Innovation and Feedback: An Essential Step for Entrepreneurial Projects

Why is feedback essential to innovation? Let’s examine how students in my Innovation and Collaboration class at the Yale School of Music are learning this lesson through their semester projects. When we last left the music entrepreneurs , the class had explored the needs of today’s audiences and zeroed in on the problem of how to make classical music more relevant …

Cultivate the Happiness Habit: Maximize Flow in Your Creative Career

Last week, I had the privilege of teaching at the Juilliard Lower Strings Seminar, taught by Astrid Schween, the fabulous cellist of the Juilliard Quartet. The  class provides strategies on how to succeed in the world of music.  My topic was how to cultivate the happiness habit and experience more flow in your creative career. Happiness Breeds Success I am …

Today’s Audience For Classical Music: How to Make Classical Music Relevant and Accessible

Every fall, I have the privilege of teaching a project-based seminar to a group of budding music entrepreneurs at the Yale School of Music. The class, Creating Value Through Innovative Collaborative Projects (Music 621a), addresses the problem of how to keep classical music alive and vital in our culture.  My goal is to equip my students with leadership and innovation …

Conductor

“Coaching with Astrid has been an essential part of making several important artistic and personal break-throughs, clarifying my unique strengths and helping to reveal a stronger more confident artistic voice.  Our coaching sessions helped me simplify the issues, create a manageable course of action, and most importantly find out more about who I am, use my strengths and work to improve …

Lawyer and Small Business Owner

“I have had the pleasure of working with Astrid for over 7 years.  Astrid has been an integral part of my career and her coaching has helped guide me from a junior attorney to the owner of my own small business.  Astrid has a unique ability to identify and highlight your strengths and passions and helps coach you on how …

How to Jumpstart Your Creative Career

If you are wondering how to translate your creativity into a career, be sure to read my article this week in forbes.com Use Your Creativity to Jump Start Your Next Career.  I am honored to be featured in forbes.com and am grateful to Robin Ryan, bestselling author, national speaker and America’s top job search expert who invited me to contribute to …

Mentor & Protogee: Challenges and Opportunities for Women Arts Leaders

OPERA America’s Mentorship Program for Women teams emerging female administrators with established leaders. At the 2019 Backstage Brunch at the National Opera Center, I led a discussion with one of the initial pairs of participants: Stacy Brightman, vice president of education and community engagement at LA Opera, and Mitra Sadeghpour, who was recently appointed education director at Minnesota Opera after …

Creative Success Now: Overcome the Creativity Killers

It has been a busy summer for me! I finished up my book, Creative Success Now, which will be published in a few weeks.  I traveled, did some fun guest teaching and performed at my annual piano retreat in California,  pianoSonoma. It was here that I learned a valuable lesson in what to do when your creative pursuits butt heads with …