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PROFESSIONAL GROWTH

Click on the tabs below to advance your career by searching Contests & Awards, Schools, Festivals, Camps, Service Organizations, and our list of Services and Products, Scholarships and Grants and Events and Conferences.

And be sure to browse the excellent career advice offered by legendary Artist Manager Edna Landau in her Ask Edna blog and the entertainment law experts in their Law and Disorder blog.

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Scholarships and Grants

Musical America routinely updates the list of scholarships and grants in an effort to keep current and ensure opportunities for musicians.

If you know of a scholarship or grant not mentioned in our lists, please send us a message.

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Performing Arts Industry Events and Conferences

Date Location Event
September 19-21, 2012 Dallas, TX Radio Show
September 19-22, 2012 Miami, FL Performing Arts Exchange
September 21-23, 2012 Munich, Germany Automotive Audio, 48th International Conference
October 11-14, 2012 St. Charles, IL American Music Therapy Association Conference
October 15-18, 2012 Boise, ID Arts Northwest Annual Conference
October 26-29, 2012 San Francisco, CA Audio Engineering Society Convention
November 1-4, 2012 New Orleans, LA American Musicological Society Annual Conference
November 1-4, 2012 New Orleans, LA Society for Ethnomusicology Conference
November 1-4, 2012 New Orleans, LA Society for Music Theory Annual Meeting
November 12-18, 2012 Montreal, QC CINARS (International Exchange for the Performing Arts)
November 14-17, 2012 Dallas, TX Conference for Community Arts Education
November 15-18, 2012 San Diego, CA College Music Society National Conference
November 16-20, 2012 San Diego, CA National Association of Schools of Music Annual Meeting
January 3-6, 2013 Portland, OR National Opera Association Annual Convention
January 11-15, 2013 New York, NY Arts Presenters Conference
January 15-17, 2013 New York, NY International Society for the Performing Arts
January 17-20, 2013 New York, NY Chamber Music America
January 23-26,2013 Toronto, ON Canadian Arts Presenting Association
January 24-27, 2013 Anaheim, CA National Association of Music Merchants Show
January 29-31, 2013 Orlando, FL International Ticketing Association Annual Conference
February 6-8, 2013 London, England Audio for Games, 49th International Conference
February 16-20, 2013 Nashville, TN National Association for Campus Activities National Convention
February 27-March 3, 2013 San Jose, CA Music Library Association Annual Meeting
February 27-March 2, 2013 Providence, RI American String Teachers Association National Conference
February 27-March 2, 2013 Providence, RI American String Teachers Association National Conference
March 6-9, 2013 Tampa, FL American Bandmasters Association Annual Convention
March 9-13, 2013 Anaheim, CA Music Teachers National Association National Conference
March 13-16-,2013 Dallas, TX American Choral Directors Association National Conference
March 20-23, 2013 Milwaukee, WI US Institute for Theatre Technology Annual Conference
April 6-11, 2013 Las Vegas, NV National Association of Broadcasters Show
June 2-7, 2013 Montreal, QC International Congress on Acoustics
June 15-18, 2013 St. Louis, MO Conductors Guild Annual Conference
June 19-22, 2013 Wroclaw, Poland International Society for the Performing Arts
July 10-14, 2013 Chicago, IL Piano Technicians Guild Convention
August 26-30,2013 Los Angeles, CA Western Arts Alliance Conference
October 31-November 3, 2013 Cambridge, MA College Music Society National Conference
January 22-25, 2014 Toronto, ON Canadian Arts Presenting Association
January 28-30, 2014 Chicago, IL International Ticketing Association Annual Conference
March 22-26, 2014 Chicago, IL Music Teachers National Association National Conference
June 23-27, 2014 Boston, MA American Guild of Organists
October 29-November 2, 2014 St. Louis, MO College Music Society National Conference
January 21-24, 2015 TBD Canadian Arts Presenting Association
June 20-23, 2016 Houston, TX American Guild of Organists

Ask Edna
Edna Landau’s blog
Edna LandauEdna Landau—doyenne of the music business, long-time managing director of IMG Artists and director of career development at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles—writes Ask Edna exclusively for MusicalAmerica.com to provide invaluable advice to music students and young professional artists. Read more about Edna’s impact on the performing arts.

Send your questions to Edna Landau at AskEdna@MusicalAmerica.com and she’ll answer through Ask Edna. Click the links below to read Edna’s recent columns on the critical aspects of launching and managing and professional music career.

Arts Administration

Career Etiquette

Communicating with Your Audience

Finding a Manager

For Chamber Music Ensembles

Listening to Your Inner Voice

Managing Your Own Career

Publicity and Promotion

The Orchestral World

When It Comes to Recording

During Edna’s 23 years as managing director of IMG Artists, she personally looked after the career of violinist, Itzhak Perlman and launched the careers of musicians such as pianists Evgeny Kissin and Lang Lang, violinist Hilary Hahn, and conductors Franz Welser-Mõst and Alan Gilbert.

Edna believes young musicians can grow their own careers, with “hard work, blind faith, passion for the cause, incessant networking and a vision that refuse[s] to be tarnished by naysayers.”

Law and Disorder:

Performing Arts Division

The legal blog from GG Arts Law


The law plays an integral part in the performing arts, whether it's dealing with visas, copyrights, contracts, taxes, licensing, employees, venues . . . well, you get the idea.

Law and Disorder: Performing Arts Division is written by the attorneys at GG Arts Law. GG specializes in entertainment law as well as visas and immigration issues for foreign artists and performers.

To ask your own question, write to lawanddisorder@musicalamerica.org. Click below to review answers to key questions about the business and law affecting the performing arts.

Law and Disorder: Performing Arts Division

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How-to Videos

iCadenza helps musicians of all career stages break through challenges and pursue their goals with confidence and joy. Through our individual consulting, workshops, and our Career Development Bootcamp, we help classical musicians develop strong personal brands, create action plans, and sharpen their mental game. We are happy to offer a free 1-hour consultation to readers of Musical America. Send an email and mention MusicalAmerica.com to arrange your free consulation.

Musical America and iCadenza are committed to providing up-to-date career development resources to emerging professional musicians. Send your questions to info@MusicalAmerica.com. You'll find a list of videos below.

Introduction

Your Personal Brand

Taking a bow

Accountability

Green Room Dos and Don'ts

How to Say Thank You

When to Pursue Management

How to Find the Right Manager

How Not to "Humble Brag"

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Reviews

Second City Comedy's Opera “Guide” Wows the Crowd

January 8, 2013 | By Wynne Delacoma
MusicalAmerica.com

 CHICAGO—Anthony Freud, general director of Lyric Opera of Chicago, got his wish Saturday night.

Lyric had teamed up for an unprecedented, one-night-only collaboration with The Second City, Chicago’s fabled comedy troupe, in a show titled The Second City Guide to the Opera. In a program note written for the crisply paced, sharply funny collection of skits, songs, and video presented at the Civic Opera House, Freud wrote, “I hope you’ll laugh your heads off.” Judging from the waves of guffaws and exuberant applause that washed over the two-hour show, the sold-out audience was more than happy to oblige. 
 
Renée Fleming, Lyric’s creative consultant, and actor Patrick Stewart served as hosts and participated in some of the skits. (Fleming as an arrogant diva of a staffer at a local Kinko’s, Stewart as a mega-star being fawned over for roles he never played— What? That wasn’t you in Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Gandhi? Coulda sworn….) Six Second City members and two members of Lyric’s Ryan Opera Center did the bulk of the work and seemed to have great fun as they sent up all things operatic from insanely convoluted plots to restroom lines that stretch “into infinity.” Sir Andrew Davis, Lyric’s music director, contributed hilarious voiceovers, among them a stern warning that “coughing is strictly forbidden.” Patrons, he urged, should simply choke instead.
 
The evening was Fleming’s brainchild, concocted after she dropped into Second City’s cabaret space during a visit to Chicago last year. One skit included a snippet from one of her CDs. Rather than suing the comedy troupe for unauthorized use, she came up with the idea of collaborating with Second City players on an opera-themed show. 
 
Second City is famous for its improvised cabaret shows, which over the past 50 years have stocked the American comedy scene with stars ranging from Alan Arkin to Tina Fey. But the troupe also creates hundreds of private events, shows and projects designed especially for organizations ranging from the Chicago Black Hawks to major corporations. For the past several months writers Timothy Sniffen (who also performed), Kate James, and Jesse Case (also the show’s music director, composer, and arranger) immersed themselves in opera. Sitting in on Lyric rehearsals, coaching sessions, performances, and master classes, they obviously found plenty of good material.
 
Second City is a revered comedy shop because it strives to go beyond the easy, obvious laugh, and stage director Billy Bungeroth brought that same level of sophistication to The Second City Guide to the Opera. There wasn’t a single fat-lady-sings or winged-helmet joke, and rarely did Case’s bouncy, rhyming songs include direct quotes from famous operas. Wagner’s Ring cycle came in for some ribbing, but only in the announcement of a new production that included “previously unreleased material.” The new running time, we were proudly informed, would be 41 hours.
 
In one skit, a Russian man lay panting on the sidewalk. Bystanders called an ambulance, but none of them spoke Russian. A singer starring in a Russian opera (Second City member Carisa Barreca) happened by and offered some Russian phrases that terrified the ailing man. Why didn’t she just tell him help was on the way, someone asked? “It’s a Russian opera,” she replied. “Help never comes.”
 
Music is an important element of Second City shows, and many of the 20-plus segments Saturday night were entirely sung. (A small onstage band of Lyric Orchestra members and Case on piano provided accompaniment.) Costumed like Mozart’s Susannah, J’Nai Bridges, a high-energy mezzo from Lyric’s Ryan Center, sang rapturously in Italian. As her boyfriend, Second City member Joey Bland, looking boyishly American in hoodie, jeans, and running shoes, sang back in English. He couldn’t understand a word she said, he protested in perky, singsong verse.
 
Crawling out of an onstage trapdoor and hauling a trombone, Stiffen sang about the indignities of sitting in the orchestra pit. In one skit, a six-member chorus arrived en masse to interview for a corporate accounting job. “We work as hard as anyone for very little pay,’’ they chirped in impeccable unison.
 
In a winsome ballad titled Operaland, Bland and fellow Second City member Tawny Newsome compared their mundane lives with the high drama they saw at the opera. In a clever, rapid-fire ensemble song titled “Intermission,” the full cast lamented the late hour as they tried to sort out a convoluted plot. Time to “figure out what just happened,” they vowed. But “It’s 11o’clock, and it’s only intermission!”
 
In two memorable non-musical skits, Second City member Beth Melewski seized the stage as a pompous diva giving a master class while Second City colleague Ross Bryant offered a spot-on Patrick Stewart imitation. Despite Bryant’s best efforts, a sketch featuring him as Arnold Schoenberg doing stand-up comedy fell flat. Too much arcane detail, even for the cognoscenti.
 
Fleming readily spoofs her diva status, but looking resplendent in diva-worthy evening gowns she offered two serious solos: Puccini’s Un bel di vedremo, and Gershwin’s Summertime.
 
The Second City Guide to the Opera was devised as a one-off event, and Lyric and Second City, not to mention Stewart and Fleming, were formidable draws. Tickets were gone by early December, even after Lyric added 140 extra seats by covering the orchestra pit in its 3,550-seat house. But this is a show that could have legs. High-spirited but never mean, it brought a bracing dose of laughter and humanity to an art form too often seen as deadly serious and elitist. It deserves a longer run.

 

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