Departments
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Week of 30 January 1998 |
Vol. I, No. 18 |
Feature Article
Career panels for the artist in a vocational vacuum
by Eric McHenry
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a young artist in possession of a bachelor's degree must be in want of a job. But there's no consensus as to the best strategy for landing one. That's why Bruce MacCombie, dean of the School for the Arts, has launched a series of symposia aimed at answering questions about employment in the arts.
The first career panel was held last month in the SFA Concert Hall. Dedicated to a discussion of the music profession, it featured Joseph Polisi, president of the Juilliard School, Gary Graffman, director of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and SFA Music Division Director Phyllis Hoffman. WBUR will broadcast an edited recording of the event, supplemented by additional interviews with the panelists and other experts, at 9 p.m. on February 1.
"I used to do a course at Juilliard when I was dean there called The Business of Music," says MacCombie, "and it concerned such issues as how to get your career started, how to do a résumé, what a manager does, what an agent does. It seemed to be valuable for the students. Many go through bachelor's or even master's programs, and they don't have a clue as to what to do once they've got their degrees in their hands.
"The idea behind the music career panel is to get them thinking while they're still students about what they're going to be doing when they graduate, what the challenges of the profession are."
MacCombie asked the panelists to describe their respective institutions, then steered the discussion toward the sorts of career guidance services each provides for its students. Finally, he opened the floor to audience members, who questioned the panelists from microphones positioned in the aisles.
"The questions weren't unexpected," MacCombie says. "The students are extremely focused on their training right now and are full of wonder and in some cases anxiety as to what they're going to do when they finish."
The panelists, MacCombie says, emphasize the importance of not allowing concerns about professional prospects to become distractions from that training. Mastery of craft, they point out, gives musicians a versatility that is very marketable.
"One clear message is, work on your technique, because technique is something that will never leave you," says MacCombie. "Whether you decide to be someone who performs a broad or a limited repertoire, you'll need your technique.
"The panelists also recommend that students consider such options as teaching, playing chamber music in addition to being a soloist, and generally exploring things that will make them versatile, especially while they're still students."
MacCombie conducted additional interviews with Polisi and Graffman in the WBUR studio. George Preston, producer of Boston University programming at WBUR, had previously recorded conversations with two other authorities on the business of music for use in the program. Janice Mancini Del Sesto, general director of the Boston Lyric Opera, and Marianne Gedigian (SFA'86), a BU alumna who has built a successful career as a freelance flutist, contributed insights. Preston is now bringing together and editing the various segments for broadcast. Drawing upon her own professional experience, Gedigian echoes the theme of necessary versatility. Del Sesto stresses the importance of giving students proper training in the business of making a career. Ideally, Preston says, a source of such instruction is each student's primary applied teacher.
"Hopefully that person has professional experience, and during the course of lessons, he or she will impart this knowledge," says Preston. "If there is not an official class that one takes for credit, the school ought to bring in people to give talks or have seminars about this type of thing."
The next career panel, scheduled for March 6, will address theater arts and will feature David Kneuss (SFA'70), an alumnus who is now executive stage director with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.