Great Career Materials for Musicians: How to Get Started

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Summer is here and for busy musicians, it often means having a little bit of down time in between festivals and tours.  For proactive music entrepreneurs, here is suggestion for using that extra time to move your career forward: create and/or spruce up your career materials! Your career materials are often the first contact that you will have with prospective …

How Smart Music Entrepreneurs Decide on Gigs: 3 Factors to Evaluate

As young musicians begin to develop their careers, they often wonder how to decide which gigs to take on. The advice from many professional musicians I know–including many of the alumni who have spoken at my class at Yale–is to consider how well an opportunity satisfies the following 3 criteria and to choose gigs that give you 2 out of 3: …

Group Coaching Lessons for Success-Oriented Music Entrepreneurs: Share, Learn and Grow

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This semester, I launched 3 career groups at the Yale School of Music as an experiment to see how group coaching could facilitate learning and growth for entrepreneurial musicians. My intentions were to provide: a positive, supportive, safe judgment-free environment that promotes learning through self-reflection and joint problem solving in which musicians can share with like-minded peers learn tools to help …

Public Speaking for Musicians: Hook Your Audience by Telling Your Story

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Yesterday, I had the privilege of presenting a webinar at the Chamber Music America First Tuesdays series on Public Speaking for Musicians. I strongly advocate that musicians and arts leaders speak to audiences about music.  Indeed, an effective speech can open up new worlds for our audiences by giving them an insight from the perspective of a trained artist on how he or …

Public Speaking for Musicians: Speak From The Heart to Engage Your Audience

Are you glossophobic? In plain English, do you fear speaking in public? You are not alone! Speaking in front of others is a common fear. And yet, many of us are called up to do so, whether at work, in making presentations, in our personal lives making toasts at weddings or eulogies at funerals or leading discussion groups at local …

Managing Audition Rejection: How Music Entrepreneurs Keep Going

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This is the season when music students are hearing about the results of their auditions: from graduate schools, fellowships and summer programs, as well as professional orchestra and other ensemble auditions. With so much competition for a limited number of spots, rejection is a common phenomenon. In two of my recent coaching groups at the Yale School of Music, we went …

Finding Your Passions for Success: Think Expansively To Find Your Sweet Spot

I am a huge advocate of doing what you love and finding passion in your life’s work. Passion is at the heart of entrepreneurship. Not only is it incredibly motivating to have your work reflect what you love but chances are that you will be more successful if you are able to able to find happiness in your life, including …

Find Your Life Purpose in 4 Steps: Your Compass for Navigating Career Success

As someone who has experienced many career transitions, I know what it is like to feel at sea and unsettled by not knowing what direction to take your career. This feeling to “stuck” can happen at any stage of your career: in the early stages of your career when you are not sure which of the many options to follow. …

LOCAV: 5 Top Communication Skills for Today’s Musicians and Leaders

Effective communication is critical in all aspects of your creative, professional and personal lives: for creating powerful connections with your colleagues, friends and loved ones; for teaching; for getting your points across and being understood; for interacting with audiences, donors and supporters; and for heading off conflict. As a savvy music entrepreneur or arts leader, communication is an essential skill …

Managing The Unpredictable: 5 Steps to Help Manage Your Freelance Finances

If you are a freelance musician, you undoubtedly love the fact that you are making a living from your passion, together with freedom that comes along with being in charge of your own life. And yet, that life is fraught with uncertainty, particularly related to your finances: Can I really make money as a freelancer? How can I make money …