So here I stand. I graduated from my Master's degree program, and I'm not dead, or crushed by my inner troubled-artist spirit, or living under a bridge playing a washtub bass to pay for my alcoholism (yet). I'm at that critical point in my life where I have to do something - not only for financial security, but because I'm a musician, and I'm in the position now to do what I want to with my art without the restrictions and responsibilities of a music institution. And that can be scary; being any sort of artist has never in human history been an occupation that someone gets into because "it's a secure job" or "it will make you serious money", and the classical music scene is in a rut right now. Concert attendances are dwindling, record sales are almost impossible, and auditions for paying orchestras are few and far between. In addition, it's hard to get out of the structured school schedule that I've been in for the past 19 or so years, let alone these past two years in graduate school.
So, yes, I'm scared (I'm soaking my keyboard in tears as I write this, actually), but that's no reason to quit. Personally, I believe that this is the best time in the world to be a musician. Say what you want about the state of classical music these days - we have so many fellow musicians in our networks to work with, access to megatons of music online (in print and audio), and the ability to go virtually anywhere on the planet, thanks to advances in modern technology and social media. In addition, music has evolved quite a bit in the past century, and it keeps evolving as we continue into this next century. We have a lot to work with, and there are plenty of opportunities to start our own projects, collaborate with our peers, and pave our own way to success outside of the establishments of the standard symphony orchestra, opera company, etc. Letting go of the "practice until you get the job" mantra opens up a creative mind to many new possibilities, and turns that mantra into "practice until I can do what I've been dreaming of doing."
This is what I'm trying to do with my life now. It's the end of September, and I haven't exactly had a great running start when it comes to my personal endeavors, but I'm in motion! At the moment, I'm currently starting a major project with some friends and colleagues of mine: a conductorless chamber orchestra in New Haven, with friends from surrounding areas involved as well. Our mission is to put on an exciting and dynamic concert experience with expert musicians, and to deconstruct the myth that our art is only for the elite and the bourgeoisie. To do that, our current plan is to partner up with local New Haven schools and put on concerts in lower-income areas. While this is an exciting idea, we're not sure how to handle the business side of things just yet - we need to do some serious research about finding donors, marketing, scheduling with venues, etc. These are all things I'll be talking about as the blog goes on, because they're all important tools when it comes to being an artist and businessperson.
So that's all well and good, but that's not keeping me financially stable at the moment. I'm working part-time as an intern at Yale's Collection of Musical Instruments (a lovely place to work and well worth a visit, if you're in the area) and gigging around with my jazz quartet as much as possible. If there's any word of advice I can give about looking for gigs, it's to keep an open mind. For example, in addition to a few jazz gigs, I recently tagged along with some friends and played a show at MagClassic, a small videogame convention in Alexandria, VA (the larger event, MagFest, will take place in February). We performed arrangements of well-known tunes from classic videogames that the audience would know, arrangements by my colleagues and one that I made myself (from a game called Gunstar Heroes - if you have a Sega Genesis and some free time, check it out), and the people loved it. As a matter of fact, the audience doubled in size by the time our show was over! I had never been more proud to be a big nerd.
That brings me to one more point - follow your interests and capitalize on your strengths. In addition to playing bass, I also write and arrange music, which has a potential to lead to bigger and better projects. Making arrangements of pieces for a specific ensemble forces you to work within the limits of what you have, which has all sorts of creative possibilities. Writing music enables you to create your own limitations, or none at all, which also has tons of creative potential. Both of these could be lucrative to a self-made music career, but there are so many other avenues that one can go on that would be beneficial to a music career: management (administration), teaching, engineering, acting, film, therapy, I can go on. There's always a chance that your other interest(s) will pay off - I'm finally starting to get paid for arranging/transcription work - so go with what you got!
I wish I could be more insightful but, to be honest, I haven't really done enough yet. There are plans in motion, but there will be more to come. I'll be posting periodically, with whatever news I have and whatever advice I can offer!
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