The Entrepreneurial Musician: Spring 2017 Course Materials
Syllabus
Assignments
- Questionnaire: PDF, MS Word
- Reflective Journal
- Final Project: Informal Proposal
- Professional Tools Assignment
- Final Project
- Final Reflection Paper
Readings and Class Materials
Week 1: Introduction to the Entrepreneurial Musician
Handouts:
- Reflective Writing: A basic introduction (University of Portsmouth)
Class Media:
- Michelle Obama: Final Speech as FLOTUS
- "Performing Artists Compete, Move, Adapt in Tough Economy", PBS NewsHour, aired June 27, 2013. (video)
Post-Class Reading:
- Rebecca Solnit, “Foreword to the Third Edition: Grounds for Hope” (pages xi-xxvi) and “Looking into Darkness” (pages 1-5) from Hope in the Dark (2016).
- Andrew Simonet, "Chapter 1: The Role of the Artist” from Making Your Life as an Artist (pages 1-35)
- Christopher Small: "Prelude" from Musicking (1998)
Supplementary Reading:
- Adrienne Rich, "On Claiming an Education"
Week 2: Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship
Required Readings:
- Read: Ashoka U Student Kit, “First Things First: What is Social Entrepreneurship” (page 5) and “Going Deeper: Understanding Social Entrepreneurs” (page 9). Skim through pages 5-9 and click on the links for programs and problems that interest you.
- Watch: Claire Chase: 2013 Bienen School of Music Convocation Address
- Read: Mitsuko Uchida interview: 'It's not enough to play the piano – it takes a lifetime to understand music'
- Read: William Deresziewicz in The Atlantic: The Death of the Artist—and the Birth of the Creative Entrepreneur
Optional Readings:
- Read/Listen: Following Claire Chase: A Week in the Life of a Working Musician (NPR, Lara Pellegrinelli)
- David Bornstein and Susan Davis, “Introduction” (pages xvii-xxii) “Defining Social Entrepreneurship” (pages 1-47) from Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone Needs to Know (2010).
Class Media and Handouts:
- Trey McIntyre Project
- Recycled Orchestra of Cateura
- Decoda: Music for Transformation
- Handout: Sketching an Entrepreneurial Model
Post-Class Readings and Resources:
- Christopher Small, "Prelude" from Musicking (1998)
- Andrew Lee: “Claire Chase and the Winner Take All Economy”, New Music Box, August 2014.
- David Lowery: “Meet the New Boss: Worse Than the Old Boss” Full Post. Trichordist blog, April 2012.
- Chris Castle and Amy E. Mitchell: “Twenty Questions for New Artists”
Weeks 3 and 4: Introduction to Design Thinking
Required Reading:
- Harvard Business Review: "What Design Thinking is Doing for the San Francisco Opera"
- Stanford d.School, Bootcamp Bootleg, Read "Modes: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test" and "Methods: Interview Preparation, Interview for Empathy, Saturate and Group, Empathy Map, and Composite Character Profile". Scan the rest.
Class Media and Handouts:
- Handout: Field Interviewing
Supplementary Reading:
- Video: Sir Ken Robinson, "Changing Educational Paradigms" RSA Animate
- Annie Phillips: website
Week 5: Writing + Introduction to the Final Project
Pre-class Assignment:
- Goals and Steps (complete the first part: "In-class or At-home activity")
Readings:
- Chapters 1-5 from Andrew Simonet, "Making Your Life as an Artist"
- Alex Ross, "Making Art in a Time of Rage", The New Yorker, 8 February 2017
Resources:
- NEC EM handout on bio writing
- Sample bios and press releases from Lara Pellegrinelli's workshop on publicity
- Deceptive Cadence blog: Why Can't Artist Bios be Better?
- Writing an Artist Statement (old assignment: has suggestions for an exercise "how to interview yourself" (really helpful and fun, for getting at the stories that drive you)
Week 6: Fundraising and Networking
Resources:
Week 7: Employment Opportunities
Class Media and Resources:
- Margaret Neale: Negotiation: Getting what you want
- Stanford University Center for the Advancement of Women's Leadership: Resources on negotiation
- NEC Bridge Database
- Transferable skills for musicians
- Effectiveness of job search strategies
- Harvard: Action verbs for resumes
- Harvard Law School: Resumes + before and after examples
- Sample internship posting: Boston New Music Initiative
- Sample job posting: Metropolitan Opera Research Associate
- Sample fellowship posting: Community MusicWorks Fellowship Lab
- Sample fellowship posting: Ensemble Connect: Audience Engagement Institute
- NEC EM Handouts on Resumes, Cover Letters and much more
Week 10: Money
Resources
- Time and Money (optional assignment, has useful exercises on tracking spending, budgeting time, and reflecting on our associations with money)
- Andrew Simonet, Making Your Life as an Artist, “Money” (132-157); “Time” (160-173).
- David Cutler, Chapter 8, "Personal Finance for Musicians" from The Savvy Musician" (2010)
- Strike Debt/Occupy Wall Street, "The Debt Resistors Operations Manual" (online version here) (downloadable eBook PDF here) -- check out section on Student Debt
- Sample Personal Budget
- John Armstrong, "How to Worry Less About Money", PDF on Google Drive. (Scan pp. 1-20, read more, if you enjoy his perspective.)
- Neil Gabler, "The Secret Shame of Middle Class Americans", The Atlantic, May 2016.
- Future of Music Coalition: Artist Revenue Streams, Case Studies
- David Bach: Latte Factor Calculator
- Flexible budgeting software: You Need a Budget -- free for students