The Portfolio Composer

Edie Hill’s music is performed world-wide. Commissioned to compose vocal and instrumental works large and small in scope, writing music is a life-long love. Her recently released CD, Clay Jug, praised as “breathtaking,” “mesmerizing,” features The Crossing, Donald Nally, conductor and instrumental ensemble.

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Composer Edie Hill discusses the major life challenges she has overcome, her new CD Clay Jug, and what she's learned about networking, and promoting her own music.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Clay Jug
• The Crossing with Donald Nally
• The Phoenix
• Rose Ensemble
• Coming out of the ashes/being reborn
• Breast cancer
• self-image
• Bumps on the road
• Dealing with depression
• Exercise
• Being told it's impossible
• Doing what you love
• Keeping regular hours
• Self-publishing
• Promoting the music
• the business practice of making music
• The life of a piece
• Getting a performer to champion your music
• Cantus
• Communication with the commissioner and ensemble
• Stephen Paulus
• Being where the decision makers are
• Investing in yourself & your business
• You create your world as a composer
• Time management
• Hard work, dedication, & grit
• Staying focused and not getting sidelined or discouraged

Website:

• ediehill.com

Recommended Listening:

• J. S. Bach, Goldberg Variations

Recommended Reading:

• Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity

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Scott Tegge is co-founder and tubist of Gaudete Brass Quintet, a group dedicated to commissioning original brass music. Their latest album, sevenfive – The John Corigliano Effect, features 5 new works by Corigliano’s protégés, commissioned in honor of his 75th birthday celebration. Scott teaches at six universities in the Chicago area and maintains a large private studio. He is also a frequent guest lecturer on career development, entrepreneurship, and building successful teaching studios.

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Tubist and entrepreneur Scott Tegge of the Gaudete Brass Quintet discusses the importance of knowing who your audience is and engaging them on a deep and meaningful level, and what real collaboration looks like between an ensemble and a composer.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Midwest Clinic
• Frank Oteri
• There is always work to do when you own a business
• John Corigliano
• Asking your audience & examining the market
• Canadian Brass
• Truly listening to what the audience says
• Being scared
• Loving & hating pieces
• Culture of music
• Shock the system
• Engage the audience—let them into the world
• Making a collaboration real
• Negotiate and be flexible
• Attend rehearsals & concerts to meet people
• Communication
• Scott's interview on the Music Publishing Podcast
• Rob Deemer
• Jessica Hunt
• Getting people to concerts
• Sharing & collaboration
• Changing the experience of the attendee
• Babbette's Feast
• Go to more concerts
• Sell yourself & your music
• Learn how to speak in public

Website:

• gaudetebrass.com

Recommended Listening:

• Richard Wagner, Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg
• Steve Reich, Music for 18 Musicians

Recommended Reading:

• Dave Ramsey, The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness
• Simon Sinek, Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
• Timothy Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9–5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

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Thomas Goss is a professional composer and orchestrator, presenter, internet educator, and caretaker of the community Orchestration Online on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.

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Composer and orchestrator Thomas Goss, who founded the Orchestration Online communities, discusses his online community and learning orchestration.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Composing life is like being a sous chef
• Music is cooperative & collaborative
• What does it take to do something?
• Teaching is performing
• Orchestration Online
• YouTube.com
• Peter Alexander
• Moving the art orchestration forward by sharing
• Building community online
• Patreon.com
• The Orchestration Online Patreon page (Go donate and join the community! Seriously. I've done it.)
• Common orchestration mistakes
• 15-second harp (YouTube)
• Becoming an accidental authority
• Getting work due to having an internet presence
• Inspiring others

Special Offer from Ep. 124 with Jason Heath: Get $10 off the price of Jason’s course by using this link and coupon code PORTFOLIO: Making an Impact.

Website:

• orchestrationonline.com

Recommended Music:

• Igor Stravinsky, Rite of Spring

Recommended Reading:

• Walter Piston, Orchestration
• Samuel Adler, The Study of Orchestration
• Thomas Goss, 100 Orchestration Tips

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A coaching short on making the ensembles, directors, and performers you network with the hero.

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A network is built on relationships and relationships are built on trust. A great way to build trust is to make those you are building relationships with the hero.

Click here to see a list of all the Coaching Short episodes.

Jason Heath is host of the Contrabass Conversations podcast. He is a former International Society of Bassists board member and DePaul University double bass and music education faculty member. He is an active performer and author of Road Warrior Without An Expense Account, Winning the Audition, Making an Impact. Jason has been blogging since 2005 and podcasting since 2007.

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Educator, bassist, and podcast Jason Heath teaches us how to avoid the overwhelm, build your online presence, and his new course Making an Impact.

Get $10 off the price of Jason's course by using this link and coupon code PORTFOLIO: Making an Impact.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Online courses
• Learning from Jason's mistakes
• The value of taking courses
• Musicians are a conservative bunch
• Learning from the masters
• Reluctance to dive into personal development
• Winning the Audition by Jason Heath
• Hiring a life coach
• Collecting email addresses
• Dealing with the overwhelm of starting
• Niching down
• Clarifying your message
• Michael O'Neal (The Solopreneur Hour podcast)
• Instagram

Website:

• jasonheath.live (use coupon code PORTFOLIO to receive $10 off the purchase of Jason's course Making an Impact)

Recommended Listening:

• Jon Deak, B.B. Wolf
  • Watch Jason perform this piece on YouTube!
• Tom Johnson, Failing
  • Watch Jason perform this piece on YouTube!

Recommended Reading:

• Jason Heath, Winning the Audition: Turbocharge Your Orchestral Audition: Advice from Leaders in the Field
• Tim Ferriss, Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers

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Leading orchestras, instrumentalists, and wind ensembles worldwide have performed Stephenson's “straightforward, unabashedly beautiful sounds.” Upcoming premieres include the St. Louis, Montreal, and Chicago Symphonies, & Minnesota Orchestra. His Devil's Tale (sequel to L'histoire) is performed regularly around the world, and 30 bands recently commissioned 2 new works. His Symphony #2 was just premiered by the US "President's Own" Marine Band. 100 orchestras annually perform his arrangements.

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Composer Jim Stephenson shares how forcing your career and placing your own needs first never works. It's always about the commissioner, performer, ensemble and audience.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Stephenson Music
• Being a business entity
• Figuring out how to make it work
• Having a business partner
• Being self-critical
• Don't let your head get too big
• Be patient and let your career happen
• Keeping the door open
• Not aiming for the center of the bull's eye
• The power of the network
• Built-in interest
• What they want vs what is needed
• Loving the music you are doing
• Self-publishing & owning the music you write
• Keeping the marketing personal
• Helping them be successful
• Sharing what's happening on Facebook
• Making contacts & building relationships
• Set deadlines
• Reach out to 10 people a day
• Attend your premieres

Website:

• stephensonmusic.com

Recommended Listening:

• Sergei Prokofiev, Violin Concert No. 2
• Sergei Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet

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This is a rebroadcast of Ep 63-Shannon Curtis on House Concerts & Community Building. I was originally going to record another Must Read episode on Shannon's book No Booker, No Bouncer, No Bartender, but thought it was easiest to rebroadcast the interview I did with her regarding her book. Ep 63 was originally released March 24, 2016.

[fusion_dropcap boxed="no" boxed_radius="" class="" id="" color=""]S[/fusion_dropcap]hannon Curtis is an independent songwriter, performer, and author, based in LA. Curtis’s groundbreaking use of house concert touring takes her on extensive nationwide tours, and she’s become a popular speaker at music conferences. Curtis's how-to book on house concerts debuted at #1 on Amazon’s Music Business Best Sellers list, and has been featured in national publications like Huffington Post and American Songwriter Magazine.

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Singer and songwriter Shannon Curtis has made a living performing her music touring house concerts across the nation and she teaches us how in this interview!

Topics discussed in this episode:

• No Booker, No Bouncer, No Bartender
• Connecting with your audience
• 1,000 True Fans by Kevin Kelly
• House concert model
• Trust
• Supporting yourself financially
• Salons
• Financing the first tour
• Building an audience as community
• Crowdfunding
• Bringing value to the community

Website:

• www.shannoncurtis.net

Recommended Listening:

• The Dears, Degeneration Street

Recommended Reading:

• Shannon Curtis, No Booker, No Bouncer, No Bartender: How I Made $25K on a 2-Month House Concert Tour (And How You Can Too)
• Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

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Andrew Lockington is a Canadian film score composer. He recently composed the score to the Warner Bros blockbuster San Andreas. Other credits include the Golden Globe nominated Frankie and Alice starring Halle Berry, Fox 2000’s Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Newline’s Journey to the Center of the Earth, and the Tom Hanks produced City of Ember. Current releases include the epic STX film The Space Between Us and the critically acclaimed Netflix series Frontier starring Jason Momoa.

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Composer Andrew Lockington discusses splitting his time between Toronto and L.A., the power of long relationships to build a career, and his latest movie, The Space Between Us.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Mike Post
• Splitting time between L.A. & Toronto
• Showing the music to the director
• Demoing the cue
• The difference between trust with the director & trust with the producers
• Always trust your gut
• Triangle decision making process (Have to have at least two of the three, or it's not worth it):
  • Money
  • Career
  • Fun
• The Space Between Us
• The long time line of projects
• Temp music
• Frontier on Netflix
• Learn to write to picture
• Make movies & tell stories visually
• Just do it, don't wait for permission
• Hallelujah moment of serendipity

Website:

• andrewlockington.com

Recommended Listening:

• Joni Mitchell, Both Sides Now

Recommended Reading:

• Andre Agassi, Open: An Autobiography

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Susan de Weger is passionate about supporting musicians to thrive on and beyond the stage. Originally trained as a French Horn player, she left music to carve a career in business then pivoted back to music to go to grad school. Susan is changing the way we educate musicians through her role as Associate Lecturer in Music (Entrepreneurship) at the Conservatorium of Music in Melbourne, Australia.

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Musician, entrepreneur, and music educator Susan de Weger discusses the role of education and mindset in having a healthy definition of success.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Being damaged & bruised during undergrad
• Differing versions of success
• Defining success
• Rick Ruben's definition of success from The Tim Ferriss Show:

"A successful person is one who enjoys their life, is great at what they do, is curious, and is continually pushing forward & wanting to be better than they were yesterday without beating themselves up about it."

• Placing other people's needs before your own.
• Having to innovate
• Teachers don't live the life their students lead
• Identifying your audience
• Finding your audience's needs
• Entrepreneurial Musicianship at the New England Conservatory of Music
• Making it easy
• Ignite Lab
• Dealing with doubt & fear
• Fearless camp
• Impostor Syndrome (Valerie Young in Ep 15)
• Reach out to schools about career development
• Engage students more in the score
• Notable Values
• Beyond the Stage
• Disconnecting performance from payment
• Planning future success with relationships
  • Where will you be living?
  • What will you be doing?
  • How will you be making a living?
• Being thankful
• Mindset

Website:

• notablevalues.com

Recommended Listening:

• Foo Fighters, The Colour and The Shape

Recommended Reading:

• Dana Fonteneau, It's Not (JUST) About the Gig: A Musician's Guide to Creating the Mindset Which Leads to Career Success AND Fulfillment

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A coaching short on writing every day.

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Being a professional composer means you show up every day and do the work of writing music. It's essential, then, that you write every day. In this coaching short I discuss the importance of building in a daily writing practice and some practical tips to help you.

Click here to see a list of all the Coaching Short episodes.