felt invigorated, honored to be in the Philadelphia arts scene, and appreciative of my job at Curtis. I am proud to volunteer on behalf of the arts sector and the City's taxpayers, and look forward to this year's PCF panel meeting.</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Good luck to all of the applicants!</span>Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-44807524568185298642012-11-28T19:44:00.000-05:002013-07-28T00:34:53.214-04:00Greetings from the Inn at Bethlehem<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ok, not quite: Greetings from the Comfort Suites in Bethlehem, PA. I'm up here with <a href="http://www.bach.org/">The Bach Choir of Bethlehem</a> </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">for two days of our "Bach to School" educational programs</span> for middle schoolers in the Lehigh Valley.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-s190IeIQqPrgAV9erkaCmcPHrVNS-SxeyvgBKcSZVsqiywH6LzV-AB6GslXk3p7g-1UCBHaNEsf3JzbvxI2x25QqOvMfd3WiE0WHMFq20mUpgToQIZHdJdmhVpdl6XcJ0Z04HspRex0/s1600/bach+choir+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-s190IeIQqPrgAV9erkaCmcPHrVNS-SxeyvgBKcSZVsqiywH6LzV-AB6GslXk3p7g-1UCBHaNEsf3JzbvxI2x25QqOvMfd3WiE0WHMFq20mUpgToQIZHdJdmhVpdl6XcJ0Z04HspRex0/s1600/bach+choir+2.jpg" height="241" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">The kids have been learning about Bach in their classrooms, so they are well-prepared for what they hear in our hour-long program. We do excerpts from cantatas and chamber pieces and demo various instruments. Usually the kids know someone in the choir because we have a few teachers and school principals. Some of them take music lessons. Our conductor, Greg Funfgeld <i>(pictured below in front of the choir)</i>, facilitates a lively Q & A with the students.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">Big thanks to The Bach Choir for providing a lovely room with a view <i>(pictured below) </i></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">since tomorrow's first job is at 9 AM in East Stroudsburg, PA -- more
than 2 hours from Philly with no traffic. </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">This non-morning person is
greatly appreciative of the accommodations much
closer to the job. I'm watching TV, taking a bath in the giant whirlpool tub -- two things I can't do in my Philly studio apartment -- and also transcribing a few interviews for you, my dear readers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>"I can see Russia from my house -- on my giant flat-screen TV while I'm in the whirlpool bath!"</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;">In 4th grade, I said I wanted to play the English horn and soprano sax after learning about the instrument families in our rural Central Pennsylvania elementary music class. I did oboe instead because you can't start on English horn; I eventually played alto sax for about 6 years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Whatever the
results of "Bach to School" are as far as long-term audience building
for The Bach Choir or classical music, I'm not sure. But if we expose these kids, some from not-so-great homes,
to the beauty and majesty of Bach, performed at a true level of
excellence, even for an hour? That's not a bad way to spend a day. </span>And you never know who might become a lifelong musician or music lover, if they only had the opportunity to hear it. Maybe there were a few in the audience today.</span><br />
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Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067824073353107949.post-28270771455883909302012-11-25T12:49:00.002-05:002013-07-28T00:36:03.736-04:00Shannon Langman, Mezzo-Soprano and Photographer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Mezzo-soprano
<a href="http://www.shannonlangman.com/"><b>Shannon Langman</b></a> teaches and performs frequently in Houston, where she resides
with her husband, tenor Gregory Smith<i>. </i></span>Shannon was a Young Artist with
Tri-Cities Opera in Binghamton, New York and spent two seasons with The Ohio
Light Opera. She has sung solo parts with The Houston Symphony and the Orquesta
Sinfónica Nacional de Mexico.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Shannon received her Master of Music Degree
in Opera Performance at The Moores School of Music at the University of Houston
where she was the recipient of the prestigious Cynthia Woods Mitchell
Scholarship. She is also the owner of <a href="http://www.shannonlangmanphotography.com/">Shannon Langman Photography</a>, specializing
in musician headshots.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/UuCwEgn2Xj4?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;"><i>(More videos on Shannon's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/magnolia745?feature=guide">YouTube Channel</a>)</i> </span></div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">What is your typical schedule?</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I pretty much
do something different every day. A typical photography day would be: Make the
appointment with the client, usually over Facebook or email. I get all of my
gear together in the morning of a photo shoot that I have scheduled. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">My photo
studio is a loft at the Old Rice Hotel and Crystal Ballroom, a swanky sort of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mad Men-</i>style apartment building. Then I
have the photo shoot for a couple of hours, come home and work on the images on
my laptop, and make an online gallery for the client.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Then maybe I
teach a couple of voice lessons later that evening in my home studio. My
husband and I both teach voice lessons, so we made a studio at our home right
outside of downtown Houston. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I have a weekly
church gig, so that’s my regular singing. And then I have small performance
gigs. I do a lot of oratorio singing and masterworks concerts.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I love the
flexibility with my schedule. One thing isn’t necessarily more important than
another. If I need to, I can move a photo shoot to a different time of day or
another day. Usually clients are OK with that. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Sometimes, especially with opera
headshot shoots, I coordinate with one of my favorite makeup artists. So if a
conflict happens, I’m coordinating with more than one person. I sort of feel
like I’m a producer in that way, and I wouldn’t back out of that. It takes a
long time to reschedule more than one person.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJXTMchCn3h22YFK6heX8-k42-cV6XfYeIB9HHMa1umnwCcz6S0UfRULeDtpMUUCglHH6rteFhQeX2qbmd7J5GT0lzoUkQhnOmKxJVlx4-6n8lJzrVFdU_novUmhvGhuWPccTMyjoOLXM/s1600/shannon+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJXTMchCn3h22YFK6heX8-k42-cV6XfYeIB9HHMa1umnwCcz6S0UfRULeDtpMUUCglHH6rteFhQeX2qbmd7J5GT0lzoUkQhnOmKxJVlx4-6n8lJzrVFdU_novUmhvGhuWPccTMyjoOLXM/s1600/shannon+photo.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Tell us about your photography
training.</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I’ve been a
photographer for about four years now. I am a self-taught photographer, in that
I do not have a degree in photography; however, I learn from every photo
experience and I have apprenticed with some inspirational photographers that
have been willing to share their processes. I take every opportunity to learn
more and to hone my craft.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">There are
seminars that you can pay to attend, but I joined a lot of free online
photography programs and clubs and did a lot of webinars to learn specific
camera techniques toward my own style and gear. It does take a lot of effort to
learn it on your own, but there is so much information out there at your
fingertips if you are interested and hungry enough.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I did take a
lot of time and effort in honing my own style and it was very frustrating for a
couple of years to get things the way I envisioned in my head. But it’s a
different art form in that way—the learning process, that is. After I learned
as much as I possibly could about my gear, I found my own vision of what I
wanted to do through that. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">What I found
most intriguing about photography is that you never know everything about it. Sort
of like being a musician; I’m constantly learning about my own instrument as I grow
up and mature into it. Photography is exactly the same way. Once you have more
life experience and you’re more open to different aspects or different types of
photography, you just learn more about it and get better at it that way.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">What made you want to go into
photography in addition to your singing career?</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Honestly, I
got to the point in my singing career where I said, “This is taking over my
life. I need a hobby.” As an artist, I needed something else. It actually
relieved the pressure from my performing artistry. When you put all of your
finances and life stability and everything on a career that’s so not stable, it
begins to affect your creativity in a stifling way. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Photography’s not a stable
lifestyle, either. However, for me, it has actually been more stable than my
singing career was. I just kind of fell into it in a way that was second
nature, and having them both professionally seems to relieve the pressure and
enhance my creativity and artistry through both platforms.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">At any point, do you or did you want
your career to be entirely based on performing?</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">When I
started my education, that’s what I thought I wanted. But it’s hard to envision
what your life will be like in music because everyone’s career is different. So
it was hard to imagine my daily life as an opera singer at such a young age and
I didn’t really have a lot of role models. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">But I remember
thinking—even back then, when I chose to be a performance major—that I wanted
to do something a little different every day. I thought my academic choice
would allow me to do that. Now looking back, I think that yes, I did want to
just to perform. However, I didn’t realize what that meant on the day-to-day
lifestyle.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">But I
honestly don’t know that my career ever strayed from focusing entirely on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">music</i>. Most of the photo shoots I do are
opera headshots and concept classical promotion shoots. A lot of the
photography I’ve been doing lately is classical musicians—online presence
shoots for promotional purposes. Most musicians have a “home base” online and
need an online persona whether they have a manager or not. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Social media
sites and platforms are great marketing tools that artists can use themselves.
And I kind of like to do that within my photo shoot—help spread the awareness
and empower artists to market themselves and use the images in that way.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I’m
constantly looking for a platform to say what I have to say, and it usually has
something to do with music. I started singing because I wanted to communicate
and relate to people. In my photography, I try to evoke something from the
people I shoot that they may not be able to do on their own, and in the
teaching studio I find I do all the above and hopefully inspire confidence
through training. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I feel like in all three aspects of my arts entrepreneurship,
I’m doing the same thing, just in different forms.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Are you still taking auditions?</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Not so much
taking auditions; however, I do take gigs, which mostly come up in or around
the Houston area in the past couple of years. Most notably, solos with the Houston
Symphony, among other fantastic opportunities with thriving smaller opera
companies and Master Works Concert Series. Sometimes things will come up at the
last minute or I am asked to do smaller solos for works that don’t require a
lot of preparation and that don’t require an audition. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I’m not
actively seeking or pursuing an operatic career at this point; however, I’m
still a working singer. I forever will be an opera singer; I am at a level
where it’s not something I will give away for free, and I do hold a high
standard for myself. I understand how much work and compromise goes along with
such a demanding career pursuit, and have immense respect for and am so lucky
to be able to work with such high-caliber artists in my photography studio.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">When you do have a job coming up, how
do you fit in the preparation?</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I have a
practice routine that I stick to regardless of a gigs coming up, which helps to
keep my instrument in shape for performance and new repertoire challenges. The
most difficult thing to schedule is rehearsals, mostly because of my teaching
schedule as I like to keep that as routine as possible. With my voice studio, if
I need to cancel or rearrange a lesson, that’s just what I do. I have managed
to take the gigs that are artistically fulfilling, yet not as time consuming as
I used to take on in the past. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I have both a
coach and a teacher who I go to when I’m preparing something. I’m doing the
Verdi Requiem in March and that’s a pretty big sing for me, so I started seeing
my teacher more often. In the past, I have gone to my teacher if I noticed
something in my voice and wanted to find out what was going on for my own
sanity or my own curiosity. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Do you ever take time off from
singing, and if you do, how do you get back into shape?</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I did take a
break from singing for a couple of months a few years back. Getting back into
shape is tough but you just need to get back into a routine. Being an opera
singer is the equivalent of being an Olympiad. You can’t not train for an
extended period of time and then expect to have the stamina to compete and go
beyond your own level of expected performance level on stage. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">For an opera
singer, I would say, it has more to do with muscle memory and strength than anything
else. With singing it’s mostly about supporting the sound and you need to build
up the muscles for the breath and support. Other than that, it’s making artistic
and technical choices and knowing and being aware of your own voice. The
biggest problem with taking a break is if something has changed and you’re not
aware of it. That being said, it is different for everyone, because each
instrument is different.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">How do you keep track of your
schedule?</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Thank God for
Google. My husband and I each have a Google calendar and we sync them. I have a
teaching calendar, a photography calendar, my personal calendar, and we both
have a travel calendar. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I don’t travel a lot much for singing anymore, but
sometimes I travel to shoot weddings. Usually those are booked pretty far in
advance, so my husband and I will try to make a vacation out of it. Our Google
calendar <i>(pictured below)</i> is like, fourteen different colors; even with that, it gets really con<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3067824073353107949" name="_GoBack"></a>fusing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMwzvQQSd8eZeEGORhU-3EIr_AnvhlsbBC-SSUL8YmkKs2jOZaejDOICy2sL6nQRQvpHRjlBVUtWLuYvmaN8_mysqCDxbKM48yT-RIU_EL4RTAXSWcmGSu-j5C9XqziJDhzTnsnTQu3cs/s1600/calendar.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMwzvQQSd8eZeEGORhU-3EIr_AnvhlsbBC-SSUL8YmkKs2jOZaejDOICy2sL6nQRQvpHRjlBVUtWLuYvmaN8_mysqCDxbKM48yT-RIU_EL4RTAXSWcmGSu-j5C9XqziJDhzTnsnTQu3cs/s1600/calendar.png" height="222" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">We also have
a dog, and a number of musician friends that have dogs. When they go out of
town, they will drop their dog off here. When we travel for something, we drop
our dog off there. So we also have a calendar for that. I can’t even imagine
what it would be like with kids. There’s just no way.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I would die
if I didn’t have my phone with me all the time, especially with scheduling. If
I get an email, say, from a student who’s canceled, I don’t like to leave their
spot open. I have a waiting list for my studio, so if I don’t fill that spot,
that means I lose out on that money and I may lose out on a new student ever
getting into my studio. So I’ll see the cancellation email and instantly I
email somebody else. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">People communicate using many different methods—text,
email, Facebook Chat—so I need a phone that can do all of that. If I didn’t
have a smartphone, it would be maybe 24 hours before I could contact somebody.
Instant communication back and forth is imperative for what I do.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxLbN8cB3rixwAz1RWuRw1EHyv3eTrSmTw3_a42uGJcmCGVwZY3UsMk97TNNw1t8Xx3J7yvfcmePEgkDDiz0AUnAFQQwcNf6LRrb75JnDOG-lPgkrxnkbAfUCl-_Dn8Bm2O34wHJNaopk/s1600/IMG_5408_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxLbN8cB3rixwAz1RWuRw1EHyv3eTrSmTw3_a42uGJcmCGVwZY3UsMk97TNNw1t8Xx3J7yvfcmePEgkDDiz0AUnAFQQwcNf6LRrb75JnDOG-lPgkrxnkbAfUCl-_Dn8Bm2O34wHJNaopk/s1600/IMG_5408_2.JPG" height="133" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">My husband <i>(pictured with Shannon at left) </i>is
a tenor, and he has a number of jobs himself, so he understands what this life
is like. He is supportive but it can sometimes be a little frustrating because
we’re both doing a number of things and juggling schedules.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Are there elements of your musical
training that help you in your photography career, and vice-versa?</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Yes,
absolutely. Every time I’m in a photo shoot and I’m trying to get something from
a singer, instrumentalist, or model, I’m constantly thinking, “This is totally
like a voice lesson!” For example, I’ll explain something—some posing stuff—and
I’ll say, “This is about perspective. You may feel like this is awkward, but
it’s not awkward.” I’ll feel like I’m in my own voice studio, telling my
younger students, “It’s all about perspective. You hear it one way, but the
audience hears your voice differently, like on an answering machine outgoing
message.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">In fact, a
lot of times when I’m in a photo shoot, I’ll think back to any number of acting
or opera classes where we would do little things to get a real reaction. I will
try that in a photo shoot to get their persona to come out, rather than just a
pretty picture. Not necessarily that they’re acting, but to get a tangible,
iconic image out of them without saying, “Do this. Do that.” So yeah, it’s
constantly crossing over.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">What advice would you give to young
musicians who are considering making a career out of it?</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I’m faced
with this all the time with my students. I’m of the opinion that everybody has
a certain amount of talent, and that it’s not necessarily the talent or how
hard you work at getting good at something. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I think it’s your ability to
separate your persona from yourself, and how strong you can be in both of those
to be able to be successful in a career like being a musician. Otherwise, I
feel that without a solid support system like that, it’s just so hard to make
that artistry into a business and a career. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I’m speaking
mostly to singers because that’s who I’m confronted with giving advice.
Generally, I’m not the person who says, “Oh, you should totally try for this.”
I’m mostly the person that says, “No. This should be a hobby and you should try
as hard and as skillfully as you possibly can, but try out everything before
deciding this is the career for you.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">And in a lot of cases, I tell them they
need to see at least two live performances of what they are saying they want to
do before putting all the effort into it. In a nutshell: Find out what the
career is, then decide if that is really what you want. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">People always struggle with this
one—which surprises me—but I’ll try it on you anyway: Who are your role models?
Or, one interviewee rephrased it and told me about “who inspires” him.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I love Annie
Leibowitz. She’s a famous photographer, who, among many many amazing works, is
known for the concept shoots for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rolling
Stone</i> covers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I’m
constantly inspired by people who are willing to break the norm. They
understand what’s expected of them and they break those rules a little bit or
expand those lines. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Designers and
fashion people tend to really inspire me. When I’m looking for inspiration for
a photo shoot, I’m constantly trawling Pinterest. It’s my favorite thing. Coco
Chanel totally is inspiring to me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Also, Lady
Gaga. I know that may sound silly but let me tell you why. Not because of her
singing, but because of her voice and the positive way she uses her fame
platform. Whenever I see her being interviewed, she’s always talking about how
she wants everyone everywhere to just be who they are, and be free to do that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Having a positive message and intention in whatever you do is so inspiring to
me. Whatever craft, art, work you’re doing—I mean, it doesn’t matter what it
is. You could be working at a gas station or as an investment banker, but as
long as you have some overall intention for positivity, it reaches humanity on
some front; that is inspiring to me.</span></div>
Amy Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13645455506622085445noreply@blogger.com1