Discussion Panel: Page 5

Several things have come to mind as I’ve read our panelists’ postings so far: how hard each of them has worked, how diverse their projects are, and how single-minded they’ve each had to be. Ray and Angela pointed out that musicians are often good at several things. Chuck and Robert responded to specific “needs” and […]

Yvonne: I’ve seen your publications, Chuck, and I think what you’ve done is a great example of seeing what needs to be done and then doing it. I know you exhibit your publications several times a year…can you talk about that a little bit? Readers might not think of that aspect. Chuck: Just responding to […]

Yvonne: I took the liberty today of passing along to Marcia Farabee your kind comments about her. She told me that you have customized Finale — can you give us some details about that? Maybe it’s because I don’t use it on a daily basis, but I find it to be a bit slow and […]

Yvonne: I think there’s a key sentence in there, Kate: “having a good head for business and being extremely well organized”…can you give us some details about those? (singing in the car is a good example of using every second of your time…) Do you have to file complicated tax forms? Any suggestions for juggling […]

Yvonne: Do you have any engineers in your family? Did you take “shop” classes in middle or high school? I have trouble talking to a car mechanic, I’m not sure I’d have known how to talk to the folks at a machine shop…any advice? Robert: Yes, I did have wood and metal shop in middle […]

Yvonne: Bravo, bravo, Claire! What an inspiring post! My question is for you and for Bridget — can you please tell us in detail HOW you went from the first $605 concert to being a group that knew it would have a season the following year? I think that’s the hard part. Claire: Slow and […]

Yvonne: I love your story about how you got into career services at NEC. Are there other schools that you think are doing a good job in this area as well? (besides Eastman….which hosts Polyphonic!!) Thanks for pointing out that the old stereotypical musician is SO old school. The generation that is entering the music […]

I want to vamp just a little bit on what Angela said in her first post, “Musicians often get hung up on the word “entrepreneurship” because it may seem (to some folks) antithetical to the arts.” I’ve observed this too. I think that some “artists” often confuse entrepreneurship with self-promotion, or they equate it with […]

I posed a question to each panelist about their Day 1 post. (We’ve repeated them here for each panelist, so you don’t have to switch back and forth between Day 1 and Day 2.) Here are their answers:

Things often go in different directions in one’s life by events that drive them in these directions. Shortly after accepting a job as trumpet player with The United States Army Band, I formed a brass quintet for fun, performing concerts in the Washington, DC area. After a few years of investing in music which was […]