Arts entrepreneurship is about creating value to society through innovative ideas, fueled by a vision for how to make the world a better place, as well as a mission of how to make that vision a reality. That’s why successful arts entrepreneurs know their vision and their mission. People are often confused about what constitute a vision and a mission. …
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The Art of Collaboration: Top 10 Skills for Creative Success
This semester, I am teaching a new course at the Yale School of Music using the collaborative project as the vehicle through which to teach arts entrepreneurship and innovation. Arts entrepreneurship involves coming up with innovative ideas that create value to society and actualizing those ideas. Collaboration is more than teamwork, where there is a leader to set the agenda and …
Mock Auditions at the Yale School of Music: A Rich Growth Experience for Music Entrepreneurs
Last week, students at the Yale School of Music were treated to an extraordinary experience: mock orchestral auditions with a panel of 3 world-class musicians: Maestro Peter Oundjian, Music Director of Toronto Symphony and former first violin of the Tokyo String Quartet, and two professors from the Yale School of Music, William Purvis (French Horn) and Robert Van Sice (Percussion). Nine brave student …
The Art of Persuasion: The 4 Elements of Dynamic Presentations for Music Entrepreneurs and Arts Leaders
What is the secret of persuading others to follow your lead? No matter what your station in life-as a musician who is raising money, a member of an ensemble, an artistic collaborator working on a project or an arts leader with a vision that you want to carry out, success often depends on your ability to persuade other people to …
Using Music to Solve Problems: How Music Entrepreneurs Discover Solutions in 3 Steps
How can the process of learning how to perform music help music entrepreneurs and arts leaders solve difficult leadership problems when the answers are not obvious? This was among the questions under discussion at last week’s Opera America’s Leadership Intensive Next Steps (LINS) program, which brought together 15 talented mid-career opera managers to provide advanced leadership training in order to retain high-quality leaders …
Managing the Downturns: 4 Happiness Strategies for Coping with Challenge
” Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” – John Lennon This summer, I planned to take it a bit easier. I scheduled a few teaching engagements, intended to concentrate on the piano, and planned a trip to California to meet my new baby grandson. The rest of the time was going to be devoted to …
Finding Your Life Purpose: 3 Steps to Help Your Career Transition
Throughout our lives, our identities change so when it comes to careers, it should come as no surprise that we have multiple career possibilities and not just one given path. The situation becomes even more interesting when you are committed to finding a career that align with your life purpose so that your work reflects something meaningful to you. This …
How to Stay in Balance over the Summer: 5 Steps for Music Entrepreneurs
Summer is officially here! For many of us, it means a change in routine and the opportunity to do things that we do not have time to do during the rest of the year. School is out, summer festivals are about to begin, you may be on tour and/or you may have more down time around home. How do you …
The Power of Vulnerability: How Music Entrepreneurs Experience Deeper Connections and Authentic Success
Now into their second year, my coaching groups at the Yale School of Music have provided a powerful measure of support to our budding artists as they forge the joys and the uncertainties of the artistic path. This year, our coaching groups were much more free form than last year. Students shared their challenges and successes and we improvised our topics …
How Music Entrepreneurs Make Decisions: Play the Pain/Gain Game
What happens when you are faced with two appealing alternatives and you do not know which one to chose? Now that festival offerings, graduate school acceptances and other training opportunities are rolling in, our students are often faced with making choices that affect their future. How does one decide, say, between going to New York to embark on a freelance …