“Values are like fingerprints. Nobody’s are the same but you leave ’em over everything that you do.” Elvis Presley Values are your qualities of intrinsic worth and the principles that run your life. Core values help to define who you are and what is truly important to you. In the words of one musician: “Values will help you to create …
SMART Goals for SMART Music Entrepreneurs: How to Make Your Dreams Come True
Musicians abound with passion and creative ideas. For many, however, this abundance of ideas can be paralyzing since they find it hard to figure out which ones to harness, let alone how to make them happen. Here are two ways to help take those great ideas and make them happen: 1. Write down your goals 2. Set a SMART Goal …
The Magic of Group Coaching: Yale Music Entrepreneurs Discover The Power of Group Wisdom and Support
This semester, I launched a new program at Yale: group career coaching. What is Group Coaching? Group coaching is a magical process whereby a small set of peers who share a common goal meet under the guidance of a facilitator/coach to learn new information and share their experience on topics of interest to the group as a way of advancing …
The Mindset of Success: Four Pillars for Today’s Music Entrepreneurs
Note: A longer version of this post appeared in I CARE IF YOU LISTEN. It is a fascinating, challenging time to be a musician. Traditional institutions struggle to remain relevant as new technologies and new ways of performing, disseminating music and interacting with audiences are changing our very world. A new model and more entrepreneurial model of success is emerging. What …
Entrepreneurial Projects: Creating and Pitching Successful Creative Projects
In my last post on the wonderful entrepreneurial projects of my students at Yale, I mentioned that we were very privileged to have a class with leading arts consultant and Yale Drama School Faculty Member Greg Kandel. The class took place at the beginning of our semester when the students were in the process of formulating their project plans and timelines. …
Entrepreneurial Projects: How Today’s Musicians Are Expanding the Horizons of Classical Music
Each semester, the students in my class at Yale learn how to apply their new entrepreneurial skills in a semester project that is subject to two rules: 1. Do something you never done before; and 2. Go outside your comfort zone. The goal is for students to feel free to experiment, focusing on the learning experience and not on achieving …
Creating Success in a DIY World: 4 YSM Music Entrepreneurs Share Their Insights
One of the highlights of my semester is when I invite recent alumni from the Yale School of Music to speak to our students about how they created their career success. My students are consistently impressed and amazed that musicians who are a mere 5-8 years ahead of them are already successfully wending their way through the world of music. …
Crafting a Great Speech to Engage Today’s Audiences: How Musicians Can Become Ambassadors for Music
I am passionate about the importance of speaking to audiences about music because it is an opportunity to bring our audiences into our world and let them discover the transformative power of music. Over the past few weeks, I have been addressing this topic both with my students at the Yale School of Music, as well as at a wonderful …
Quadrant II Time Management for Musicians: Achieve Your Goals by Focusing on What’s Important
The life of professional musicians is complicated! Professionally, musicians engage in a wide variety of activities both for creative stimulation and financial stability: Rehearsals Performances Tours Running concert series and festivals Teaching Collaborations Creating new ensembles and ventures Tending to the business side of being a successful musicians That’s just on the professional side. They also have families and friends, …
Conversation with David Lang: Creativity, Entrepreneurship and What it Means to be an Artist in the 21st Century
Last week, I initiated a new program at the Yale School of Music featuring important thought leaders around Yale to open up a conversation on the arts in the 21st Century. For our first program, I had the pleasure to interviewing my friend and colleague, composer David Lang, along with 3 students at the Yale School of Music, for …