By: Edna Landau To ask a question, please write Ask Edna. Since this will be my final Ask Edna blog post of the season, I thought it might be appropriate to offer some suggestions regarding how young musicians might want to use any extra time they might have over the summer. I contacted a number of good friends and colleagues to solicit their recommendations and am very grateful to them for their generous responses. They have inspired me to broaden my own horizons this summer as many of their suggestions have universal appeal. Before sharing their recommendations, I would like to say that there is nothing wrong with taking the summer off (if we are lucky enough to be able to do that) and thoroughly enjoying the free time, as well as the absence of a rigorous schedule that can sometimes prove stressful during the rest of the year. I came across an insightful article by best-selling author Mitch Albom called The Joys of Summer in which he discusses the increasing amount of activity in which young people are engaged year-round. He writes: “We need to lighten it up. Sometimes doing nothing is doing something.” I can certainly relate to that. Still, the summer can be a great time for attending performances in genres other than one’s area of concentration; trying out potential collaborators for a future chamber ensemble; listening to unfamiliar music with an eye toward expanding one’s repertoire; having coffee with individuals who might offer career advice, both in the arts and in business; exploring opportunities for future outreach or charitable endeavors; visiting museums and galleries, or watching legendary performances and master classes on YouTube. Janet Rarick, Associate Professor of Music Career Development at the Shepherd School of Music, Rice University, adds the following to this list: “Write to your extended family, former teachers and fans who have a special interest in you, updating them on your recent musical activities. If you are home for the summer, organize and perform a program in a church, school or retirement home. It might serve as a useful run-through of repertoire you are planning to perform in the coming season.” Sedgwick Clark, editor of the Musical America International Directory of the Performing Arts, advises: “Go to concerts. Years ago I spent the summer in Aspen, covering the music festival for Musical America. I was perplexed by the low attendance at the many weekday student concerts, especially those featuring contemporary music. ‘They are practicing and studying’, I was told. But that’s not all there is to an education. Hear what your peers are thinking. Soak up the wisdom of the veterans. The International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) plays ten concerts at Mostly Mozart in August. Marlboro is always invigorating as young players tackle the old masters, not to mention Tanglewood’s wonderful offerings. And that’s just the Northeast. Go to a concert!” I am happy to share my colleagues’ suggestions for summer reading: Janet Rarick: Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art by Stephen Nachmanovitch. A free copy can be downloaded at http://pdfepub.com/tag/stephen-nachmanovitch. Angela Beeching, founder of Beyond Talent Consulting: Lewis Hyde’s The Gift; Steve Jobs, the biography by Walter Isaacson; Arlene Goldbard’s The Culture of Possibility: Art, Artists & The Future Nathaniel Zeisler, Director of Community Engagement and Adult Education at the Colburn School: A Whole New Mind – Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, by Daniel Pink. “This book is now about six years old but it provides a great framework for us as we consider the role of the artist in the 21st century economy. Fun, easy read!” Live First, Work Second, by Rebecca Ryan. “This book was written just before the economic downturn and is more about economic development, but artists can glean a lot from it. Also a quick, fun read.” Mary Kinder Loiselle, Director of Community Engagement & Career Development Services at the Curtis Institute of Music: The Art of Possibility, by Ben and Roz Zander. “It’s been around for quite a while but I find the exploration of living from a place of possibility to be continually inspiring.” Your Work, Your Life, Your Way, by career coach Julie Cohen. There is also a companion workbook: The Seven Keys Workbook and Journal. “I have found these books to be among the best I’ve seen in my thirteen years of coaching. They’re very clear, practical and full of focused content and exercises. I’m thinking that your readers might find them a valuable way to refresh and refocus over the summer months.” Jeffrey Kahane, pianist, and Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra: “No musical education is complete without having read The Magic Mountain and Doktor Faustus by Thomas Mann, in the recent translations by John Woods. Either one is enough to take up a summer or a good part of it. Doktor Faustus has some of the greatest writing about music ever, and Mann himself said that he conceived of The Magic Mountain as being constructed like a massive symphony. They both require intense concentration and slow, careful reading but are worth every minute; and in many ways, for all their profundity, they are also entertaining and sometimes hilarious.” Emanuel Ax, pianist and venerated teacher: “Christoph Wolff has written a new book on Mozart’s last years, Mozart at the Gateway to his Fortune, that I really like. Also, Alex Ross’s The Rest is Noise remains a must read. Melinda Bargreen, longtime Seattle music critic: “One book I particularly like is Paul Elie’s 2012 Reinventing Bach, which I think is especially appropriate for young musicians because Elie discusses how musicians have reinterpreted Bach in new ways (and on new instruments) over time and also provides marvelous anecdotal and background material on Bach and those many interpreters.” And for your video enjoyment and inspiration: Bärli Nugent writes: “I believe that each and every young artist has a voice and a core of certainty about who they are that can sometimes become buried under a blizzard of other people’s voices and ideas. They should spend some summer time exploring the power that lies within. To this end, I suggest they watch the 1957 black and white film Twelve Angry Men, starring Henry Fonda, in which one juror in a murder trial sees things differently from the others. I also recommend a seven minute video, brought to my attention by the extraordinary Jane Kosminsky of Juilliard’s dance faculty: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnDeo0yhIws. Watch this in a quiet moment and stay until the end.” Angela Beeching: “I LOVED this Barbara Cook master class at the New York Public Library: http://www.nypl.org/audiovideo/master-class-barbara-cook I hope that our readers will write in with additional suggestions, and would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your loyalty over the past two and a half years, as well as wish you a most enjoyable and fulfilling summer. I look forward to joining you again in the fall. To ask a question, please write Ask Edna. © Edna Landau 2013
Archive for the ‘Ask Edna’ Category
The Joys of Summer
Thursday, May 30th, 2013Hi, I’m Adam Schoenberg
Thursday, May 23rd, 2013By: Edna Landau To ask a question, please write Ask Edna. Adam Schoenberg is a very gifted young composer with a knack for building relationships. He first entered my life early in 2011, shortly after I started writing this blog. He wrote me a lovely e-mail, saying that there were things he wanted to “Ask Edna” but he didn’t think they were straightforward enough for the blog. His thoughtful and considerate style of writing (as well as his compliment on my blog!) made me want to try and help him. He had graduated from Juilliard the previous year, where he earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree, and had already been commissioned to write works for the Atlanta and Kansas City symphonies. The premiere of his American Symphony was scheduled just a month later in Kansas City under the baton of its music director, Michael Stern. Our initial discussions revolved around generating attention for the Kansas City premiere and how he might get through to conductors and artistic administrators to acquaint them with his music. He was particularly interested in trying to secure a West Coast premiere for his chamber orchestra work, Finding Rothko, which was inspired by four paintings, one of which was housed at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. We met in person about a month later in Los Angeles, where he is based, and where I was making a visit to the Colburn School. At that time, he told me that there was a European music publisher that might be interested in him but that things were moving slowly, as they had never before represented an American composer. I gave him some suggestions about how to move things along in general and offered to speak to a few people on his behalf. In truth, I didn’t do all that much for him but he claims that my enthusiasm for his music and his entrepreneurial initiative gave him a big boost in continuing his networking and remaining optimistic that things could eventually fall into place. We stayed in touch for a short while and then there was a hiatus of 16 months. In October of 2012, I noticed that Adam was listed on Opus 3 Management’s roster, that he had a publishing agreement with Ricordi in London (part of the Universal Music Publishing Classical Group), and that his list of commissioned works had expanded to include a new work for the Atlanta Symphony, La Luna Azul, personally commissioned by its music director, Robert Spano; another art-inspired work, Picture Studies (conceived of as a 21st century Pictures at an Exhibition), jointly commissioned by the Kansas City Symphony and the Nelson-Atkins Museum, and a ballet-inspired symphonic work, Bounce, co-commissioned by the Aspen Music Festival & School and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. I was eager to know all the intermediate steps that had led to these exciting developments and my curiosity brought me back in touch with Adam. I learned that while Adam was an undergraduate at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, he was friendly with a young singer who was later represented by Jeffrey Vanderveen, then a managing director at Universal Music Group in Europe. He made an introduction for Adam to James Kendrick and Silke Hilger of Universal Music Classical Publishing. They subsequently came to Aspen to hear a performance of Finding Rothko and decided to take him on a few months later. By that time, Jeffrey Vanderveen had moved to Opus 3 Artists in New York as Vice President, Artist Manager, and he brought Adam on to the artist list. Adam’s Aspen association proved fruitful in other ways as well. He was a student there in 2002 and 2003 and, needing a summer job, returned for the following two summers as a stagehand. While there, he met Michael Stern, who became a regular tennis partner, and Asadour Santourian, Artistic Advisor and Administrator. His first ever commission was from Aspen for a quintet for the American Brass Quintet (premiered in July 2006 and later recorded by the ensemble). Around the same time, Adam was commissioned by Michael Stern to write his first orchestral work Finding Rothko for the IRIS Chamber Orchestra. Six years later, when Adam was hoping to get on the radar screen of the Los Angeles Phiharmonic, it was Asadour Santourian (in town for pre-concert lectures) who suggested that he contact Chad Smith, Vice President of Artistic Planning at the orchestra, and use his name. Adam subsequently met Chad Smith for coffee and gave him two of his scores. Now he greatly looks forward to the inaugural performances of his new work Bounce at the Aspen Music Festival on July 17, 2013, with Robert Spano conducting, and at the Hollywood Bowl on September 10 with Miguel Harth-Bedoya conducting. Adam met Robert Spano in Miami, where he was living in 2009. Spano was guest conducting the New World Symphony and happened to be taking a rehearsal break outside the hall when Adam was walking down Lincoln Road. He walked over to Mr. Spano and said: “Hi, I’m Adam Schoenberg and we have two things in common. We both went to Oberlin and I studied orchestration with Christopher Theofanidis.” Mr. Spano excitedly responded: “I just commissioned him to write his first symphony and the score just arrived today. Do you want to hear it?” He took Adam upstairs, played some of it for him and then invited him to lunch the next day. Adam brought along two of his pieces and eight weeks later, he got a call. Mr. Spano said: “I’ve found a way to program Finding Rothko in Atlanta and I’m commissioning you to write a new work” (which became La Luna Azul). Adam’s time is taken up with many things in addition to his composing. His American Symphony was conceived of as a musical message of hope that would unite the orchestra community throughout the country. He is currently engaged in a project to secure performances of it in all 50 states by the 2015-16 season. So far, he has commitments from seven. His time is also taken up with teaching at UCLA and with a Young Composers Institute for high school students which he founded this past year while composer-in-residence with the Kansas City Symphony. This project, while not unique, generated a great deal of excitement in the community and was a thrilling experience for the young participants whose works were performed by members of the symphony. He hopes to start more programs like this around the country. Adam is excited that Reference Recordings and the Kansas City Symphony, with Michael Stern conducting, plan to record a CD of three of his works in 2014, all of which were commissioned by the orchestra. He has been commissioned to write a new work for the Lexington (KY) Philharmonic, where he will be composer-in-residence next season. He is also proud of his first major venture into film scoring, having recently collaborated with his father, composer Steven Schoenberg, on the score for the movie Graceland. Recognizing that composers have relied on patrons and benefactors since the time of the Renaissance, Adam recently added an innovative “Patrons” page on his website which allows for tax-deductible gifts of support via Fractured Atlas’s fiscal sponsorship program. He received his first gift just recently. Despite the fact that he has a publisher and manager, Adam hasn’t stopped networking. He still sends e-mails to artistic administrators from time to time when he feels he can build on an existing connection. He may soon have to make adjustments to his busy schedule as he and his wife are expecting their first child in August (which partly explains the title for his newest work Bounce). I have no doubt that Adam will continue to set the bar very high for himself and that he will be successful in achieving his goals. He told me the following: “All I really care about, and what I think every composer should care about, is to write the best possible music that expresses who we are. I want to write music as beautifully and intensely as I can, and I am happy if the audience and performers respond deeply to my music.” He must have been gratified when Atlanta arts critic Mark Gresham wrote: “La Luna Azul deserves a descriptor not often afforded contemporary music: ‘beautiful’.” Timothy McDonald of the Kansas City Star has also written: “Schoenberg demonstrated a distinctive and exciting compositional voice. His American Symphony is bold and brilliant, and deserves to be a staple among orchestras in the U.S. and abroad.” Michael Stern told me that he has every expectation that Adam will be a real voice in American music in the coming years. It would seem that he is far from alone in his estimation. To ask a question, please write Ask Edna. © Edna Landau 2013
A Performer with a Passion for Teaching
Thursday, May 16th, 2013By: Edna Landau
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Anyone who has read my blog over the past year knows that I am fascinated by the career trajectories of successful people. This week, I have chosen to spotlight a much admired viola professor.
My first introduction to Barbara Westphal was in the early 1980’s when she was violist of the Delos String Quartet, based at the University of Delaware, and Charles Hamlen and I signed them to the Hamlen/Landau Management roster. There was no way to predict at that time that she would become one of the most prominent and sought after viola teachers of our time. She left the quartet in 1985 and I totally lost contact with her. When I started teaching at the Colburn School in 2008, a number of students who were moving on to graduate studies spoke about her with considerable reverence and mentioned that they hoped to have the opportunity to study with her. Curious about her personal journey since the time our communication left off, I decided to call her recently and make up for lost time. Thanks to her American manager, Melody Bunting, I was able to accomplish this rather easily.
One need only look at a picture of the medieval North German city of Lübeck to understand why Prof. Westphal has been teaching there since 1989. The Hochschule, which is situated inside of 17 old merchant houses, looks out on a river and on a 1480 city gate. This picturesque location was once captured on the face of the DM 50 note. A native of Germany, Prof. Westphal came to the U.S. in 1974 to study violin with Broadus Erle at Yale University. He passed away in 1977 and she moved to Delaware in the following year to join the Delos Quartet (after having switched to viola during a summer at the Marlboro Music Festival). However, Prof. Erle had a profound influence on her teaching philosophy which has remained with her to this day. She spoke to me of how “he burned for his calling. Teaching was his whole life, not something he did simply to earn a living.” She admired how “he could say very much without saying hardly anything at all.” She loved how he pointed his students in the direction he thought was right for them while challenging them to find the right solutions for themselves.
After winning the Munich International Competition and the Busch Prize in 1983, Germany seemed a logical destination for Prof. Westphal. She settled in Munich in 1985 after leaving the Delos Quartet and getting married three days later (!). Although she had regular opportunities to perform, she felt the need for a steady and reliable income. She found the opening at the Lübeck Hochschule in the job listings of the German weekly paper Die Zeit and started there in 1989. The schedule was flexible enough to allow her to keep performing but after a time, she was totally taken by surprise to discover that she had found a new calling. Despite various job offers over the years, she has remained in Lübeck ever since. However, she has maintained her contacts in America, visiting the Heifetz Institute in recent years and returning to the Sarasota Music Festival for the past 22 years, where she has treasured the opportunity to perform alongside admired colleagues such as Claude Frank and Neil Black.
When I asked Prof. Westphal about her proudest moments as a teacher, she cited the joy derived from performing chamber music with former students and being swept away by their artistry. Needless to say, she is also thrilled that a significant number of her students have found jobs in leading orchestras in Germany and abroad. How many students have actually had the benefit of being exposed to Prof. Westphal’s passionate calling? She told me that she doesn’t believe in just filling spaces in a class. She has to feel a chemistry with any student she accepts and, based on meeting and talking to them, must feel convinced that she can help them accomplish their goals within four years. At the same time, she tends to exceed the number of students that she is legally required to teach because she believes that there is so much that students can learn from one another and often it is not even about their instrument. Spencer Martin, a teacher at Luther College in Iowa, spent the summer of 2006 taking lessons with Prof. Westphal and observing her with her students and in master classes at the Oberstdorfer Musiksommer. He wrote a lovely profile of her for the Journal of the American Viola Society in which he highlighted “the nurturing environment that she creates, which heightens the chances that her students will blossom and feel accepted”. In a blog post of the American Viola Society, another former student, David Lau, now a violist in the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, spoke of his time in her studio as “one of the greatest learning experiences of my musical education”. When I contacted him via Facebook, he was inspired to elaborate further: “ I felt she heard all of her students as the individuals they were. Everyone has his or her own needs, strengths and weaknesses, and she never tried to fit you into a mold. The aim was to explore who you were and what you wanted to say, and together to find the most effective way to achieve those goals. She is also incredibly honest and didn’t feel the need to sugarcoat things. It was never negative, but she said exactly what she thought. If it was bad, she told you, but then when she told you it was good, you really believed her. She, herself, is very active as a performer as well, and it really helped that she had the chops to back up the things she taught. Her studio, when you are there, becomes like a family and her students are not only very successful, but also kind people. I have never seen anyone invest themselves so wholeheartedly in other people like she does. I will cherish my time as her student forever.” From what I can tell, Mr. Lau is not alone in these sentiments. Broadus Erle must be smiling from on high.
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© Edna Landau 2013
A Healthy Approach to Competitions
Thursday, May 9th, 2013By: Edna Landau
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‘Tis the season to perform in a competition. A little over two weeks ago, the American Pianists Association announced that pianist Sean Chen is the winner of the 2013 Christel DeHaan Classical Fellowship, valued at over $100,000. As I write this column, 63 candidates are performing in the first round of the Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition in Brussels. And just a little over two weeks from now, 30 candidates who have qualified for the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition will give their first performances in Ft. Worth, Texas. I have written before on this blog about the pros and cons of competitions and have written a Musical America Special Report called Choosing the Best Competition for YOU”. Still, the topic continues to interest me. In looking at the brief bios of the candidates on the Van Cliburn Competition website, I was struck by the fact that most of them had entered a significant number of competitions in the past and very few had won a first prize in a major international competition. This would seem logical since if they had, they probably wouldn’t have felt the need to enter the Van Cliburn Competition. Yet I wondered how they found the strength to proceed from one competition to the next with the optimism and mental fortitude necessary to maximize their chances for success. It occurred to me that maybe they weren’t entering only to win a top prize but perhaps there were other important goals they hoped to achieve in the process. I decided to speak with Sean Chen and to his good friend Steven Lin, a winner of the 2012 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition. Both are candidates in the upcoming Van Cliburn Competition, even though they have won several years of management services and concert bookings as part of their recent top prizes. I was amazed to hear both of them say that a major motivation to enter competitions has been the opportunity to play in big cities for large, appreciative audiences who love the classical piano repertoire. It made me sad to realize how truly rare that must be for many of today’s most promising artists. The competition becomes a welcome excursion away from the isolation of the practice room and into a stimulating and exciting environment in which their hard work may culminate in their first significant recognition as a compelling artist. Sean Chen actually compared today’s larger competitions to a festival where participants often get a chance to listen to one another, something he finds most beneficial. He didn’t see any reason to be discouraged if he didn’t come out on top, as long as he played his best and communicated his musical ideas as he intended. He also appreciates that APA, along with other competitions, offers cash prizes to all finalists. Steven Lin told me that more than once, in his experience, audience members have come forward to offer concert engagements that weren’t part of the official prizes. When he reached the semi-finals of the Dublin International Piano Competition in 2009, he was approached by a French professor who offered him a concert at the Salle Cortot in Paris, where he has already returned several times. Both pianists mentioned the appeal of being able to play with major orchestras, as Steven Lin did when he played with the Baltimore Symphony in the finals of the William Kapell International Competition.
I was curious to know if there was a reason that both pianists achieved particular success in their most recent competition outings. Sean Chen’s triumph with the American Pianists Association may be due in part to the unique nature of their Fellowship program. Pressure doesn’t mount over the course of the final week since the five finalists have actually performed in various formats over the course of seven months! From the time they are selected from a pool of nominees, they each individually spend two separate weeks in Indianapolis performing in the APA’s “Classical Premiere Series” and “Classical Discovery Week”. The first of these includes a three-day residency that involves teaching and playing with a high school orchestra, an adjudicated public solo recital, and a concerto with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. The second week, during which the Christel DeHaan Classical Fellow is selected, includes adjudicated solo recitals, a chamber music performance, a new music performance and a song recital, as well as a concerto with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. This creates more of an Artist-in-Residence environment than a competitive one. President/CEO and Artistic Director Joel Harrison told me that the APA has gone to great lengths to downplay the idea of participants going head to head in competition but rather to focus on individual artistic expression. Perhaps that is why he becomes personally involved in the finalists’ repertoire decisions. Sean Chen feels that his repertoire choices may have factored into his ultimate success, along with the fact that his confidence and artistic maturity would seem to have grown with each competition experience. He took distinct risks in Indianapolis, performing his own cadenzas in Beethoven’s 4th concerto, offering his own transcription of Ravel’s La Valse in one of his recitals, and choosing Bartok’s challenging Concerto #2 for his performance with the Indianapolis Symphony. Dr. Harrison supported these choices all the way. Steven Lin agrees that you learn from each competition you enter. One imagines that nerves will never be a problem for him after he completed his preliminary round performance at the 2012 Sendai International Music Competition while an earthquake struck Japan! He feels that he may have won the Concert Artists Guild competition because he changed his focus from practicing intensely to finding his inner voice. He was helped in this process by listening to recordings of old masters such as Richter, Cortot and Horowitz and realizing that no one would ever mistake one for another. (At competitions, it is not uncommon for a number of artists to sound the same.) He also mentioned that Concert Artists Guild required some public speaking, which he found immensely helpful. He thought a lot about what to say regarding the repertoire he had chosen and he feels that his remarks may have put him at ease and involved the audience more in his musicmaking.
And now, on to Ft. Worth, Texas, where Steven Lin, Sean Chen, and three other APA finalists will compete in the Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Both Concert Artists Guild and APA have given them their blessings, recognizing the enormous potential benefits of additional exposure. I asked Steven and Sean whether they felt they were taking any sort of risk after their recent triumphs. Steven said that he is approaching it as another opportunity to perform in front of many people who will now be introduced to him, and to make the best music he can. His goal is to express himself as an artist and to communicate how he feels about the repertoire he is playing. He feels that people go to concerts to experience many different things and that if he and his very gifted co-competitors succeed in being true to themselves, everyone will have benefited from the experience (though he did say that winning a prize would be awesome!). Sean totally concurred with this, saying that most people who follow competitions know that there are many factors that determine who wins. He likened the outing to golf, saying that one can only hope to play one’s best. Both he and Steven are aware that the management services that are provided by APA and CAG will be for a limited time and the chances of obtaining commercial management in the future could potentially be enhanced by their performances in Ft. Worth. In speaking to them about the years that lie ahead, I was heartened to learn that they are both deeply dedicated to music education and that they have well-rounded lives with considerable interests. I feel confident that they will transition from the competition stage of their lives into richly rewarding careers, during which audiences will choose to hear them again and again simply because of the wonderful musicians and people that they are.
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© Edna Landau 2013
Can You Plan to be Remarkable?
Thursday, May 2nd, 2013By: Edna Landau
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In the past few weeks, I was pleased to be invited twice to speak to students at the Juilliard School. My first visit was to performance psychologist Dr. Noa Kageyama’s Performance Enhancement class and the second was to Assistant Dean Dr. Barli Nugent’s Career Development Seminar. In both instances, I was extremely impressed by the creative approaches taken by the teachers in hopes of stimulating and inspiring their students to listen to their inner voice and to begin to identify concrete steps that they could take towards their personal goals. Dr. Kageyama had given an assignment to his class to read bestselling author and marketing expert Seth Godin’s book Purple Cow. The subtitle of the book is: “Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable”. (It is based on the premise that a purple cow in the middle of a herd of Holsteins would be truly remarkable and never go unnoticed.) Inspired by an actual visit to the class by Seth Godin, the students had been thinking about how to apply his advice about standing out by being remarkable in their young lives and very early careers. They were leery of embarking on projects motivated simply by a desire to be different or to stand out from the crowd, for fear that their efforts would not be genuine and their projects would appear “gimmicky”. Fortunately, I was able to share with them examples from my own experience in artist management, such as violinist Hilary Hahn’s pioneering efforts, while still a teenager, in getting to know and expand her audience through her great dedication to her online journal and to post-concert record and program signings that often kept her at the hall well over an hour following the actual concert. (Such signings were not the norm in those days.)There was one year during which she communicated regularly with a third-grade class in Skaneateles, New York, for whom she had performed a residency activity. They were doing a social studies project that involved asking everyone they knew to send them postcards. When a card would arrive, the students would learn about the city it came from. Hilary saw a way to help and ended up sending 23 postcards from 20 different cities that she played in during the remainder of that season. She was passionate about these activities and they contributed to her being viewed as a remarkable person, in addition to being an extraordinary artist. The students and I also discussed groundbreaking projects that have already been undertaken by fellow students while still at Juilliard, such as Music Feeds Us and Chamber Music by the Bay (featured in my earlier column about the ACHT studio at Juilliard), and even by a student of Dr. Kageyama’s in that very class, violist Kim Mai Nguyen. An avid believer in arts education, Kim Mai has visited Guatemala to teach and perform with the children of the El Sistema Orchestra there and participated in the Afghanistan Winter Music Academy in Kabul, working with students of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music. It quickly became apparent that there are many ways for not only businesses, but also individuals, to become “purple cows” and that some of the necessary ingredients are courage, ingenuity, determination, passion, good taste and perseverance – all perfectly attainable by young, highly gifted musicians with their whole lives ahead of them.
My preparation for Dr. Nugent’s class was based on the awareness that her students had recently been asked to compose a bio for themselves in the year 2053 and to identify five steps they were prepared to take at this time towards making it a reality. What a stunning idea! As I did the math and thought back to where I was forty years ago, I was fascinated to discover that 1973 was a major turning point in my career. I was completing my master’s degree in musicology at the City University of New York and also my fifth year of teaching at the High School of Music and Art. While I very much enjoyed teaching, I was beginning to think that I should change my professional focus and find a job that would bring me closer to performing artists. Could I have then written a bio predicting that during the next forty years I would discover the exciting and rewarding world of artist management and be privileged to become managing director of the world’s biggest international agency? Absolutely not! However, as I look back and reflect on how things developed, I see that that certain key decisions and approaches to my professional growth (some of them equivalent to the first steps Dr. Nugent coaxed her class to ponder) propelled me successfully to the next level. I think they may have some resonance with those who are just starting out in their careers:
1) Fight to realize your passion. My first job in artist management was as Assistant to the Director of Young Concert Artists. They wanted a full-time person. I convinced them to let me work part-time so that I could be home a bit more with my one-year-old son.
2) Learn everything you can wherever you are. I convinced the director, Susan Wadsworth, to let me attend the annual international auditions and the annual trade conference in New York, even though my job was purely clerical. This taught me about the industry as a whole and ignited my passion for booking concerts and helping artists develop their careers.
3) When you’re ready for a change, take the plunge and associate with the best. Since there was no opportunity for me to book concerts at YCA, I joined forces with Charles Hamlen, who I met at a trade conference. He took me into his six-month-old management and with our mutual ideals and much hard work, we began to secure engagements for a roster of relatively unknown artists and to build a favorable reputation for ourselves as Hamlen/Landau Management.
4) Don’t be afraid to ask for help. When you need to capitalize your business or embark on a new project, all you need is to believe completely in what you are trying to accomplish, think of everyone you know who might help, and put a compelling and accurate financial proposal together. People want to be part of a growing success story. These realizations kept Hamlen/Landau Management going during some very challenging financial times.
5) Always keep an open mind. Charles Hamlen and I never really knew why the sports conglomerate IMG, whose clients in those days included Martina Navratilova and Arnold Palmer, would want to acquire a very small artist management firm with substantial debt and an insignificant profit margin. Thankfully, we never dwelt on that. We saw a chance to pay back all of our investors, grow our business, and to learn from experts in client management (albeit in sports) on an international scale. When Itzhak Perlman became our client in 1986, we knew we had made the right decision.
Charles and I never really knew where our initial adventures were leading us and we didn’t set out to be “purple cows”, but we did spend a lot of time thinking about how we could distinguish ourselves in a field of super agents and still remain faithful to our goals, standards and ethics. Even if the Juilliard students achieve only 25% of what they project in their 2053 bios, their teacher is inspiring them to be confident to dream in tune with who they are today, and that is the most important contribution she can make on the eve of their graduation and entry into the professional world.
To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.
© Edna Landau 2013
From Flower Pots to the Pulitzer Prize
Thursday, April 25th, 2013By: Edna Landau
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Caroline Shaw is a typical 21st century musician, except that she just won the Pulitzer Prize in Music – at 30 years of age, the youngest recipient ever of this prestigious award. Her remarkable prizewinning a cappella piece, Partita for Eight Voices, was written for Roomful of Teeth, a vocal group with whom she has sung since its founding in 2009. Ms. Shaw is a multi-talented individual who seems to excel in everything she does. Despite her new accolade, she will undoubtedly continue to refer to herself as a musician, rather than a composer. She surrounds herself with friends and musicians who, like her, enjoy multiple musical pursuits. Over the past week, I had the pleasure and privilege of speaking with not only Ms. Shaw, but with Brad Wells, Director of Vocal Activities and Artist in Residence at Williams College in Massachusetts, and also the founder and conductor of Roomful of Teeth, as well as Judd Greenstein, co-director of New Amsterdam Records/New Amsterdam Presents, and a prolific composer. He has written three of the works on Roomful of Teeth’s debut album, which was released by New Amsterdam Records in October 2012. Greenstein and Wells have been friends for over a decade. They are thrilled about Ms. Shaw’s well-deserved recognition and feel that it is a cause for communal celebration for all who were involved.
Caroline Shaw has both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in violin from Rice University and Yale University, respectively. She supported herself for a number of years by accompanying dance classes and was inspired to write some of her earliest pieces for the dancers. She couldn’t project at that time how her professional life might progress and decided that it would be good to have a doctoral degree under her belt. Once she realized that she didn’t want yet another degree in violin, she decided to apply to, and eventually enter, the doctoral program in composition at Princeton University, where she is still a graduate student. Several years earlier, she learned of the formation of a new vocal group of classically trained singers which was dedicated to exploring and mastering techniques of singing from around the world and commissioning and performing works to showcase those newly acquired techniques. Brad Wells called it Roomful of Teeth because he liked the rhythm of it (identical to BANG on a CAN), the allusion to chamber music in the word “room”, and the fact that teeth are the hardest and longest lasting bones in our bodies, symbolizing permanence. He remembers Caroline Shaw’s audition for the group, as he was taken with the fact that she was not a “single-minded singer”, and that she was a most interesting and versatile musician. Due to a close association between Williams College and the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA), he was able to arrange for a three-week summer residency for Roomful of Teeth, during which its singers, hailing from different geographical locations, could live on campus and delve into the exploration of the new vocal techniques, taught by international experts from around the world. Three composers were invited in the first year (2009) to share the experience and write for the group in “real time”, literally submitting parts of new works within a day of absorbing what they had heard. It was during that first summer residency that Ms. Shaw wrote “Passacaglia”, one of four movements of her Pulitzer prizewinning piece, inspired by Baroque dance. The other three movements were written over two subsequent summers. When she decided to submit the piece to the Pulitzer Prize committee herself (unlike most submissions which are made by a publisher or commissioner of a new work), it was partly because she didn’t want anyone to know. She told me that her main motivation was for the esteemed jury to become familiar with Roomful of Teeth, but she also felt very strongly about the piece and felt that a $50 application fee was reasonable enough. The outcome brings wonderful validation to the efforts of New Amsterdam Records, a label dedicated to promoting a wider awareness of adventurous new compositions, written and performed by highly-trained musicians of diverse musical backgrounds and genres. It must also be a great source of pride to the 238 donors who supported the Kickstarter campaign that helped fund the recording, contributing a total of $14,405, which exceeded the group’s goal. In addition to writing for the group and helping to produce the recording, Judd Greenstein has also invited Roomful of Teeth to perform twice at the Ecstatic Music Festival, of which he is curator and Artistic Director. He commented to me that the world of new music feeds on itself in a most complementary and mutually supportive way, since composers become very involved with the musicians they write for, and the social and musical interaction is their reward for the many hours of solitude that characterize their day to day life. Caroline Shaw told me that she would never have reached this point in her young career had she not been active in a variety of disciplines. In a time when today’s young musicians are being widely encouraged to think about their particular passion and identify their own unique “brand”, perhaps we should also leave room for those who feel compelled to pursue multiple passions, because the rewards would seem to be great.
How does Ms. Shaw expect her life to change as a result of this prize? Not all that much. She will probably write more music (a work for Roomful of Teeth and A Far Cry is already in the pipeline), but she will also be happy to focus more on her work with the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME), where she does most of her violin playing. She may not have much time to dedicate to her beloved, imperfectly pitched 50 cent flower pots, for which she has written some irresistible music (listen to “Boris Kerner” for cello and flower pots, performed by New Morse Code, and the more whimsical covers she wrote during the electrical failure brought about by Hurricane Sandy); however, she will have more time to discover new masterworks of art, literature and dance, which inform so much of her work. I personally would hope that she might set aside a little time to speak to today’s young generation of musicians (maybe only a few years younger than she) and personally share the advice she imparted to me for them: follow all of your interests, work hard, and be very kind to everyone. She might also suggest that they get out into the world as much as possible and share their joy of music making. Only two hours after speaking with me, Caroline Shaw was at the Strand Book Store, singing “I Want to Live Where You Live” from the new oratorio “Shelter” by David Lang, Julia Wolfe and Michael Gordon, along with fellow vocalists Martha Cluver and Mellissa Hughes, who together with her comprise Va Vocals. The group, which performs “in styles ranging from baroque to modern to pop”, has been described by radio station WQXR as “utterly unaffected and drop-dead stylish”. Perhaps she left there to play a late-night violin performance. I don’t know, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised.
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© Edna Landau 2013
The Art of Booking
Thursday, April 18th, 2013By: Edna Landau
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If you ask anyone in the artist management business how things are going these days, they will tell you that everything seems harder than it used to be. Some concert series have ceased to exist or have been significantly cut back, a number of orchestras have also disappeared or have been seriously challenged by budget shortfalls and labor difficulties, and an increasing number of presenters are reluctant to take risks, preferring to book artists who are familiar to their audiences and who are likely to generate a healthy amount of box office income. In light of all this, what can a manager or self-managing artist do to enhance the chances of securing one of the highly sought after slots in a presenter’s season?
I recently consulted with a few longtime, highly regarded colleagues to see if they had any words of advice. My first call was to Marna Seltzer, currently Director of Princeton University Concerts, but formerly (at the start of her career) a manager and booking agent at Herbert Barrett Management. I felt that her having sat on both sides of the fence would give her a particularly insightful perspective on this subject. A glance at the Princeton University Concerts website revealed significant information about this presenter’s approach toward programming. A beautifully written announcement of the 2013-14 season speaks about the quest for a balanced season “that has the potential to leave the audience not just wanting to come back but feeling that they must come back to hear more”. Ms. Seltzer further writes: “One thing I am sure of is that we don’t want to become predictable. Even though we protect our legacy and try to deliver you the quality and mix that you have come to expect from us, we will never stop taking risks, trying new things.” (Would that there were many more presenters who adopted this approach.) How does Ms. Seltzer keep abreast of these new things and decide which to feature? She told me that recommendations from presenter colleagues carry tremendous weight. This poses a big challenge to managers who may have difficulty getting their artist(s) on the radar screens of major presenters. What are they to do? Ms. Seltzer spoke of the supreme importance of building relationships. Initial contacts might be made at industry conferences or by paying a personal visit to a presenter on their home turf. She loves the opportunity to show off the university’s beautiful and historic Richardson Auditorium and feels that familiarity with the hall can be of great benefit to a manager in deciding which artists to propose. A personal visit also makes a lasting impression on a presenter. What doesn’t make a favorable impression is a manager who launches into a conversation without having taken the time to see what type of artists she presents, or getting a sense of her immediate goals and needs. Their sole mission is to convince her that she must present their outstanding soloist or ensemble, irrespective of any other plans she may have for the season. This manager is less likely to enjoy a long term relationship with her that could lead to a productive booking collaboration in the future.
Evans Mirageas, Vice President for Artistic Planning at the Atlanta Symphony, The Harry T. Wilks Artistic Director of the Cincinnati Opera and a much in demand consultant, told me that he genuinely understands how difficult it is for an emerging artist to “get above the noise”. He, too, places a lot of stock in what his colleagues have to say. While it is unlikely that he will return phone calls from people he doesn’t know about artists with whom he is not familiar, he does try to respond to written communications, even if only with a few cordial sentences acknowledging receipt of the material. He encourages managers to organize auditions for their artists with artistic administrators (if they are trained musicians) when they are unable to arrange for the Music Director to hear them. Once he has heard a promising artist in concert or an audition, he adds them to an Excel list that he reviews regularly. He welcomes and values periodic news he may receive about those artists’ successes, either directly or via their managers, and updates the list accordingly. Still, he says, artists and managers must understand that music directors and conductors have their own wish list of artist/collaborators and it can take several years before regular contact on the part of a manager might bear fruit. It was heartening to hear him say that in addition to the fact that no presenter can afford a season featuring only marquis names, it is important for a presenter to achieve balance in their offerings and to introduce their audience to new faces. They should also leave room for artists who may not have achieved superstardom but who continue to offer rich artistic experiences while already a few decades into their careers. He responds most favorably to managers who invest time and effort to learn what might be of genuine interest to him and the music director, and whose dealings with him are direct, honest, concise, and “gently persistent”. Another artistic planner at a major orchestra also told me that when he is approached by a manager with whom he does not have an established relationship, he really appreciates if they start a conversation or meeting by asking about the orchestra’s priorities and plans, and then follow up by zeroing in on the two or three artists they think might be most appropriate for the orchestra, rather than running through a whole list of names. He stressed the importance of a businesslike approach in all booking-related communications. It should never get to the point where a manager personally takes umbrage when a booking doesn’t materialize right away. Each party has their own agenda at any given time, but managers should trust that proposals that are discussed and are of potential interest to the orchestra remain in their minds and may well result in bookings when the timing is right.
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© Edna Landau 2013
Appealing Promotional Videos
Thursday, April 11th, 2013By: Edna Landau
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Dear Edna:
First, thanks for your blog. I recommend it to folks all the time! And here’s my latest question: I was wondering if you could give us your perspective on what makes an effective musician’s publicity video – for both soloists and ensembles? I’ve been seeing such a variety of approaches, lengths and production values, it makes me wonder what you’re recommending these days. Thanks.
Angela Beeching, Longtime Edna fan and author, “Beyond Talent”
Dear Angela:
It is always a pleasure and an honor to hear from you. Thanks for the compliment on my blog. You bring up a very interesting topic, because there is no clear definition of what a typical publicity video might be. Many artists don’t have them at all. They choose to upload performances onto YouTube, or include them on their website as part of a media page, and that satisfies most of the presenters who are primarily interested in how they play, sing, or conduct in a variety of repertoire. If they have good videos of themselves engaging in outreach activities, those will often be posted as well. Finally, if they have clearance to post interview footage, they will include it in the mix. The latter gives a better indication of what they are like as communicators in a non-performing situation and acquaint the viewer with other aspects of their life that are important to them. It is still pretty uncommon for artists and ensembles to hire people to create a promotional video for them, partly because of the cost. It is far more common for artists who have recording affiliations to have videos that relate to a particular recording project, which are produced by the record company. Such videos might make you want to run out and buy the album, but you may not learn too much about the artist.
An ideal promotional video, in my opinion, will feature the artist speaking and performing, and may be embellished by some background footage and a narrative that weaves everything together. It will be joyful and energetic, or insightful and moving in a way that compels you to watch until the very end. It will give a good idea of what makes the artist tick and reflect the passion and commitment that fuel their artistry. A length of three to seven minutes seems to work well. Some artists who may not have had the means to hire someone to produce a video from scratch have obtained the rights to video footage from interviews and edited it down, primarily showing them talking, but not the interviewer. The more successful ones include performance samples or the artist playing in the background. I found two that I particularly liked, which are both of violinists: Vilde Frang and Madalyn Parnas. Ms. Frang’s video was posted by her general management, Askonas Holt, who call it a “video biography”. It features the young violinist rehearsing the Bruch Concerto No. 1 with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Jakob Hrusa, interspersed with comments by Ms. Frang, seemingly excerpted from an interview, which include reflections about the importance of being inspired and the broad variety of potential sources for inspiration, all articulated in a soft but compelling way that draws the viewer in. Ms. Frang’s apparent wisdom beyond her years, and her beautiful playing, convinced me over the course of the seven minute video that I must be sure not to miss her next appearance in New York. I was introduced to violinist Madalyn Parnas by Portrait of a Violinist: Madalyn Parnas, which was created by Steve Torres, a friend who she met at Indiana University. He loved the idea of tagging along with her on the day of a concert in New York and decided to interview her and make the video as an independent project. This video has some background playing by Ms. Parnas and some attractive glimpses of New York City, but very little actual performance footage. Still, one is captivated by Ms. Parnas as a person, right from the start of the video when she says: “From the very beginning I was passionate about music.” Her passion is palpable, as are her charm and energy. The video ends with her saying: “What a blessing to be able to make music your profession.” In between, she speaks about the joy of working with living composers and her new recording with her sister and duo partner, Cicely, with whom she is briefly viewed in a new music performance. Madalyn comes across as genuine, modest, and extraordinarily dedicated to her craft. The bits of playing in the background reinforce the impression of a serious artist but in this video, it is the sheer force of personality that captivates the viewer.
In general, there seem to be more ensemble promotional videos than soloist ones. The majority of ensemble videos I have viewed seem to have been produced in an effort to clarify the mission and vision of groups whose names and instrumentation alone might not give a clear enough idea of their identity. One such ensemble is Time for Three, whose promotional video, only three minutes long, is chock full of energy and dynamism. It starts with them entering the stage with Christoph Eschenbach at a Philadelphia Orchestra concert and ends with a whopping quote from Sir Simon Rattle. (Other impressive quotes are also intermittently flashed on the screen.) In between, they are seen talking, performing and interacting with one another, always exuding a sense of fun. I encourage you to watch it since no description really does it justice. Classical Jam, a hard to define chamber group whose core musicians perform on violin, viola, cello, flute and percussion, regularly collaborate with other top-notch musicians in a variety of concert formats, in which they work closely with presenters towards the important goals of community building and arts advocacy. They recently produced a video to demonstrate an interactive feature of some of their concerts, which they call the Master Jam. It begins with an explanation of who they are, and has many well-chosen images which relate to these goals and clearly demonstrate the wonderful impact that the ensemble has on its audiences. Their energy and joy are abundantly evident from the start. The background music which runs throughout the three minute video is very appealing and it ends with Classical Jam’s mission and vision statement. The group’s cellist, Wendy Law, told me that they worked with a filmmaker, Natasha Marco, who is a friend and supporter of Classical Jam. She indicated that a video of this sort might cost in the area of $1000. She also offered the following advice: “The most important tip in creating a video is to find a clear and concise narrative. We want the viewers to come away knowing a little more about who we are and WHY we do what we do. Having a great collaborator who truly understands your vision is also extremely important in creating the video.”
You didn’t ask about composer videos but I heard about one that I found most ingenious and refreshing. It features the composer Gregg Kallor playing his own “Espresso Nirvana”, which is part of a suite he wrote about a day in New York City, “A Single Noon”, inspired by an Emily Dickinson poem by that name. Whether or not you are a coffee lover, you are likely to be motivated to check out this gifted young composer and learn more about his music. And finally, for sheer fun, I suggest you watch a marvelous little video treat produced by the Zurich Chamber Orchestra. Enjoy!
To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.
© Edna Landau 2013
The Personal Touch
Thursday, March 21st, 2013By: Edna Landau
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I recently had the pleasure of attending one of Chamber Music America’s very informative, helpful and free “First Tuesdays” workshops which focus on a different professional development topic each month. This particular one, which was called “The Art of the Cold Call”, was expertly led by Marc Baylin, president of Baylin Artists Management. When asked by an artist manager how they should communicate with a presenter who was not responsive to their calls and e-mails, I was surprised to hear him suggest a letter. My first reaction was, who writes letters anymore and why is that likely to prove more effective? Mr. Baylin believes that a letter demonstrates extra effort on the part of an artist or manager and it is less likely to be discarded than an e-mail which might immediately be deleted. Most people will at least open the letter and glance at it, since they receive very few of them. It is also something tangible that they might keep on their desk until they are ready to deal with it. This got me thinking about other types of communication that seem to increasingly get neglected in these very fast paced times.
Two of the most powerful words in interpersonal relationships may well be “thank you”; yet, too often, those words go unarticulated. I have met artists who didn’t feel the need to thank their manager for securing a particularly meaningful engagement or attractive fee for them because, after all, they pay them commissions for their efforts and the higher the fee, the more the manager earns. I have also met individuals who may have considered the idea of giving their supervisor or employer a gift on their birthday but chose not to for fear of coming across as trying to gain favor with them. In my view, generosity of spirit and genuine expressions of appreciation will never lead someone down the wrong path. In fact, they help to build relationships that enrich our work experiences and offer incalculable rewards over the course of a lifetime.
In speaking with Steven Shaiman, Senior Vice President and Artist Manager at Concert Artists Guild, I was very heartened to learn that there is generally a climate of appreciation from the artists for the work that they do for them in launching their careers. Some take the time to write personal notes to the staff and others may bring in home baked treats. A good number write notes to presenters following their performances, having been encouraged to do so by their managers. This gratitude continues after they have graduated from CAG, when they take care to mention in interviews the valuable role the company played in their career development. It is not surprising that some of these personal gestures may become less frequent as artists’ schedules become more demanding. I asked Ken Fischer, President of the University Musical Society at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, how often he gets personal thank you notes from artists and he said it was rare. When it does happen, it makes a huge impression on him. One memorable note came from a singer who wrote to thank him for personally driving her to the airport early on a Sunday morning. I know that Mr. Fischer doesn’t think twice about doing something like that, nor does his staff complain about the work involved in preparing personal welcome packets for every guest artist arriving on campus, including individual members of foreign visiting orchestras, who receive packets prepared in their native language. Still, none of this should be taken for granted. He is gratified by the opportunity afforded by Facebook and Twitter to stay in touch with artists after they leave the campus. The ongoing communication that some artists opt to have often heightens the sense of anticipation that precedes a return visit. He also stressed to me how much it means to him and his staff when a manager takes the time to pay them a visit. Many of us may come to a performance because we think the artist expects it of us. Over the years, I rarely thought about what such a gesture might mean to the presenter, especially in the case of a veteran such as Ken Fischer. Presenters also cherish the generous community that they are a part of, sharing ideas and celebrating one another’s successes. It was no surprise to me to learn that so many of Mr. Fischer’s professional colleagues are also close personal friends.
I asked Mary Lou Falcone, the venerated public relations specialist, how she felt about employees going out of their way to make gestures of support and appreciation. I gave the example of an assistant placing a bouquet of flowers on her desk at the conclusion of a week that had been particularly challenging. Would she ever think that such a gesture was motivated by some other agenda? She responded by saying that it should never feel awkward for an employee to show kindness to an employer if it comes from a place of sincerity. Even small gifts at holiday time or on a birthday are not out of place. For the employer, it can be deeply touching and memorable. I also asked her how many former employees stay in touch with her and she said that about 50% still do. One woman who worked for her 30 years ago and who has gone on to a highly successful career in real estate still calls once a year to say that it would never have happened without her. We shared our mutual admiration for pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, who never fails to call us on our birthday no matter where he may be in the world, long after our personal representation services for him have ended. She confirmed my belief that there is no one at any level who will not appreciate a kind gesture and a congratulatory message on a job well done. She takes great care to pass along this message to the students in her course at Juilliard, “Completing the Singer”. She tells them that to say thank you and give credit takes nothing away from us. It helps to build and nurture relationships which are the foundation of a long and rewarding career in our industry. She summed everything up beautifully by adding: “No matter what your function, thoughtfulness is never out of style.”
To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.
© Edna Landau 2013
Please Note: I will be taking a spring break from this column over the next few weeks and will return on April 11, in hopes that it will actually feel like spring in New York by then! If you are celebrating a holiday during this time, I wish you a very happy holiday.
Lessons Learned From Crowdfunding
Thursday, March 14th, 2013By: Edna Landau
Dear Edna:
I am Associate Professor of Piano at a university music school in the U.S. and enjoy reading your blog very much. I also encourage my students to read it. For a number of years, I have been researching piano compositions written by female composers and I have now collected enough music to make a cd recording. I realize it is unlikely that a record company would release the cd and cover the expenses so I’ve been thinking of producing it myself. I know that others have undertaken such projects through crowdfunding sites such as Kickstarter and I am happy to go that route. However, I am wondering if there are things I should know up front to avoid making any mistakes and to maximize the effectiveness of my campaign. Any advice you can give me would be most appreciated. —- Stephanie B.
Dear Stephanie:
Thanks very much for writing to Ask Edna. Your project sounds perfect for a Kickstarter campaign. The good news is that Kickstarter’s website is extremely comprehensive and very helpful. All of the guidelines are carefully spelled out and considerable advice is offered about how to set your financial goal, the ideal length of time for your project, establishing rewards for different levels of giving, and more. It is important to remember that with Kickstarter, you must succeed in reaching your goal; otherwise, the dollars pledged will not be collected. However, you can contribute some of your own money if you come up a little short. You also cannot change your financial goal or the length of the campaign once it has begun. I have spoken to a number of people recently who mounted successful campaigns (all exceeded their goals) and they confirmed that they learned virtually everything they needed to know from carefully studying the Kickstarter website before launching their project. I did get some additional insights from them which you and others might find helpful.
Oboist Matt Dine organized a Kickstarter campaign to fund a recording project he had dreamed of for a long time: Me, Myself and Albinoni. The recording will feature him playing both parts of two of his favorite Albinoni concertos, written for two oboes. He limited the time frame of his $18,000 campaign to a month because that is the optimal time recommended by Kickstarter. He succeeded in raising $20,343. He told me that he was intensely involved with the campaign every day, to make it enticing to contribute, and advised that anyone contemplating this fundraising approach be prepared to make a proper time commitment. It is necessary to support the campaign with regular communication via e-mail, Facebook and possibly Twitter, to keep the momentum going. He tried to make his rewards as inventive as possible and also took advantage of his skills as a professional photographer to offer free photo sessions in the higher reward categories. He noted that Kickstarter strongly recommends posting a video but he hesitated until the last ten days because of the work involved and his concern about the quality meeting his own standards. When he did it, it creatively reflected the unique nature of his project (I encourage you to see for yourself how) and he raised $3000 in three or four days. He thinks that the video played a major role in reaching his goal before the deadline. He pointed out to me that a perfectly acceptable video can be made with an iPhone, if necessary, and that most people have friends who know how to edit if they don’t. When Matt exceeded his goal, he adjusted his plans so as to use an even better recording venue than planned. He strongly suggested that when setting up the campaign, think your project budget through very carefully. Remember that in addition to the 5% fee that Kickstarter takes, there will be an additional charge of at least 3% from Amazon.com for processing payments. You will also have shipping costs when you send backers their rewards.
I also spoke with bassist Ranaan Meyer, who is a co-founder of Time for Three, and mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer who gave further input about their Kickstarter campaigns. Time for Three wanted to produce a music video with a strong positive message for young people. Their goal was $15,000 (they had additional funding from a private source) and they raised $18,410 in less than a month. They worked with a few consultants, including viral marketing and social networking expert Jaime Campbell Morton, to help them present their project effectively and to assist them in knowing how often to post and send messages via social media and drive traffic to their Kickstarter page. They also hired a videographer to assist in the making of the promotional video on the Kickstarter site. All of these investments paid off once their music video was produced. Their audiences increased by as much as 300 per show, they gained many new Facebook fans, and hits on the Time for Three – Stronger video on YouTube currently number over 93,000. Ranaan stressed the importance of sending out the rewards in a timely manner. He also made the point that the Kickstarter experience is not just about raising money and “see ‘ya later”, but about building a community that is dedicated to you and your projects. Susanne Mentzer, who successfully funded a recording of never before recorded songs by Pulitzer prizewinning composer and octogenarian Carlisle Floyd (who will supervise the sessions), also spoke of the importance of acknowledging and thanking your community. Since every donation showed up in her e-mail account and a spreadsheet on Amazon.com gave further detail about the donor and the amount, she made sure to thank at least the larger donors right away. She admitted to me that she found the prospect of creating the Kickstarter video a bit daunting and that if she were to do another campaign, she would solicit outside help and aim for a higher quality outcome. She reiterated the importance of constantly getting the word out through social media or, as she called it, “shaking the trees”.
I should mention that Kickstarter is not the only game in town. There are other crowdfunding sites such as RocketHub and Indiegogo. I have not personally investigated RocketHub but there would seem to be two advantages to Indiegogo. If you are not successful in reaching your financial goal, you can still collect the monies that were pledged; however, the fees you pay will be slightly higher than if you achieve your goal. In addition, it is possible for your backers to get a tax deduction if you have a charitable foundation with 501(c)3 status as the payee, or if you use a fiscal sponsor such as Fractured Atlas. (Fees for this will also be a bit higher.) I spoke to Paul Murphy, who is a member of the Artists’ Committee of The Declassified and who was integrally involved in their successful Indiegogo campaign to launch the music collective. They sought to raise $20,000 and raised $25,115 in six weeks. The monies were used to cover basic expenses such as a professional website, marketing materials, office space and accounting and legal fees, as well as costs related to events that took place in the launch week. The campaign led directly up to the launch week and was significantly helped by an article about The Declassified that appeared in The New York Times. The size of The Declassified (over 40 members) gave them a built-in network of family and friends that got them one-third of the way. They put a lot of thought into their video and making sure they had a point person to keep their written and video messages consistent and compelling. They focused on clearly and concisely expressing who they are, what they do, why they are excited about it and on inviting people to be a part of it. You might find their rewards interesting, inasmuch as it can be a challenge to offer benefits to donors when you don’t yet exist! When the campaign ended, and following their launch week, they sent out a newsletter to their network and Indiegogo campaign donors to thank them and share the exciting news that they were singled out by Indiegogo as a model campaign.
This may be far more information than you were seeking, but I hope this column offers useful tips to a broader community of musicians, as well as encouragement to pursue their dreams, based on the significant success of many others who have preceded them.
Musical America will be issuing a Special Report on Fundraising and Sponsorships on 2 April. The report is free and will be located in the Special Reports area of the web site.
© Edna Landau 2013