Did you read that title right? Yes, you did. Did you think the only musicians who made six-figures were top tier orchestra players? Think again... Ken Preuss, former trombone player, middle school chorus director and musical theater aficionado who I went to Indiana with went on to create a six-figure business out of grad school. When I heard this, I HAD to have him on the show. Listen now to hear WHAT he did and HOW he created it!
Horn player Andrew Sehmann came back on the show to tell us the direction he wants to take his career. Andrew had been grappling with whether or not he wanted to go in the direction of teaching at the university level and freelancing, auditioning for jobs in an orchestra, or soloing. Right now he's doing a little bit of everything and on the last Hot Seat realized that doing a little of everything wasn't going to get him exactly what he wanted. Check out today's episode where he reveals what he truly wants- I was really surprised by this chat, it was very enlightening!
On today's Fireside Chat we discussed inner workings of the orchestra. After a discussion with Eileen about how I really didn't know much about how an orchestra business is run (yeah, it's still a business!) and admitting that what I know NOW is vastly more than I knew going into this business, we discussed what it means to take responsibility for what it is and what it isn't, and what musicians can DO if there are things they see that they don't like in the day to day orchestra business doings. I'd say from a musician perspective, the overarching attitude is *shrug* "there's not a lot I can do!"... a sort of "I just work here" attitude. Which can feel frustrating for musicians at times. So what CAN musicians do? This is what we talked about today.
Everyone knows that classical musicians can have trouble from time to time with money... on today's episode I talked with Jeremiah Johnson, who on his own path to becoming a professional musician ran into money problems and student loan debt. At a certain point he decided to step up and learn how to get it fixed... and simultaneously discovered a real need for money talk among his fellow musicians. This ended up becoming a big part of his career. It was a great talk money with Jeremiah and it's high time all musicians start paying attention to this all-important issue that everyone has to face!
Episode brought to you by: https://www.ficksmusic.com/
Staying in the place of "I don't know" doesn't work... listen and find out why, and more insights on choosing a path, creating your own thing and what it takes. In this Fireside Chat, Eileen brings up some points about interacting with other people and conversations and how that leads to bigger and better things.
As a musician you may relate to being super busy doing a ton of different things and pulled in a lot of different directions. Today's Hot Seat guest has this going on in his career- Andrew Sehmann, Master's student and freelancer on horn, plays in a woodwind quintet and freelances all over South Carolina and Georgia. Today we dive in with him on his career goals and what he really wants along with some strategy on how to get it.
Besides symphony orchestras and church gigs here and there, how many people are CREATING JOBS for classical musicians? Not many- but CMH Label Group in Los Angeles has created a series of projects that they named Vitamin String Quartet. This project started with a tribute album to Led Zeppelin and continued with many more tribute albums and eventually expanded to sheet music sales. These two guys have even more great ideas coming down the pike, and I got to hear all about how this project got started on today's podcast.
https://vitaminstringquartet.com/
Crushing Classical brought to you by https://www.ficksmusic.com/
Fireside Chat #3 is here! On this episode we get right down to it- the attitudes that exist in classical music and what is needed to evolve classical and cause real change. Also we dive into the nitty gritty of the story behind a real side-hustle that we did recently. All the details are on this episode!
On this second Fireside Chat, Eileen and I begin the conversation about money. Specifically, we start to talk about how I wasn't always living in reality when making career decisions regarding money, and later in the talk, Eileen tells us about the five subject areas where people spend their money, and what that means for you as a musician and an income creator.
Musicians with the tenacity and determination to do things THEIR WAY... Kev Marcus and Will B. of Black Violin come on Crushing Classical and share the story of their unique career path like no other- classical music to hip hop.
Black Violin is on tour NOW! Their next performances are in Charlotte, NC on 3/21/17 at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center and in Durham, NC on 3/23/17. Check out their website for more details!
https://www.facebook.com/BlackViolinMusic/
https://www.instagram.com/blackviolin/