What drives you to create something new or different?
Sometimes a missed opportunity becomes a new challenge on its own. With the recent and sudden death of composer and pianist Frederic Rzewski, those of us in SoCal have proximal reason to mourn, as the titan was scheduled to be part of Piano Spheres’ upcoming season, and it would have been my first chance to … Read more
As we head into what we hope to be the last several months of the arts shutdown, we cross fingers and toes, WEAR OUR MASKS and think of stages and lights and singing together again. But simply waiting can take a toll on creativity, so I offer you a challenge, if you haven’t done it … Read more
I have a sad tale that many musicians share: I once lost ten years’ worth of digital recording files due to the unexpected failure of an external hard drive. I had chosen carefully, protected the drive from the usual threats (heat, surge, virus, etc.), and it was only about three years old, which is about … Read more
Staying up almost involuntarily to binge The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix, and reveling in the beauty of every bit, reminds me of an essential truth for anyone who seeks to create indelible experiences: following a story through twists and turns, and truly committing to every part of it, is one of the most satisfying ways … Read more
Our most observant Twitter followers have probably picked up on my fascination with Lifehacker, a blog that covers wide-ranging topics and solutions for problems you didn’t even know you had. Sometimes it’s genuinely helpful. Sometimes it’s dead wrong. Sometimes it’s just plain fun. (And sometimes, it even features one of our own!) A post from … Read more
This holiday is about important things. While its meaning is too often expressed with the same old words, those words themselves mean a lot. So in a year that has been fraught with additional challenges for performers and companies and support organizations and everybody else in the arts, here’s a little happyrant about the things … Read more
Where does your approach to music lie? What kind of results do you expect from performance to performance? What kind of perfection are you expecting out of every recording? One of our favorite bloggers, Seth godin, speaks to two vantage points briefly and eloquently. Here’s Seth’s post: One difference between science and art | Seth’s … Read more
We’ve talked about using a sort of “buddy system” before, and some our coaching clients have had discussions about “work clusters” and the power of reciprocity: Working with others, in any artistic climate, can mean an extraordinary difference to not only your output, but to your outlook. The fact is, working with colleagues in a … Read more
For those who suddenly find themselves with time on their hands because rehearsals and performances have been canceled, cabin fever is a danger almost as scary as the coronavirus. Here are a few things that might help you make the most of this time “off”:
