Klarinet Archive - Posting 000571.txt from 1999/09

From: "Benjamin Maas" <benmaas@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Re: for professional post-grads or grad students
Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 18:46:39 -0400

> hi- i'm doing a semester project over different options for after
> graduation, for those of us who aren't leaving school with a
> guaranteed job ........ i'm looking into alternatives to waiting tables,
etc.
> including teaching (though not exclusively, as some are not fond of it),
> exploring other styles, jazz, klezmer- music therapy, how to market ones
> self, how to start a chamber music group, being a soloist,
> recording artist-
> music management, librarians, administration, etc- generally, anything
> having to do with music. i realize some things require more/additional
> education than others. i'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to
> where i could start in investigating such options- people, books, etc.
> also, i'm interested in what some of you would have liked to have learned
> (along these lines) in college that just wasn't offered to you or
> that you
> weren't taught.
>
> any and all suggestions are appreciated!
> thanks,
>
> angella hedrick

Oh man... where to start. I have so many feelings about that exact subject.
I am a firm believer that most musicians have taken too narrow of a focus in
their post-high school education. People mistakenly believe that that famed
orchestral job will be waiting for them when they leave school.

There is one school out there that has taken a very proactive approach to
solving these problems. It is my alma mater the Eastman School of Music.
My senior year was the first year of a new program called the Arts
Leadership Program (ALP)and I was one of the first 25 to go through it. You
might find out what is going on there now.

Basically the whole curriculum at Eastman has been formed to make graduates
the most well rounded musicians possible. There is a large number of
academic classes required for graduation and an encouragement to take
classes at the University of Rochester, Eastman's "parent" school. In the
ALP, students take classes in Arts Administration, Development, Expanding
Audiences, recording, multimedia computing and other related fields. The
teachers include administrators (like the director of the school) and the
most respected teachers. We never really used text books, but we would use
media resources (newspaper clips, etc...) and the work (issues) that the
teacher or administrator was working on. Part of the whole aim of this
program is to expand students horizons and give them new options for
employment. After graduation, we were encouraged to go out and get
internships in the field that held the most interest for us. One of my
classmates now works for the Manhattan School of Music. (I believe she has
been involved in their outreach program). There have been several finalists
for the American Symphony Orchestra League intern program. Interns in
Orchestras around the country have also been placed.

As a result of this program, I got an internship for an orchestra out here
in LA for a year, I started my own contemporary music ensemble, and I now
run a location recording business. It wasn't just the classes I took, but
the whole attitude around the school encouraging us to go out and try new
things that has led me to the career I am now involved with. I still play
(I just finished a Master's Degree in performance), but my life is much more
than that.

Enough blabbing for now....

--Ben
Benjamin Maas
Freelance Clarinetist and Recording Engineer
Los Angeles, CA
benmaas@-----.com
http://www.fifthcircle.com

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