A while ago I blogged about the Colorado Symphony, and its bold plan to remake itself. It had to remake itself because it was running out of money, and to describe the bold plan, the Denver Post used these words: [T]he CSO plans to undergo nothing less than a complete culture change that rejects music-making offered with "little thought as to whether it truly was of interest and relevancy to a large part of the community" and plays up relaxed, consumer-friendly performances that meet audiences on their own terms and in their own towns. I … [Read more...]
Maryland adventure
Here's another example of classical music entrepreneurship. Plus some work I did, that now is showing some results. I was delighted when I went to hear the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra on Friday, and found a larger, younger, and more lively audience than I'd ever seen at these concerts. The concert also was dramatically good (speaking musically, now), way beyond what anyone would normally expect of a student orchestra. More on that in another post And of course I was curious to know how this audience had gotten there. When I … [Read more...]
Thinking bigger — Grammy post followup
I'm all for growing our niche audiences incrementally, using the Grammy awards for whatever they can get us. But we shouldn't be satisfied with incremental growth. We're ready to explode. Let's go for it! I'm surprised -- but happy -- about how much comment my Grammy post got, the post in which I said the classical Grammys didn't matter much. And I got a lot of pushback. Yes, the Grammys matter. They're recognition for recordings that might not otherwise get it (or at least not so prominently). The Grammys help with promotion -- if … [Read more...]
Empty branding
The New York Philharmonic supports WNYC, New York's public radio station. And so they get little quasi-commercials sprinkled into the station's shows. In which they tout Alan Gilbert as the first Philharmonic music director born and bred in New York. And so now I must tell my friends at the Philharmonic that this is pointless. If Alan Gilbert comes from New York, what difference does that make? Just about none, I'd think. Because it's not as if Alan -- in his work as music director, in his programming, for instance, or for that matter in … [Read more...]
Watch out for packaging
A marvelous comment, on one of my previous branding posts, from Gerald Klickstein. So many thanks for this: In my teaching of music entrepreneurship, I make a distinction between 'branding' and 'packaging.' I.e., in a nutshell, a brand is like a mission or promise - think of the Kronos Quartet - it derives from artists' true values (those 'inner' qualities you refer to). When packaging supports the mission, it resonates; when it doesn't, it confuses or, worse, comes across as shallow. Beautifully put. And likewise this, from Curtis … [Read more...]
More than a haircut
After I taught my class about branding -- using an Apple-gadget charger and some chocolate -- one of my students gave a branding example: Lang Lang's haircut. You know it's him, as soon as you see his hair. And a few commenters here decried branding as shallow, surface stuff. But remember that the chocolates -- with their varied shapes, and varied-color wrapping -- look different because they're different inside. And that's what branding ought to be about: What you are inside. Which then shows on the outside, and makes people remember … [Read more...]
How do we know it’s you?
A brief lesson in branding, as I taught it in my Juilliard class this week. I brought in a Plugbug, and some chocolate. I'd bought the Plugbug in an Apple store, though it's not made by Apple. It's a power adapter for Apple products, and -- unlike anything Apple sells -- can charge two things at once, my MacBook and my iPhone or iPad. Apple's power adapters -- the ones that come with their laptops and i-devices -- are white. And while the Plugbug looks much like an Apple charger, it's red, so we'll know it's different. Now for the … [Read more...]
Why entrepreneurship?
As I said in my last post, I'm stressing entrepreneurship this semester, in my Juilliard course on the future of classical music. And, of course, entrepreneurship is a major buzzword at music schools right now. But why? What's the purpose of this? Well, here's one useful explanation, which surfaced, very helpfully, in a working group I'm part of, in which we're helping to shape an entrepreneurship curriculum at a particular music school. Entrepreneurship, said one of our members, will help students shape their careers in a variety of … [Read more...]
My Juilliard course, updated
Spring semester has started, and that means I teach my Juilliard course on the future of classical music. The link takes you to the class schedule for the course, complete with links to most of the assignments. Which means you can read what the students read, and listen to what the students listen to, and watch the videos I've asked the students to watch, if you'd like to do these things. This, amazingly, is the 16th year that I've taught this course. Which among much else means, as I've said, that we've been talking about a classical music … [Read more...]
Handel hits the road
Another happy burst of entrepreneurship -- Daria van den Bercken hitched her piano to a truck, and played Handel on the streets of Amsterdam. And with such happy results. People smiled, ran after her, took her photo, clearly enjoying it all. Daria plays wonderfully, which of course doesn't hurt. But it's her happy spirit that -- if you ask me -- really makes this go. Not that it would work if the music and her playing weren't so terrific, but that's not enough to make a hit in public. People have to like you. And Daria -- whom I had the … [Read more...]
“What if we call it what it is?”
I raved yesterday about the stories readers tell me about their adventures as entrepreneurs. So, to help start 2012 on a happy note, here's another one, from Rebecca Smithorn, a conductor in Rochester, NY. I love what she emailed, which I'm posting here with her permission. And at the beginning, where Rebecca thanks me -- no, I'm not preening, when I pass even that part of her email on to you. The point isn't that I gave her what turned out to be good advice. No, the point is that any of us, when we reach out to someone else, might hit the … [Read more...]
Relaunched again
The new year has come, and after two months happily devoted to our new baby Rafael, it's time to get back to work. Though not without a Rafa photo. Here he is, smiling, the first of his smiles ever caught on camera. He's just a little past 10 weeks old as I'm writing this. Such a darling! Although I see -- looking back at 2011 -- that I haven't been idle here. Starting on October 4 (11 days before Rafa was born) -- I did 18 posts that I've grouped under the category entrepreneurship, and which got a lot of comment. To see them, click the … [Read more...]
Last orchestra photos this year
Well…the thread is calming down. With its flood of comments. See my previous posts -- I complain that orchestra photos are very bad, and then, in response to comments, I post two installments of better ones, suggested by readers, here and here. But I do want to show some other photos readers sent me, or led me to. On Facebook, Julian Day, a composer and radio producer I met in Australia, said the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, a period instrument group, has lively photos. For instance: And Julian seconded my thought, in my … [Read more...]
More better photos
More suggestions for good photos of orchestras, and orchestra musicians: Katie Kellert wrote, in the comments to my first post, in which I complained about how boring orchestra photos are: I got a big kick out of the alternate shots the Baltimore Symphony did for their members' bio pages a while back (For instance, Rene Hernandez and Chris Wolfe, showing them with items that seem to reflect their interests outside of music. I also found it telling that a lot of them chose to just have another photo with their instrument... it sort of reads … [Read more...]
Better orchestra photos
So many thanks to people who commented on my last post! I complained about boring photos of orchestras in that post, and several people offered links to better ones. What I'm going to do now is pass on those links, along with some photos, and ask what people think. Are these photos improvements? How, why? Or how could they be better? I'll save any thoughts I might have for later. Right now, I want your opinion! I'll do this in two or three posts. Here's a start: Robbie Ellis mentioned an orchestra he's been involved with, as composer … [Read more...]