By Eva Heinstein

This fall marked the start of the second year of programming in the EM Department, and with it a remarkable uptick in student activity and engagement.  We’ve been delighted to watch the EM office transform into a busy hub for student inquiry and experimentation.  There are many projects and initiatives that have taken flight over the last 15 months, and we’d like to share just the briefest snapshot of what our students have been so busy creating. There’s also the slightly less tangible element that we have started to see take root in our students—a shift in mindset, and an honest and thoughtful engagement with the concept of entrepreneurial musicianship.  The story of our work wouldn’t be complete without offering a sense of this crucial, albeit subtle, development. 

We’ll start with the concrete and ease into the subtle. We have just completed the fifth cycle of our Entrepreneurial Grant program and with it, welcome seven new creative projects to a roster of twenty five (you can read about all 32 projects here).  These projects are as wide ranging as the musical interests of the students who dreamed them up.  This fall, for example, there is Vanessa Wheeler’s venture Nonce, a nine member new music collective that brings together musicians and composers.

On the other end of the spectrum, we find a student-run production of Sondheim’s Into the Woods led by vocalist Laura Soto-Bayomi. Jason Belcher, now a two-time E-Grant recipient, has engaged a formative set of collaborators—New World Records and the American Composers Association—to produce a concert and recording of the music of Burr Van Nostrand. Social entrepreneurship and community engagement also figure heavily in this grant cohort. Music for Food, a joint project of viola faculty member Kim Kashkashian and students Debbie Pae and Joseph Kromholz , is an outstanding chamber series that benefits the Greater Boston Food Bank. Abreu Fellows Jennifer Kessler and Aisha Bowden, and NEC student Charles Burchell have teamed up to produce an Inside Out Group Action Project (part of the 2011 TED prize wish of the Artist JR) that explores the theme ‘Music Can Change the World’ through large format photographs hung in public spaces.

In conjunction with NEC’s Mahler Festival, the EM department recently took on its own entrepreneurial endeavor with Mahler Remixed, a 100% student produced concert that brought Mahler into the 21st century with a mix of improvisation, electronics, arrangements and new interpretations. The concert program included pieces that traversed centuries and continents—from traditional Mahler art songs to a piece for Sitar, Tabla and electronics inspired by Symphony No. 4.  The concert itself was also quite theatrical; ensembles were set up around the audience and “program notes” were delivered through audio and video statements. We were thrilled to see students apply their creative minds to all aspects of the production and think critically about how to create a unique experience for their audience. All told, we involved just shy of 60 students, representing every musical discipline and program throughout the school. Of the 60, 10 were part of a core creative team that looked after everything from artistic and curatorial decisions, to rehearsal schedules, to the marketing and production. Mahler Remixed was performed for a full house, a testament to the strength and creativity of our student’s marketing efforts.

These project-based initiatives allow students to understand the concept of Entrepreneurial Musicianship with their feet. It’s an experiential approach that encourages students to experiment and take risks in an environment that, at the end of the day, is supportive and safe. Innovation and risk are central to any entrepreneurial project and one might argue that providing a safety net is counter to the spirit of new enterprise.  We would argue, however, that helping students build confidence and tangible skills will enable them to take even greater leaps when they step outside the walls of this institution.

The experience of executing these projects allows students to build skills and networks so that the next time they have a great idea (and there certainly will be a next time), they will also have the toolkit to realize it. 

Our students may first engage with the concept of Entrepreneurial Musicianship through project-based work, but with that comes a subtle but important shift in mindset. For example, as part of the grant application we ask students to share their understanding of entrepreneurial musicianship and how it relates to the fabric and mission of each project. Here are just a few definitions that students have articulated:

1.  “I feel the most productive way that students can approach EM is to think of it not as an educational program, but as an incubator for their careers. EM is really about providing support, guidance, and resources to students who want to take quantifiable steps towards developing a unique professional and artistic identity that goes beyond expectations and precedents.” –Nell Shaw Cohen (BM Composition, ’12)


2. “The idea of Entrepreneurial Musicianship invokes to me a sense of responsibility of the artist in the world to create opportunities to share their skills and knowledge.”  –Dave Cordes (MM Contemporary Improvisation, ’11)


3. “Entrepreneurship and innovation are nearly synonymous.  Innovation for the sake of itself is nothing more than invention. On the contrary, entrepreneurship connotes re-imagination of a possibility to the mutual benefit of the entrepreneur and consumer. Bringing a piece to performance is akin to a company bringing a new product to market. It takes prototypes, test designs, among other things, to ensure that the product adequately meets the needs of the market.”  — Vanessa Wheeler (MM, Composition, ’13)


4. “Entrepreneurs, to me, see possibility in what is in front of them and use their personal resources and relationships to bring vision to life.  They find commonality among the passions of their collaborators and channel them into a unified goal.” –Michael Dahlberg (BM Cello Performance, ’11)

From the start, we have been less concerned with mandating a specific definition of EM, and more interested in creating an environment where students, faculty, and staff can come to the concept on their own terms. And they have. We have seen so many shades of understanding emerge, and suspect that these and other definitions will continue to evolve as our students do. We look forward to sharing more student-driven creative work with you in the New Year. Until then, we wish you a happy and restorative holiday break.

We are excited to share a recent interview that EM Director Rachel Roberts contributed to the Arts Entrepreneurship Educator’s Network. This website is edited by Gary Beckman, Director of Entrepreneurial Studies in the Arts at North Carolina State University, and a great friend to EM. We encourage you to poke around the AEEN website—you’ll find a robust collection of articles, editorials, online resources, and more. We’re honored to be one of the featured programs, and very much look forward to exchanging ideas with our colleagues in the field.

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Rachel Roberts
Director of Entrepreneurial Musicianship
Entrepreneurial Musicianship @ NEC
Posted 8.15.2011
 
1. Entrepreneurship education is quickly becoming a standard offering in conservatories across the country. Can you briefly describe how the Entrepreneurial Musicianship program began?NEC’s EM program grew out of a strategic planning process that began when President Tony Woodcock was hired in 2007. Tony and the strategic planning leadership identified a need for this type of education, and subsequently made entrepreneurship training a strategic priority. The WolfBrown consulting group was engaged to complete a preliminary survey of what entrepreneurship could look like at NEC. When I was hired in late 2009, I used this report as the basis for 10 months of research and development (including interviews with over 350 individuals, both within and outside of the NEC community). The Entrepreneurial Musicianship Department’s first official year was the 10/11 school year, and we’re gearing up for an expanded program in year two.

2. As director, how did you approach faculty relationships and develop programming?

Relationship building is one of the most crucial aspects of our work! We have a tremendous resource in NEC’s faculty, many of whom are musical entrepreneurs in their own right. From my first day at NEC, I tried to engage in open dialogue with our faculty. I first approached the heads of various departments and programs, then naturally continued these discussions with other faculty through recommendations and connections. I firmly believe that the success of our initiative will always be linked to the level of ownership that students and faculty have over the program. Because of this belief, I find myself always looking for two things in building relationships: 1) listening to what people have to say, either in the form of feedback or about what they’d like to see happen and, 2) finding ways to directly engage people in the various EM activities.3. What, in your mind, is the most innovative aspect of your program?

I believe the most innovative aspect of our program is something that is still evolving - genuine integration within our school. The EM department is working towards becoming a part of NEC’s culture, and we’re beginning first by meeting students and faculty where they are. Our department dedicates a lot of time to finding unique ways to be present at every turn (for example, finding creative ways to have a presence in our school newspaper, The Penguin), and to find multiple avenues into the conversations and opportunities that we offer. We’ve partnered with studio faculty members to present a seminar during a studio class times, and have partnered with classroom faculty to work on a project together. As these relationships and ideas continue to grow, we still uphold the two fundamental principles of the EM department: creating individualized experiences and  experiential learning opportunities. Through all of these efforts, we’re becoming part of the fabric of NEC.4. Can you describe a few challenges you faced during your first year and the solutions you developed to overcome these obstacles?

The biggest challenge I faced during the first year was time. There are (of course!) multiple layers to the time challenge, though I found the most crucial part is finding / creating time when students are available for extra-curricular activities. Students’ schedules are packed full of lessons, rehearsals, performances, and classes. While large numbers of students have an interest in this topic, it is often hard for them prioritize taking time away from one activity to spend on another. As referenced in answer #3 above, the time challenge is partially why our focus has been on integration, individualization, and experiential learning. When we are working with a student on EM, we look to make the most out of the experience. Additionally, we’ve seen that when EM topics and conversations become a part of the daily conversation, over time it becomes a natural extension of a student’s curiosity. This in turn often leads a student to seek out conversations, guidance, or action with EM ideas on their own terms.5. Have students embraced the program?

Absolutely! The most visible part of the program has been with our Entrepreneurial Grant initiative. In only the first year, we’ve awarded 25 students grants to fulfill their projects (check out www.necmusic.edu/em/grants to see their projects). Whether the outcome was a great success or a successful failure, being awarded funds to fulfill an idea has been an empowering experience for our students. It’s also spurred many discussions with their student peers about what might be possible projects in the future.In our required undergraduate course, one homework assignment is that each student is individually matched with an E-Advisor for conversations. We’ve deliberately matched the student with one of our 120+ Advisors to inherently build networking and communication skills. While this assignment was initially met with dread (what do you mean I’m going to talk with someone I don’t know?!?), this assignment ended up being a course highlight for many students as it gave them a window into what life is like beyond school.

Lastly, one of the most exciting things that happened towards the end of the year was students forming their own EM discussion group, Project 231. Many questions were left unanswered from the 50-minute / 14 week course, and students asked to have a time before graduation to talk through more questions. The EM department facilitated the evening discussion, which lasted nearly 3 hours. At the end of the session, the students decided to create their own discussion group this fall for these types of open conversations. Named Project 231 (231 = the room number of where we met), I’m really excited to see how this student-run discussion group evolves.6. How is the Boston arts community involved with the Entrepreneurial Musicianship program?

A portion of the EM’s work has been to create ‘field experience’ opportunities for our students. This initiative builds on the arts admin internships that have traditionally been offered at NEC, and adds Entrepreneurial Internships, a new opportunity developed this past semester (providing students with 3-tiered experience in administration, communications, and professional rehearsal/performance). Some field experiences will remain as internships, yet we need to be flexible to fit each student’s individual needs. (For example, we matched a senior trombonist and soon-to-be medical student with one of our E-Advisors for conversations about music and medicine. The E-Advisor is a practicing surgeon, and the interest / conversation between the two developed to a point where the E-Advisor invited her to sit in on a surgery he performed). At the same time, we’re building a healthy roster of community arts partners who are interested in the EM approach to learning. This will always continue to develop over time, yet it’s wonderful to see the wide variety of interest, engagement, and potential experiences for NEC students. The possibilities are endless!7. Alumni support is always critical to innovative efforts such as this. What has been the alumni reaction to your efforts?

I’ve seen an overwhelming response from NEC alumni, most a bit jealous that this program didn’t exist when they were in school! The alums have provided valuable insight into what they wish they would have been prepared for, and advice on how we might be successful in creating classes or seminars that would address these needs. Many alums have offered to lead seminars or classes, and an even greater number have signed up to be E-Advisors to our students (55% of our E-Advisor roster is NEC alums!). All of our seminars and workshops are open to alumni (we’re hoping to stream these online this year, so more than just Boston-based alumni can participate), and in a few years I’m planning to create an Entrepreneurial Alumni Grant program. It’s fantastic to see this kind of response from our alums, and I hope to continue to build on their interest in ways that benefit both them and our students. 8. Do you see international student groups participating in your programming?

In somewhat limited numbers, yes. Our first and most direct opportunity is with the undergraduate class, which is a required course for our entire undergraduate population. We’ve seen other international students come to various seminars or extra-curricular learning opportunities. We’ve also seen a relatively large number of this population who have come into the office for individual advising sessions. I believe working with international students is a great opportunity that we all have in front of us. Whether an international student wants to remain in the US after school or whether they’d like to return home, there are different strategies for building careers in different countries. (Again, our alumni are great resources for beginning to understand these differences.) I also believe this would be a great topic for colleagues around the country to discuss and share learning on!9. Can you see aspects of the EM program working at private colleges or public universities?

Yes, definitely! However, I doubt an exact replica of NEC’s program would work at many other places. After spending 10 months in research and development for the EM program during which I specifically sought out meetings with various institutions of higher education, I have not found two programs that come close to looking the same. Additionally, entrepreneurship is interpreted differently by each institution and by each individual involved (faculty and student alike). These different perspectives actually provide a great place to begin conversations with colleagues on different campuses. At NEC, we found that it’s not an exact definition of ‘entrepreneur’ that matters, but rather the mindset of the entrepreneurial approach that provides the foundation for the EM initiatives. When you can engage colleagues with why they feel entrepreneurship is important and what they would like most students to have from this type of learning, you’re able to find common ground to begin to create something that fits within your school. Whether it’s a course, a grant initiative, a seminar series, individual advising sessions, or even a conversation group, there is always a way to get students involved in some type of EM program. 10. In your opinion, how important will EM be to the fabric of NEC in 2021?

In my opinion, I think EM will be fully integrated and a crucial piece of the school’s culture by 2021, especially as the arts industry continues to evolve in the next 10 years. Along with all that we’re creating now, I believe technology will play a central role in the expansion of the musicians’ “toolbox”. That said, I suppose time will only tell what really happens in the next 10 years, so feel free to keep tabs on how NEC’s EM department is developing! You can find us online at the links below, and I’d always welcome conversations about what’s happening in the field.

Facebook: “New England Conservatory Entrepreneurial Musicianship”
Twitter: @necentrepreneur
Blog: www.necentrepreneur.posterous.com

This parting letter was composed for students in Tanya Kalmanovitch’s section of The Entrepreneurial Musician course.  TEM is a survey of important professional skills and resources as well as a space for students to consider what they want the fabric of their work life to be. This letter captures some of the principles that we hope students will take away as they continue their studies and begin to lay the foundation for a life in music.

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May, 2011

Sunrise, sunset—it’s the end of the year and we’re feeling all reflective. Last week in the Entrepreneurial Musician class we spent a little more time talking about the M-word. No, not music, money.  Well, money as it relates to music.  A few particularly pensive students lingered after class—they wanted answers. How do we make a life in music work? Give it to us straight! In response, we put our heads together and set out a few guiding principles that we’ve found especially helpful in our own paths.

1. The fate of your career is not determined by what happens in the first few years out of school. Think about your career as a long, fluid succession of twists and turns. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Too many people judge themselves prematurely: you tell yourself that if you haven’t accomplished X by Y date, it’s never going to happen. Not true.  F@*$ Y date. 2. You can only get so far by depriving yourself of lattes.  What do we mean by that? That living cheaply is not the whole answer to weathering the first few years out of school.  Sure, you want to live within your means, and you may not have a huge flow of money coming your way, but the point is, there are two sides to the equation: expenditures and income. If you can’t cut back any further without turning into a cheerless miser, then you might want to think about earning more instead of spending less. You’re thinking it’s impossible, aren’t you? It’s all how you look at it. Sometimes it’s easier to earn an extra $400 a month than it is to save the same amount by cutting back. Check out Ramit Sethi’s recent post in the New York Times Bucks blog for more on this idea, and check out Ramit’s own web site for a host of ideas on how to earn $1000 a month on the side.

3. Your first years out of school are a time for investing in yourself. You will be building capital in the form of professional networks, experience, extended training, reputation, and a body of personal work. You might not be building a lot of financial capital, but the creative capital you build during this time builds a strong foundation for the rest of your career. Don’t underestimate the value of creative capital. (Meanwhile, healthy financial habits keep your head above water.) 4. Now it’s time to debunk an unproductive myth about musical careers. Who says the only honorable way to make a living as a musician is with an instrument in your hand? (No, really, who said that?  We want to know where he or she lives.)  We are all multifaceted people.  We all know how to do many different things.  There is more to us than music.  If your career is taking you in a direction where you’re making a comfortable living playing the music you want to play, more power to you.  But if that’s not happening, there are many reasons why this might be, very few of which have anything to do with your quality as an artist, let alone as a person.  Maybe the music you want to make has a smaller audience. (If so, that doesn’t make your music any less vital. We say it makes it all the more vital!)  Maybe your career path has a slower rise (opera singers, that’s you, but it’s also any artist whose creative development takes place over a lifetime, and we’re not talking in dog years, here).  Maybe you’ve sampled all your available options for musical employment, and find that none of them are the right fit.  So, if a “traditional” musical career is not happening right out of the gate, carve your own path. Keep going. See point number 1.

4(a). And don’t think of non-musical employment as purgatory.  You may find that a “day job” can ignite you and be an asset to your work as an artist.  Maybe you find you actually enjoy the stimulation of doing something different.  Maybe the connections you build and the money you make allow you to do artistic work that otherwise would have been impossible.4(b). One more thing. You’re not an evil person if financial stability is important to you.  No one said you can’t be a great musician AND have a stable income.   

5. In most cases, no one decision you make will irrevocably change the course your life.  We make a lot of little decisions every day that push us forward, or move us back.  Check in with yourself often, and adjust as you go along.  This is all to say, if you make a career move that sends you down a path you find undesirable, don’t despair.  Change it up.  Examine the fabric of your daily work life and figure out what it is that makes you feel rewarded.  And if something feels like it’s sucking your soul, figure out what that is, too.  Building a happy professional life is all about steering yourself away from the soul sucking and into the green and pleasant meadows of the rewarding.  It may not happen overnight, but if you are self-reflective — and actually do something about your self-reflections — then it will happen in time.6. Speaking of doing something… Be prepared to work harder than you think you have to. Be prepared to do things you don’t initially want to do.  Be prepared to invest steeply in yourself.  If you believe a life in music is worth having, then it’s worth the hard work.  Luckily, you all know about hard work already. You do it every day in the practice room, in class and on stage.  Now, you’ve just got to extend your work ethic to other activities. For example, booking and promoting your shows, maintaining an online presence, taking auditions, managing a teaching studio, etc. These activities may at times make you feel disconnected from the passion that led you down the path of a musical career.  But it’s all interrelated, and it’s all part of the project of making a life in music.  We know there are only 24 hours in a day, but small consistent efforts over time (see point number 1) pay off handsomely.  Every time.  Promise.

7. Congratulations, you’re in control.  When you’re in school, it can feel like everyone’s telling you what you can and cannot do.  Out of school, suddenly, you’re the one who’s steering the ship.  There is a lot of freedom and possibility that come with this new stage.  There is also some aimlessness, and you shouldn’t be too down on yourself if you lose your bearings for a while.  That’s what the wandering twenties are for, friends. It’s all about trying things out and crossing things off the list. See also point number 1. 8. Don’t obsessively compare yourself to others.  It’s a drag, and mostly, you’re just projecting your own imaginings onto another person’s reality.  Their life might be awesome, or it might be really dark and hollow.  The world will never know.  

9. The main strategy for advancing yourself as an artist is: work, refine, develop, repeat.  It never ends.  This is good news.  You will always have something productive and meaningful to do with your life, and it rests entirely in your hands.  Your music will be one constant, stable element in your life; an anchor when other areas get murky.  Most people don’t have this: they just have TV. 10. Don’t suffer alone.  If you’re questioning your path or feeling unsettled, talk to someone about it. Talk to us about it.  Believe me, you’re not the only one who questions yourself or feels unsettled.  We all do, and it is utterly liberating to realize that most people feel a little insecure and ponderous as they face change.  There are also many resources at your disposal.  Don’t be a hero. Take advantage of people and information that can help you get over life’s little humps.  First stop: EM department, SB106. If nothing else, we usually have baked goods in the office.

Now, we have to thank you. Yes, you. These life and career negotiations never really stop cropping up. They may shift slightly with each decade of life, but they are there, like little sneaks, waiting for you just around the next corner. When we guide students through the process of career visioning and planning, we engage in the same process, too.  We’re asking ourselves all the same difficult questions and learning from your answers. 50 minutes, once a week, just isn’t enough time to wrangle these topics. At the end of each class we feel that so much is left unsaid. That’s why we’ve written this to you. We like to talk — and write — but we also like productive outcomes.  So what are the productive outcomes of this piece?  Well, one, it was pretty cathartic to write. Two, we hope you laughed a little, and saw your experience reflected in some small way.  But most important is three: we’d like to carve out some space for these conversations to happen more often. What we’re proposing is this: bi-monthly dish sessions.  Good company, good snacks, and straight-up conversation about the future of music—your future in music.  We’ll run these every two weeks starting in the fall, but first up is Monday, May 16 at 5PM in SB106. Spread the word, drop us a line to let us know you’re coming, and send us your inspired suggestions for snacks.

Wishing you a restorative summer, with lots of fresh tomatoes and slightly tanner skin (apply sunscreen regularly).

—Tanya & Eva

Contributed by: Tanya Kalmanovitch, Assistant Chair of the Contemporary Improvisation Department and Eva Heinstein, Program Manager of Entrepreneurial Musicianship

Liz Erenberg, ever the writer, has crafted a grant post that is part story, part update. I think her experience is one that will resonate with many young musicians who are looking for ways to transmit the relevancy of their art to audiences old and new. In this post, Liz reminds us that, “the cure for insecurity about art is art itself.” Well put.

*   *   *

A college grad trying to navigate the quarter life crisis gains no realer “life experience” than waiting tables.   Amongst all the struggling artists in aprons – writers, actors, musicians, and combination thereof (like me for example, scribbling angry poetry about bad customers during my two minute breaks while wanting desperately to just go practice my flute), the lead bartender in the restaurant recently received her master’s degree in vocal performance from a place called the New England Conservatory.  When I found out, I leaped for joy.
    “Oh my!” I exclaimed flinging the loose change (1% tip) from the pocket of my apron as I jumped.  “I just auditioned there last week!  Do you still sing?”
    “Nope,” she said, and then turned away from me back towards the shelf of alcohol.  
    That was the end of that conversation.  Even though I could have questioned her further, part of me didn’t want to know any more.

After starting my master’s degree at NEC, I often thought back to her.  The awe I felt at being there was mixed with at times a difficult sense of realism.  At NEC there are some of the greatest artists in the world, but most of them rose to their highest potential when times were “normal.”  Now, there is no normal, not even for the most lucrative of careers.  Who is a role model for “making it” in these times?  Why am I putting so much of myself into a field that is crumbling?  Will my feelings become similar to that bartender’s?

With classical music institutions folding all over the place, it is hard not to feel somewhat discouraged.  However, looking at the problem like a onion going into a signature restaurant dish, the economic crisis is only the outside layer.  When you look beneath that, there are clearly more layers, the innermost one being the art itself losing relevancy in the minds of present day audiences.  How can we keep classical music alive when our audiences are diminishing because they are not engaged? 

I was recently in Tony Woodcock’s office for my first meeting with him as my advisor for my grant project, a concert that combines music and literature through Greek Mythology.  I knew I wanted poetry based on the myths to be read aloud alongside the music, and incorporate other aspects such as visual art and lighting.  I knew I wanted to engage students in elementary through high school, specifically those learning about Greek history.

What I was missing though was a how to make these artistic aspects come together with the business ones.  How do I plug something that people might not believe is worthwhile, or to put it bluntly, lucrative?  He asked me from the perspective of a potential venue why this is important.  I said because it is presenting each art form, literature and music, and presents them each in a way that makes them stronger together than they would be separately, and in the process, gives classical music more integrity.  Music and language are interrelated, he said, but based on our dreams, where we are most creative and most at ease.  So in order to make the entrepreneurial and the artistic aspects come together, I basically need to look into the minds of my audience and serve them what they want.

Before, this concert was just an idea that I thought would be fun, but because I now fully believe in why it is relevant, I have the confidence to move forward and achieve the ambitious goals that come along with it.  I am grateful to this department for allowing me the opportunity not only to finally make this idea a reality, but also to realize that the cure for insecurity about art is art itself.

As promised, below are short teaser videos from our spring Entrepreneurial Grant recipients! Their excitement is palpable, and so is ours!

Michael Dahlberg, Parlor Night

John Elliott, Prism Project

Elizabeth Erenberg, Sounding the Stories

Lauren Hunt, Corno Colombia

Cecilia Huerta and Andres Lopera, Boston Latin-American Orchestra

Peter Negroponte, Improvisers Anonymous Series

Vanessa Wheeler, NEC Composers Lab Ensemble

Fall Entrepreneurial Grant recipient Joan Arnau Pàmies recently completed a wonderfully successful pilot for his project, NEC Young Composer’s Forum. His work has created a great deal of excitement and buzz among students and faculty, who are eager to see this forum continue after Joan graduates this spring.  Ryan Krause, a second year graduate composition student, recently wrote a piece in NEC’s student newspaper The Penguin, imploring his fellow students to pick up the YCF reigns and keep the momentum going.  To give you a taste of the YCF, here is an excerpt from Trevor Baca’s lecture on December 3, 2010:

You can find this and other videos on the YCF blog. Happy reading!

The Future of the NEC Young Composers Forum

by Ryan Krause, MM ‘11 Composition

Over the course of the last four months, NEC composer Joan Arnau Pàmies, a graduating senior this year, has founded, curated, and overseen the creation and execution of a new student-run organization: the NEC Young Composers Forum, a program made possible thanks to an NEC Entrepreneurial Grant. The forum set out to bring in interesting and relevant composers to introduce themselves to the NEC community and to present their work and topics related to its creation. Pàmies’ goal was to give NEC students and composers “the opportunity to not only learn about the transformations that music is going through today, but also to be more familiar with late 20th Century musical, aesthetic, and philosophical terms.”

The aim of the forum has been to bring in outside voices that otherwise wouldn’t be heard in typical Composition Department master classes, which generally opt for older, more established and conservative composers. Instead, the NEC YCF brought in an array of much more identifiable figures, all of whom were pursuing doctoral or post-graduate studies. The age range of the “young” composers Pàmies recruited runs from about 25 to just under 40, and the career status of these musicians is something that an NEC student could aspire to, and achieve, within a few years. They were young, diligent, daring composers, who talked not about their careers, nor life as a successful composer, but talked, quite simply, about their music. Each presenter brought in a number of slides and musical examples, and many brought in sketches and graphs of the pre-compositional process.

The composers involved were a varied group, not of one musical school or particular aesthetic, but all with interesting approaches and techniques that were fascinating to hear about. Harvard composer Trevor Bača has developed his own code to realize complex, multi-dimensional musical processes in small chamber pieces with extra musical, often mystic, poetic aims. Columbia’s Paul Clift brought in an elaborate multimedia work featuring pre-recorded soprano, a dancer triggering sensors, and live audio processing involving highly sensitive microphones placed inside the instruments. From the younger of the visiting composers like Alec Hall and Diana Soh, we saw a number of skilled and engaging chamber pieces. Regardless of the style, what these musicians had in common was their attention to detail, the level of their craft, and their relevance within the current musical framework.

We have the unique privilege of being able to attend a cultural institution with as much international renown as NEC. The school has had a long history of bringing in relevant and influential composers over the last couple of decades, and the guests who visited the forum in its inaugural year were all thrilled to be presenting in such a setting. It is important for the NEC community to trade on this cachet. Once or twice a year, the Composition Department may bring in a composer for a colloquium, but this is not enough. In order that the world of composition at NEC may remain viable, we need to seek out the best of those around us, and the task needn’t fall solely on the Department.

As it was, the forum was not limited in its appeal to composition majors, but, rather, drew a wide array of attendees from all the school’s disciplines. “I still think I failed at one of the most important goals of this whole project,” says Pàmies, “which was to attract the majority of the students in the NEC Composition Department. I can recall barely ten students out of over fifty who came to at least one of the lectures. It was surprising to see that more jazz and CI majors than composition students attended the lectures.”  Where the forum did succeed, however, was in allowing young minds to interact.

The visiting composers, being in the germination stages of their artistic endeavors, are vulnerable, fallible, and still not set in their ways, and, moreover, have as much to benefit from presenting their music as we do from hearing about it. Bringing in successful composers can be a good model for the career-minded among us, but how much more fruitful would it have been to hear these composers hashing out their ideas 30 years ago, when they were still young, when they were first making their creative strides?

Theory faculty Stratis Minakakis makes a similar observation: “I always imagined how fascinating it might have been to meet the young Xenakis and Stockhausen in Darmstadt at the moment when they were composing ‘Metastaseis’ and ‘Gruppen.’ Such festivals were started in the early fifties in Europe to provide a podium to the younger generation for the exchange of new ideas. The NEC Young Composers Forum started from a similar impetus and I hope it is an effort that is seriously undertaken by students next year and in the years to come.”

So, returning students, the onus is on you: the NEC YCF needs to and deserves to live on. With Pàmies leaving, we need someone, be it one student or several, to step up and take the reins and reapply this fall for an Entrepreneurial Grant. Continuing the momentum set forth by this successful first year of the forum is an important step towards seeing that NEC remains a relevant institution, at the forefront of contemporary composition, and so that we may continue to witness the future of music in the making.

We’ve had a dizzying start to the semester, but couldn’t be more pleased to announce the spring Entrepreneurial Student Grant recipients.  Friday marked the completion of the grant review process, and we have funded eight new creative projects:

Parlor Night is a bi-monthly chamber music series at the LilyPad in Cambridge.  A collaboration between Michael Dahlberg, his LilyPad String Quartet and venue owner Gil Aharon, Parlor Night aims to transform the perception and conventional presentation of live classical music performance in Greater Boston.  The mission is three fold: to find new performance formats that attract audiences, to make classical music a social convener, and to cultivate deeper relationships between professional musicians and the communities that they are part of.

John Elliott is curating a Prism concert, a unique type of performance that blends different styles of music and plays with time and space to create an interactive and welcoming atmosphere.  The music is continuous and ensembles are set up in different locations throughout the venue to envelop the audience.  The set-up is informal, allowing audience members to interact socially and engage with the performances.  

Elizabeth Erenberg is creating a unique program that combines music and Greek mythology.  The final concert, which will take place in Erenberng’s native Los Angeles, will include flute repertoire based on Greek myths as well as a newly commissioned work for orator, tambourine and flute by DMA student Derek David. This production will enable students studying Ancient Greek History and Mythology to engage with their curriculum through the arts.

This March, Lauren Hunt will travel to Bogota, Colombia for ten days to work with a wide variety of horn students.  Lauren will be working with three organizations that serve different communities in the city: Tocar Y Luchar (the El-Sistema style program in Colombia), Sabana Centro, a music preparatory school and the conservatory affiliated with the National University of Colombia. 

Andres Lopera and Cecilia Huerta have teamed with Villa Victoria to launch the Boston Latin-American Orchestra (BLO). This chamber orchestra is comprised of twenty-two current and former NEC students as well as musicians from the Greater Boston area.  BLO aims to present Latin-American orchestral music and in so doing, create a space where Latino culture can be celebrated and shared.

Improvisers Anonymous Series, curated by Peter Negroponte, is a new performance initiative that will promote improvised music and allow young improvisers to collaborate and share bills will more experienced players.   Each concert will reflect the many sub-genres of improvised music, from improvised music based on pre-composed material to free jazz, and electro-acoustic music, among others.  Concerts will take place at the Piano Factory and will create an accessible space for students and young musicians to perform and showcase their talents as improvisers.

The Chiron Competition, directed by Albert Oppenheimer, is a New England composition competition that provides the opportunity for young composers (High School and College) to have their works premiered at the New England Conservatory by world-class musicians.  Winners of the competition will also be paired a mentor who will help provide guidance and support to the student as he/she pursues further composition education. 

The New England Conservatory Composers Lab Ensemble (NEC CLE)is a pilot program that seeks to cultivate an environment of guided exploration for young composers in a two-day intensive forum.  Selected composers will work with a Visiting Composer, an NEC Composition or Theory Faculty member, and a flexible ensemble of experienced musicians to develop new techniques and workshop their works-in-progress. NEC CLE will serve as a sounding board for composers, a space where composers can receive direct feedback from the ensemble.  The workshop will culminate in a public performance of the pieces that are selected for the NEC CLE workshop.

Quite the line-up, wouldn’t you agree? These students have worked tirelessly over the last few weeks to prepare their applications and pitch their projects to our review panel (comprised of staff, faculty and former grant recipients). They have labored over project visions, timelines, marketing plans, and yes, most difficult of all – budgets.  Aside from the enormous benefit of having a pot of money to work with, these students have also learned a great deal in the application process itself. Articulating a vision, creating a work plan, identifying target audiences, crafting a marketing strategy, and figuring out how to balance a budget are all skills that we want our entrepreneurial musicians to develop while they are at NEC. And although these skills certainly need to be practiced and honed over years, not weeks, our students have the advantage of getting a head start. Most importantly, they are getting their head start in an environment that is supportive, collaborative, and at the end of the day, safe. We are less concerned with whether or not these projects become wildly successful ventures, though they may. Our greatest hope is that the experience of executing these projects will help our students build skills and networks so that the next time they have a great idea (and there certainly will be a next time) they will also have the toolkit to realize it.  In the coming days, we will be posting short teaser videos so that you too can get to know each of our grant recipients and their creative visions. 

Contributed by: Eva Heinstein, Program Manager of Entrepreneurial Musicianship

(Rachel Roberts, Director and Eva Heinstein, Program Manager on the first day of fall semester - considerably warmer temperatures than 19 degrees on 12/15/10)

Welcome to NEC’s Entrepreneurial Musicianship blog! We are excited to use this space to share our work and exchange ideas about the concept of entrepreneurial musicianship.  A logical subject for our first blog post: what is entrepreneurial musicianship?

This very question has been a hot topic of conversation at NEC, even before our official launch this fall.  If we had to describe what we do in ten words or less, it would have to be ‘fostering a mindset of self-efficacy throughout the NEC community.’ Artistic excellence is the foundation for a rich and rewarding career in the music, but it can no longer stand alone. The Entrepreneurial Musicianship Department creates opportunities for NEC students to develop important extra musical skills that will help them create new and diverse contexts for their work.  In short, every musician is a business that must be managed and nurtured – we’re here to show our students how to do it.

Through a mix of curricular and extra-curricular opportunities, the Entrepreneurial Musicianship Department launched with a portfolio of five initiatives: E-grants, E-advisors, The Entrepreneurial Musician course, E-internships, and E-workshops. You can learn more about each of these initiatives here (necmusic.edu/entrepreneurship). Entrepreneurship at NEC isn’t a discreet curricular program; it is an approach to music education that combines rigorous artistic training with visioning work and hands-on skill building. All five initiatives are highly experiential and individualized to help each student translate his/her passions into work that can live and thrive in the world.

The Entrepreneurial Musicianship Department is just beginning. As we continue to grow, learn, and develop, we aim to be a resource for you. When you have ideas, questions, or suggestions, please let us know! Email us at entrepreneurship@necmusic.edu.

Up next: blog posts from members of our Student Council for Entrepreneurial Musicianship and our E-Grant student awardees.

Contributed by: Rachel Roberts, Director of Entrepreneurial Musicianship