http://themusicofthelordoftheringsfilms.blogspot.com
Here's another source of musical inspiration: The Lord of the Rings Scores. Both the music itself & people talking about the music from a theoretical & experiental viewpoint. This blog in particular has some really great interviews with Howard Shore & Douglas Adams (who's written a soon-to-be-published book about the music of the films). Film music has always been something I've been into (since I discovered it) & it often receives very little substantive/informative press, so this is really great to read. Particularly, it's inspiring since the music is so large-scale and so classically-influenced. (It also means I'm really going to have to start exploring Wagner & the rest of Opera soon ... this is going to be a very big journey!).
Howard Shore talks a lot about his musical development & the fact that he'd been composing music since he was ten (I find that to be so cool!) & what he was influenced by & stuff like that ... go check out the interview transcripts ...
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Musical & Personal Growth
I've learned an incredible amount over the last few months (and particularly over the last week) & wanted to take some time to reflect upon that.
I think my main source of growth has been the Sound Shore Chorale. I've just about always liked singing (except in early high school when I was way too nervous to sing for anybody), but SSC has really just been a tremendous experience. I've met all sorts of different people (all older than me - I'm the youngest in the ensemble) & that in itself has been great. However, the real growth has been musically. My sense of pitch (well, really my ability to sight-sing/read) has developed a lot more (from having to prepare the parts on my own) & my listening has improved as well. Through preparing the pieces & having to really internalize & analyze them in a way that you don't always necessarily have to (but should) when reading something on a physical instrument has done wonders for my understanding. I've also started working on learning the accompaniments to the songs we performed & will keep working on that ... I'll talk a bit more about that later. One thing I've learned is that I have a very under-developed sense of pitch (relative to the rest of my sense of pitch) in my lowest register (between 1 & 2 octaves below middle C) - both on cello & voice. This has been improving lately as well.
In addition to that, I've grown a lot as an ensemble member - both in terms of my commitment to an ensemble & learning to be in sync with the ensemble and the conductor. I still need more work on the second (because I tend to work by ear, rather than visually) & need to look up more (because I usually know the music to the point of memorization anyway), but I've really progressed with it a lot.
In addition to all that, I've got a chance to watch Richard Slade as a conductor/musical director & have learned from that. There are two aspects to this position: the musical & the people-management. Musically it involves picking repertoire, rehearsing it on a weekly basis, knowing what your group can handle musically, having an incredible ear, being able to conduct & having/being able to communicate a musical vision. As a manager, it involves having rehearsals & concerts scheduled in advance & spaces reserved, it involves telling everybody the order of pieces over, it involves planning multiple concerts a year, being the most-organized person at the concert & all sorts of other things.
My experience with SSC leads me to my next source of growth - playing in a string quartet. We performed the 3rd (thanksgiving) movement of Beethoven's Op. 132 Quartet (Richard asked me to put this together as part of the program). This was a brand new experience for me. The only other time I've been able to play in a quartet has been playing christmas music & that is hardly even close to the same thing. I've done a fair amount of chamber music before (not an incredible amount, but a good amount for how long I've been playing), but it has always been for other combinations (largely piano trios). Those formats all have their own lessons, but there are things you can only learn through playing a string quartet with other advanced players.
In addition to my musical growth from that quartet, I also learned about the organizational side of putting a quartet together for a performance. This was a very challenging activity! First, it takes time to find players (which proved to be particularly difficult in this instance), who will most likely be very busy, then you have to schedule rehearsals (which is always a challenge). Then add in the difficulty of the work & last-minute problems/illnesses & making sure everyone is on the same page with everything & everything goes according to plan... and there you have it. At the end of the day, everything works out & it's on to the next thing. The whole experience made me think of tour managers and stuff like that for bands & what their experience must be like. In my case, I need to plan things a little bit more in advance & account for time better (I'm usually getting to things just when I need to - unless they're in NYC, in which case, I'm always early b/c I never know how trains will work out)
Another source of growth has been the St. Thomas Orchestra. We performed Harold in Italy & Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony. I have performed Harold in Italy before. I didn't have either piece fully prepared & one thing I have learned is that I need to start working on parts much earlier - even when I have a ton of other activities going on. I need to create a schedule/deadline for working on things & I need to get to a point where I know all the notes by the second or third rehearsal so that in rehearsal I'm actually working on musical things & on following the conductor a lot better. One thing I have gotten much better about is listening to the other parts and fitting my part in with them. Orchestra playing is really just a huge chamber ensemble, and that makes it *incredibly difficult*. I could still do a better/more frequent job of listening, though.
It's also caused me to grow, because I am the weakest cellist in my section. The gap isn't overwhelming, but everyone else has a much more secure technique/knowledge of the parts & it's been great to be around that & watch and learn from them. Particularly, I had one rehearsal where I sat in the first stand (because a lot of people were out) & playing next to Claire was just really inspirational - she is a very strong player. One important thing I've learned from St. Thomas is that it's much easier to dislike the way someone does something than it is to do it well yourself. In the future, I'm going to do things better & make it much more of a point to find things to like/learn from when observing other people (while still being critical).
One thing I've been getting into lately is accompaniment. Not that I've been doing any, but I've been reading about accompanists & working on piano parts for the choral music I'm working on. In general, I'm hoping to develop my piano skills more so that I can start to do accompaniment work & maybe even some day play keyboard in a pit. This will help things financially, but also musically & compositionally. I came to realize from various playing I've been doing that accompaniment is something I really like doing (regardless of what instrument I'm on). It's an enjoyable challenge, and I find it very fulfilling.
So there are some sources of recent musical growth ... there have been more too, which I'll write about soon.
Edit:
One last thing. One of the major ways I've grown over the last few months is that I've developed a lot more self-confidence & comfort in my playing/musicianship. To accompany that, I've also begun to think less of my individual accomplishments (not in a demeaning way) and to start to see the bigger picture & look at how my experience compares to other players'. So in short: more confidence, less ego.
Another thing, it's a little scary to write so openly about my playing on a blog, but I think it's an important part of who I am as a person, so I will always continue to do it to the fullest extent possible.
I think my main source of growth has been the Sound Shore Chorale. I've just about always liked singing (except in early high school when I was way too nervous to sing for anybody), but SSC has really just been a tremendous experience. I've met all sorts of different people (all older than me - I'm the youngest in the ensemble) & that in itself has been great. However, the real growth has been musically. My sense of pitch (well, really my ability to sight-sing/read) has developed a lot more (from having to prepare the parts on my own) & my listening has improved as well. Through preparing the pieces & having to really internalize & analyze them in a way that you don't always necessarily have to (but should) when reading something on a physical instrument has done wonders for my understanding. I've also started working on learning the accompaniments to the songs we performed & will keep working on that ... I'll talk a bit more about that later. One thing I've learned is that I have a very under-developed sense of pitch (relative to the rest of my sense of pitch) in my lowest register (between 1 & 2 octaves below middle C) - both on cello & voice. This has been improving lately as well.
In addition to that, I've grown a lot as an ensemble member - both in terms of my commitment to an ensemble & learning to be in sync with the ensemble and the conductor. I still need more work on the second (because I tend to work by ear, rather than visually) & need to look up more (because I usually know the music to the point of memorization anyway), but I've really progressed with it a lot.
In addition to all that, I've got a chance to watch Richard Slade as a conductor/musical director & have learned from that. There are two aspects to this position: the musical & the people-management. Musically it involves picking repertoire, rehearsing it on a weekly basis, knowing what your group can handle musically, having an incredible ear, being able to conduct & having/being able to communicate a musical vision. As a manager, it involves having rehearsals & concerts scheduled in advance & spaces reserved, it involves telling everybody the order of pieces over, it involves planning multiple concerts a year, being the most-organized person at the concert & all sorts of other things.
My experience with SSC leads me to my next source of growth - playing in a string quartet. We performed the 3rd (thanksgiving) movement of Beethoven's Op. 132 Quartet (Richard asked me to put this together as part of the program). This was a brand new experience for me. The only other time I've been able to play in a quartet has been playing christmas music & that is hardly even close to the same thing. I've done a fair amount of chamber music before (not an incredible amount, but a good amount for how long I've been playing), but it has always been for other combinations (largely piano trios). Those formats all have their own lessons, but there are things you can only learn through playing a string quartet with other advanced players.
In addition to my musical growth from that quartet, I also learned about the organizational side of putting a quartet together for a performance. This was a very challenging activity! First, it takes time to find players (which proved to be particularly difficult in this instance), who will most likely be very busy, then you have to schedule rehearsals (which is always a challenge). Then add in the difficulty of the work & last-minute problems/illnesses & making sure everyone is on the same page with everything & everything goes according to plan... and there you have it. At the end of the day, everything works out & it's on to the next thing. The whole experience made me think of tour managers and stuff like that for bands & what their experience must be like. In my case, I need to plan things a little bit more in advance & account for time better (I'm usually getting to things just when I need to - unless they're in NYC, in which case, I'm always early b/c I never know how trains will work out)
Another source of growth has been the St. Thomas Orchestra. We performed Harold in Italy & Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony. I have performed Harold in Italy before. I didn't have either piece fully prepared & one thing I have learned is that I need to start working on parts much earlier - even when I have a ton of other activities going on. I need to create a schedule/deadline for working on things & I need to get to a point where I know all the notes by the second or third rehearsal so that in rehearsal I'm actually working on musical things & on following the conductor a lot better. One thing I have gotten much better about is listening to the other parts and fitting my part in with them. Orchestra playing is really just a huge chamber ensemble, and that makes it *incredibly difficult*. I could still do a better/more frequent job of listening, though.
It's also caused me to grow, because I am the weakest cellist in my section. The gap isn't overwhelming, but everyone else has a much more secure technique/knowledge of the parts & it's been great to be around that & watch and learn from them. Particularly, I had one rehearsal where I sat in the first stand (because a lot of people were out) & playing next to Claire was just really inspirational - she is a very strong player. One important thing I've learned from St. Thomas is that it's much easier to dislike the way someone does something than it is to do it well yourself. In the future, I'm going to do things better & make it much more of a point to find things to like/learn from when observing other people (while still being critical).
One thing I've been getting into lately is accompaniment. Not that I've been doing any, but I've been reading about accompanists & working on piano parts for the choral music I'm working on. In general, I'm hoping to develop my piano skills more so that I can start to do accompaniment work & maybe even some day play keyboard in a pit. This will help things financially, but also musically & compositionally. I came to realize from various playing I've been doing that accompaniment is something I really like doing (regardless of what instrument I'm on). It's an enjoyable challenge, and I find it very fulfilling.
So there are some sources of recent musical growth ... there have been more too, which I'll write about soon.
Edit:
One last thing. One of the major ways I've grown over the last few months is that I've developed a lot more self-confidence & comfort in my playing/musicianship. To accompany that, I've also begun to think less of my individual accomplishments (not in a demeaning way) and to start to see the bigger picture & look at how my experience compares to other players'. So in short: more confidence, less ego.
Another thing, it's a little scary to write so openly about my playing on a blog, but I think it's an important part of who I am as a person, so I will always continue to do it to the fullest extent possible.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Gig/Activities Summary!
In the last month or two, I've done a ton of different stuff. Here's a summary:
1. Topsy Turvey Loves - a 2 wk. Gilbert & Sullivan (sorta) show ... wasn't the best experience, but I did get to network & meet some awesome musicians. It received mixed press.
2. December's Fall at Flushing Library Halloween Show - this was awesome. Really, the best rock gig I've done! We had a full stage & the audience was mostly kids (I mean kids!) who got really excited over our music & some wanted our autographs & stuff like that after the show - it was so cool! Such a great energy. Tony Baptist was on drums after learning the tunes in *2 days* It was so great to get to play with him again!
3. Brigadoon - My idea of an ideal musical - cello book was great, I got some players involved & met a ton of new ones. The production was with Blue Hill Troupe, who are a great bunch to work with & everything about it was awesome. Low pay, because Blue Hill gives their money to charity, but more than worth it. I wish every gig could be like this.
4. Music Career Workshop at Manhattanville - this was useful & helped me feel like I'm on the right path/doing things well. I knew a lot of the info already, but that's because I've been reading up on this stuff & have a huge variety of interests. I think this was a great step forward for Manhattanville, which I didn't really feel helped me out career-wise very much. Presenters were: Melvin Stecher & Norman Horowitz, Laurie Jakobsen, Justin DiCioccio, Michael Anesta & Christianne Orto.
5. Pam Devenport Masterclass - I watched her teach a masterclass at Hoff (to 12 & under students) & learned a bit from watching it. The most interesting thing was to see how much she emphasized tone & getting a good ringing sound out of the cello. It was also great to see the level of the kids, who are more advanced than my students (and have been doing this longer)
6. Sound Shore Chorale performance at the New Rochelle Public Library - went well, I learned a lot of my parts somewhat last minute, but sang what I knew with confidence & I learned more about what I need to do to develop further as a performer.
7. Photo Shoot - I forgot the artists name, but I did a photo shoot earlier today & will be recording in the future. More details when this materializes more & when I know that I'm allowed to give more info
8. Metallica concert - this deserves its own post ... here's the short version: They kicked my ass & actually improved substantially from last year!
9. I BUILT MY OWN WEBSITE! Please check it out at: http://cellomike.com
That's all for now... I have a recording gig tomorrow morning & 2 more concerts + a quartet movement all within the next week ... can't wait till this is all done!
1. Topsy Turvey Loves - a 2 wk. Gilbert & Sullivan (sorta) show ... wasn't the best experience, but I did get to network & meet some awesome musicians. It received mixed press.
2. December's Fall at Flushing Library Halloween Show - this was awesome. Really, the best rock gig I've done! We had a full stage & the audience was mostly kids (I mean kids!) who got really excited over our music & some wanted our autographs & stuff like that after the show - it was so cool! Such a great energy. Tony Baptist was on drums after learning the tunes in *2 days* It was so great to get to play with him again!
3. Brigadoon - My idea of an ideal musical - cello book was great, I got some players involved & met a ton of new ones. The production was with Blue Hill Troupe, who are a great bunch to work with & everything about it was awesome. Low pay, because Blue Hill gives their money to charity, but more than worth it. I wish every gig could be like this.
4. Music Career Workshop at Manhattanville - this was useful & helped me feel like I'm on the right path/doing things well. I knew a lot of the info already, but that's because I've been reading up on this stuff & have a huge variety of interests. I think this was a great step forward for Manhattanville, which I didn't really feel helped me out career-wise very much. Presenters were: Melvin Stecher & Norman Horowitz, Laurie Jakobsen, Justin DiCioccio, Michael Anesta & Christianne Orto.
5. Pam Devenport Masterclass - I watched her teach a masterclass at Hoff (to 12 & under students) & learned a bit from watching it. The most interesting thing was to see how much she emphasized tone & getting a good ringing sound out of the cello. It was also great to see the level of the kids, who are more advanced than my students (and have been doing this longer)
6. Sound Shore Chorale performance at the New Rochelle Public Library - went well, I learned a lot of my parts somewhat last minute, but sang what I knew with confidence & I learned more about what I need to do to develop further as a performer.
7. Photo Shoot - I forgot the artists name, but I did a photo shoot earlier today & will be recording in the future. More details when this materializes more & when I know that I'm allowed to give more info
8. Metallica concert - this deserves its own post ... here's the short version: They kicked my ass & actually improved substantially from last year!
9. I BUILT MY OWN WEBSITE! Please check it out at: http://cellomike.com
That's all for now... I have a recording gig tomorrow morning & 2 more concerts + a quartet movement all within the next week ... can't wait till this is all done!
Insufficiency
I feel so insufficient when I meet other cellists & tell them I'm working on Haydn C & when I meet other players who have very easy technique/intonation ... I feel like it's such a struggle for me & not for them ... I was getting to that point, but then a lot of personal & work stuff started to get in the way of me practicing enough & not practicing enough really makes me feel insufficient ... I wish I was in an environment where I could just practice 4+ hours a day & everybody around me was doing that ... it's so hard at home when people want things from me & I have to clean stuff up & go to work & people get annoyed at me for not saying hi to them for 4 hours, b/c I've been busy practicing ... I feel insufficient when I get up and play a gig & a song I've played on multiple gigs & rehearsals is out of tune
The insufficiency is a good thing, but the fact that I got to a point where I feel like that at all is not so good ... I just need to get through this next week so I can get to a point where I really just have time to work on my own rep. & music
I also hate not being able to take gigs b/c of work - particularly when it actually looks like something cool/career-useful. I am definitely only going to hold this job through the end of december ... even if it means going back to taxis ... I like B&N better, but the nights/weekends thing is just completely killing me.
Ideally, I'll have more students by then & this won't be necessary (I will be promoting heavily in december)
The insufficiency is a good thing, but the fact that I got to a point where I feel like that at all is not so good ... I just need to get through this next week so I can get to a point where I really just have time to work on my own rep. & music
I also hate not being able to take gigs b/c of work - particularly when it actually looks like something cool/career-useful. I am definitely only going to hold this job through the end of december ... even if it means going back to taxis ... I like B&N better, but the nights/weekends thing is just completely killing me.
Ideally, I'll have more students by then & this won't be necessary (I will be promoting heavily in december)
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Bands
I realized: I can't do them.
I don't think I had blogged about this too much, but I had a band with my brother & 2 college friends: Max & Josh. We hadn't rehearsed in 3 weeks because I had this musical (which I think I still need to write up a post about). So Josh & Max had been writing stuff on their own & when I got in touch with them about scheduling rehearsals, they told me that based on the fact that my schedule didn't really match theirs & that they had been writing stuff together that had really been taking off, they wanted to do their own thing.
I am totally cool with that, and actually happy the band split, because it will free up my time slightly & it gives them the chance to do what they want creatively (because they really jelled with each other in a way that I don't with either of them - at least in that project). Also, I still have Pejoratively Yours with Josh and I'm still good friends with both of them. So this is for the better, and that makes me happy.
It also taught me something: I can't be in a band permanently. Possibly ever, but certainly not right now. I have spent almost all of the last 4 years developing as a freelancer & that has always been my goal and the way I've looked at and molded things. I just never realized what that meant in terms of commitment to something long-term. I'm able to do it with orchestra & chorus & teaching, but because I'm doing all those & because I do things like 3 week musicals and other gigs, I can't commit to a band - it's just too much. To really do a band, it would have to be my main thing, and while I enjoy it enough to do that, it doesn't do the things I need career-wise, so I can't ever make it into my main thing (or at least now I can't). That was a really important lesson to learn.
I've committed myself to being a freelancer - with all the crazy turns and inconsistent income and experiences that come with it ...
So much music to work on right now ... and I'm really behind on my solo album (but my playing has gone way up and is really improving!)
I don't think I had blogged about this too much, but I had a band with my brother & 2 college friends: Max & Josh. We hadn't rehearsed in 3 weeks because I had this musical (which I think I still need to write up a post about). So Josh & Max had been writing stuff on their own & when I got in touch with them about scheduling rehearsals, they told me that based on the fact that my schedule didn't really match theirs & that they had been writing stuff together that had really been taking off, they wanted to do their own thing.
I am totally cool with that, and actually happy the band split, because it will free up my time slightly & it gives them the chance to do what they want creatively (because they really jelled with each other in a way that I don't with either of them - at least in that project). Also, I still have Pejoratively Yours with Josh and I'm still good friends with both of them. So this is for the better, and that makes me happy.
It also taught me something: I can't be in a band permanently. Possibly ever, but certainly not right now. I have spent almost all of the last 4 years developing as a freelancer & that has always been my goal and the way I've looked at and molded things. I just never realized what that meant in terms of commitment to something long-term. I'm able to do it with orchestra & chorus & teaching, but because I'm doing all those & because I do things like 3 week musicals and other gigs, I can't commit to a band - it's just too much. To really do a band, it would have to be my main thing, and while I enjoy it enough to do that, it doesn't do the things I need career-wise, so I can't ever make it into my main thing (or at least now I can't). That was a really important lesson to learn.
I've committed myself to being a freelancer - with all the crazy turns and inconsistent income and experiences that come with it ...
So much music to work on right now ... and I'm really behind on my solo album (but my playing has gone way up and is really improving!)
Busking Attempt #1 - Grade: C
So, today I tried busking in the subway in NYC for the first time. It's something I've wanted to do for a bit & a couple of folks encouraged me to, so I finally bit the bullet.
I tried playing in times square today. It took me a couple of tries to find a good spot. In terms of making money, it was a completely failure. I busked from 12:30-4:30. Over the course of the day, a few people took pictures of me, a few people talked to me about Apocalyptica (I was wearing their t-shirt) & I generally really got people's interest when I was playing double stops/droning against open strings. At the beginning of the day, I met Juan Castillo who is in an Andes Fusion band that busks (and is a member of MUNY) & we talked about maybe playing together. He was very encouraging and said I should join MUNY. While playing, somebody asked me about doing an R&B session & someone else asked me about writing/playing music for a film they were working on. I really hope those go through & I'm definitely going to try busking again - it's a lot of fun. I need to get a better stool to play on though - the one I have is too tall & this makes the whole thing very physically exhausting...
When I got home, I started looking to see if I could find leads for good spots/times to busk ... I haven't found much of use yet, but I did find this: http://sawlady.com/ It's a fun/interesting read.
I haven't written much about technical stuff lately ... I'm planning to start doing so again - I've been really making some good progress. I need to practice more though, and I'm behind on my solo tunes (that's not good!) & I really need to learn Brigadoon by sunday - kind of scary!
I also have started to apply for non-music jobs ... wish I didn't have to, but I really need reliable money.
That's all for now...
I tried playing in times square today. It took me a couple of tries to find a good spot. In terms of making money, it was a completely failure. I busked from 12:30-4:30. Over the course of the day, a few people took pictures of me, a few people talked to me about Apocalyptica (I was wearing their t-shirt) & I generally really got people's interest when I was playing double stops/droning against open strings. At the beginning of the day, I met Juan Castillo who is in an Andes Fusion band that busks (and is a member of MUNY) & we talked about maybe playing together. He was very encouraging and said I should join MUNY. While playing, somebody asked me about doing an R&B session & someone else asked me about writing/playing music for a film they were working on. I really hope those go through & I'm definitely going to try busking again - it's a lot of fun. I need to get a better stool to play on though - the one I have is too tall & this makes the whole thing very physically exhausting...
When I got home, I started looking to see if I could find leads for good spots/times to busk ... I haven't found much of use yet, but I did find this: http://sawlady.com/ It's a fun/interesting read.
I haven't written much about technical stuff lately ... I'm planning to start doing so again - I've been really making some good progress. I need to practice more though, and I'm behind on my solo tunes (that's not good!) & I really need to learn Brigadoon by sunday - kind of scary!
I also have started to apply for non-music jobs ... wish I didn't have to, but I really need reliable money.
That's all for now...
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Breaking the Silence
I don't remember the last time I was under so much pressure/stress/fear. The last 2 months have been something of a nightmare in that sense. This almost all boils down to financial stress - I stopped driving taxis & was left with teaching as my only income - which seemed ok, but then I got some unexpected bills & it's just sorta set all the wheels of questioning & emotional turmoil in motion.
Now, I've added a new level to things. I started looking into Grad school audition requirements. There is basically 1 teacher I want to study with (that's Julia Lichten), which leaves me with two schools I'm applying to - SUNY Purchase & Manhattan School of Music. As of right now, I have zero confidence that I'm going to get in to either. I really just don't think it looks possible, and that's scary. But, that fear is really pushing me to practice and play seriously in a way that I've never done before & I'm starting to see the improvements already.
Despite the improvements though, this has been one of the most confusing and frustrating times in my life. I don't have a teacher, and consequently am struggling to give myself a direction & choose audition pieces & technical exercises and all that. Now add a timetable into this. Purchase pre-screens their auditions (I think MSM does too) & I have to have a cd ready by January 1st - Fuck! I seriously dropped the ball on this. I should have been preparing for this since Summit, working the way I am now. Looking back on things, I've dropped the ball with cello and practicing so many times already, I'm lucky to be where I am.
I also started looking at competitions and stuff like that & I realized how much I dropped the ball with even having the opportunity to do something like that (which ultimately I think is ok in the long run). I'm not really looking to do a traditional classical career, but having the option of entering these things would have been a good thing.
But, that's only 1 part of the whole picture of the last few months. I've been really busy with a lot of things. First of all, I bought the book "Beyond Talent: Creating a Successful Career in Music" by Angela Myles Beeching. What an amazingly helpful, practical and well-written book. I've been learning from that & am getting some good ideas for building my music career from it. But, that of course takes time.
One thing I've started (as of 2 weeks ago) is writing a solo cello album. This kind of just clicked as something I needed to do. I was thinking about the things I'm good at & what I like to do, and thinking about improvisation & realized that I could make a bunch of improv. tracks to sell on Snocap (Myspace's music store). While that idea then turned into "hey, I'm going to write my own album", I'm still very partial to the idea of recording an improv track once a week and selling it on myspace. It's the type of thing that I don't really expect a lot of money to come out of, but maybe some would here & there & at the very least, it makes it look like I have something more to offer as an artist (there are some great examples in Beeching's book about CDs/Demos being used to further peoples' careers despite not paying for themselves in sales).
Which brings me to the next thing I'm planning to develop. Well things: 2 workshops. First, I'm going to develop a Youtube Improvisation series, which I can also make workshops out of. Next, I'm going to develop a Career Advice for Classical Musicians series, which will draw on my experience from the next two years & well everything after that. Beeching's book mentioned that people booking classical shows often are more likely to book artists offering workshops/lectures/etc.
Which brings me to a weak spot of mine: Prepared concert rep. This is getting solved right now by the following: I have to put together a Beethoven Quartet movement for Nov. 22, I have to prepare for Grad. auditions, I will be playing in a Piano Trio at the New Rochelle Public Library in the spring & I will most likely be playing at Beth El at a currently undetermined date in February. This is causing me to really work on all of this repertoire & actually have pieces prepared so that I can put concerts together. Also, I'm realizing that putting together this type of concert is so different than putting together a recital at school - much less academic/pedagogical & much more about the audience.
One of the big things holding me back right now from a career perspective is that I don't know where I can get booked for paying gigs/concerts or how or who to get in touch with. Slowly, but surely, I'm learning all of this & gaining new information bit by bit. I'm also planning to record Pejoratively Yours material in the near future & start marketing that to various clubs & whatever else I can.
So I have a lot of the big plans set up ... I just don't know how I'm going to pay my bills right now. Here are my current options:
1. Work at Barnes & Noble again as a seasonal employee - this is beginning to look tempting
2. Work at taxis - this is the last thing I want to do. I can be non-committal and only work 1 day a week & while that freedom's nice, I also will be lazy about working & thus not earn money. Plus, it's not the social circle I want to expand into.
3. Extra work - I keep seeing this advertised on Craigslist & am seriously considering it ... I could make somewhere around $100 a day or maybe more doing this & that sounds very worth it, even if it probably means giving up my whole day.
4. Temp Agency - this was recommended to me & I just don't know anything about getting involved with one, but am considering it
5. Find some kind of regular paying gig - like a church job. This is exactly the thing I don't know how to look for. Every church is looking for an organist/pianist & my piano skills are just not there.
6. Get 1-3 more students. - this is ideal & part of what's holding me back from doing this has been being lazy/not having much time & even if I put the work in, there's no telling how long it will take to get more students, not to mention that teaching can be a bit inconsistent (with students cancelling). I also would really like to find my own teaching space (I can use my apartment now, but honestly, it's a gross mess & I'd feel so much more professional in a set space somewhere).
7. Get a part time teaching gig - I would *love* this, but there just doesn't seem to be a lot out there & I haven't gotten a response from the little I've replied to. There does seem to be a lot of "In Home Lessons" & I would honestly really like to get out of that rather than get further into it, because it just does not pay as well & eats up a chunk of my time & always involves logging lessons, which is just frustrating.
Other recent activities include:
Playing shows with December's Fall - always fun
Creating a mailing list (if you'd like to be included on this, just email me your email at mluna87@gmail.com)
Topsy Turvy Loves - a 3 wk off-off broadway musical (this merits a whole journal entry by itself & may get one if I can find the time, though I may also have to wait until the production ends this saturday.)
Brigadoon - A 1 wk. musical with Blue Hill Troupe that I'm doing at the end of the month
Current Regular activities include:
Sound Shore Chorale
St. Thomas Orchestra
Teaching
Practicing
Writing 1 tune a week (2 completed so far)
Alright ... that's just a slice of the pie so far, but all I'm gonna write for this moment.
Now, I've added a new level to things. I started looking into Grad school audition requirements. There is basically 1 teacher I want to study with (that's Julia Lichten), which leaves me with two schools I'm applying to - SUNY Purchase & Manhattan School of Music. As of right now, I have zero confidence that I'm going to get in to either. I really just don't think it looks possible, and that's scary. But, that fear is really pushing me to practice and play seriously in a way that I've never done before & I'm starting to see the improvements already.
Despite the improvements though, this has been one of the most confusing and frustrating times in my life. I don't have a teacher, and consequently am struggling to give myself a direction & choose audition pieces & technical exercises and all that. Now add a timetable into this. Purchase pre-screens their auditions (I think MSM does too) & I have to have a cd ready by January 1st - Fuck! I seriously dropped the ball on this. I should have been preparing for this since Summit, working the way I am now. Looking back on things, I've dropped the ball with cello and practicing so many times already, I'm lucky to be where I am.
I also started looking at competitions and stuff like that & I realized how much I dropped the ball with even having the opportunity to do something like that (which ultimately I think is ok in the long run). I'm not really looking to do a traditional classical career, but having the option of entering these things would have been a good thing.
But, that's only 1 part of the whole picture of the last few months. I've been really busy with a lot of things. First of all, I bought the book "Beyond Talent: Creating a Successful Career in Music" by Angela Myles Beeching. What an amazingly helpful, practical and well-written book. I've been learning from that & am getting some good ideas for building my music career from it. But, that of course takes time.
One thing I've started (as of 2 weeks ago) is writing a solo cello album. This kind of just clicked as something I needed to do. I was thinking about the things I'm good at & what I like to do, and thinking about improvisation & realized that I could make a bunch of improv. tracks to sell on Snocap (Myspace's music store). While that idea then turned into "hey, I'm going to write my own album", I'm still very partial to the idea of recording an improv track once a week and selling it on myspace. It's the type of thing that I don't really expect a lot of money to come out of, but maybe some would here & there & at the very least, it makes it look like I have something more to offer as an artist (there are some great examples in Beeching's book about CDs/Demos being used to further peoples' careers despite not paying for themselves in sales).
Which brings me to the next thing I'm planning to develop. Well things: 2 workshops. First, I'm going to develop a Youtube Improvisation series, which I can also make workshops out of. Next, I'm going to develop a Career Advice for Classical Musicians series, which will draw on my experience from the next two years & well everything after that. Beeching's book mentioned that people booking classical shows often are more likely to book artists offering workshops/lectures/etc.
Which brings me to a weak spot of mine: Prepared concert rep. This is getting solved right now by the following: I have to put together a Beethoven Quartet movement for Nov. 22, I have to prepare for Grad. auditions, I will be playing in a Piano Trio at the New Rochelle Public Library in the spring & I will most likely be playing at Beth El at a currently undetermined date in February. This is causing me to really work on all of this repertoire & actually have pieces prepared so that I can put concerts together. Also, I'm realizing that putting together this type of concert is so different than putting together a recital at school - much less academic/pedagogical & much more about the audience.
One of the big things holding me back right now from a career perspective is that I don't know where I can get booked for paying gigs/concerts or how or who to get in touch with. Slowly, but surely, I'm learning all of this & gaining new information bit by bit. I'm also planning to record Pejoratively Yours material in the near future & start marketing that to various clubs & whatever else I can.
So I have a lot of the big plans set up ... I just don't know how I'm going to pay my bills right now. Here are my current options:
1. Work at Barnes & Noble again as a seasonal employee - this is beginning to look tempting
2. Work at taxis - this is the last thing I want to do. I can be non-committal and only work 1 day a week & while that freedom's nice, I also will be lazy about working & thus not earn money. Plus, it's not the social circle I want to expand into.
3. Extra work - I keep seeing this advertised on Craigslist & am seriously considering it ... I could make somewhere around $100 a day or maybe more doing this & that sounds very worth it, even if it probably means giving up my whole day.
4. Temp Agency - this was recommended to me & I just don't know anything about getting involved with one, but am considering it
5. Find some kind of regular paying gig - like a church job. This is exactly the thing I don't know how to look for. Every church is looking for an organist/pianist & my piano skills are just not there.
6. Get 1-3 more students. - this is ideal & part of what's holding me back from doing this has been being lazy/not having much time & even if I put the work in, there's no telling how long it will take to get more students, not to mention that teaching can be a bit inconsistent (with students cancelling). I also would really like to find my own teaching space (I can use my apartment now, but honestly, it's a gross mess & I'd feel so much more professional in a set space somewhere).
7. Get a part time teaching gig - I would *love* this, but there just doesn't seem to be a lot out there & I haven't gotten a response from the little I've replied to. There does seem to be a lot of "In Home Lessons" & I would honestly really like to get out of that rather than get further into it, because it just does not pay as well & eats up a chunk of my time & always involves logging lessons, which is just frustrating.
Other recent activities include:
Playing shows with December's Fall - always fun
Creating a mailing list (if you'd like to be included on this, just email me your email at mluna87@gmail.com)
Topsy Turvy Loves - a 3 wk off-off broadway musical (this merits a whole journal entry by itself & may get one if I can find the time, though I may also have to wait until the production ends this saturday.)
Brigadoon - A 1 wk. musical with Blue Hill Troupe that I'm doing at the end of the month
Current Regular activities include:
Sound Shore Chorale
St. Thomas Orchestra
Teaching
Practicing
Writing 1 tune a week (2 completed so far)
Alright ... that's just a slice of the pie so far, but all I'm gonna write for this moment.
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