The Portfolio Composer

Co-founder of Musochat and founder and director of the Live Music Project, a non-profit organization that builds visibility for local orchestras and ensembles while connecting new and returning listeners with accessible musical experiences.

Garrett Schumann is a composer based in Ypsilanti, MI who serves as President and Artistic Director for ÆPEX Contemporary Performance, a concert presenting organization he founded with conductor Kevin Fitzgerald in the fall of 2015. Also a prolific writer and internationally-published music theorist, Garrett is lead archivist for Musochat, a weekly twitter discussion for anyone who creates, performs, or is interested in newly composed music.

Sara is a passionate supporter of new American classical music, as an administrator, producer, and performer based in NYC. Sara is currently the Company & Media Manager for the Chautauqua Opera Company and the Executive Producer for Opera on Tap New York (operaontap.org). As a performer, Sara has premiered works by Christian Carey, Martin Sedek, Elliot Cless, Blake Henson and Jon Magnussen.

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In this episode Musochat leaders Shaya Lyon and Garrett Schumann, along with super-contributor Sara Noble discuss the power of building online communities.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Shared experiences
• Supporting each other
• Twitter
• Having all the voices present
• Building collaboration through Twitter
• Megan Ihnen
• How #musochat works
• Including non-musicians in the discussion
• Not-geographically located
• The benefit of #musochat to composers
• Growing #musochat & adding value
• Come to the discussion to learn, not to tell
• The right and ability to respectfully disagree
• It's about personal experience
• Volunteering and helping
• Asynchronous communication

Websites:

• www.musochat.com
• shayalyon.com
• garrettschumann.com
• saranoblearts.com

Recommended Listening:

• Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
• Antonio Vivaldi, Concerto RV 409
• Julia Wolf, Fuel
• Meshuggah, Catch 33
• Johannes Brahms, Double Concerto

Recommended Reading:

• Steven Pressfield, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
• Brian Tracy, Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
• Amanda Palmer, The Art of Asking: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help
• Josh Kaufman, The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business
• Howard Becker, Art Worlds
• R. W. Connell, Gender and Power: Society, the Person, and Sexual Politics

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Stacy Garrop’s award-winning music is centered on dramatic and lyrical storytelling. Stacy shares stories by taking audiences on sonic journeys – some simple and beautiful, while others are complicated and dark – depending on the needs and dramatic shape of the story. After teaching composition full-time at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University from 2000-2016, she stepped down from her position to become a freelance composer. She is also on the composition faculty of the annual Fresh Inc Festival in Milwaukee, WI, a two-week summer program sponsored by Fifth House Ensemble.

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Composer Stacy Garrop discusses the art of emailing conductors and jumping feet-first into the freelance life.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Choosing the thing to dedicate your time to
• Being prepared to leap into self-employment & freelance work
• Email campaigns
• A script for cold emails
• Personalizing the emails
• Tailoring your bio with social proof
• Statistics tracking
• Hidden pages on your website
• Websites
• Being detail oriented
• Securing the score online
• Freelancing
• Daniel Felsenfeld
• Hustling
• Reaching out to five people every day
• Approaching performers
• Fear of self-employment
• Royalty income
• Answering every email within 24 hours
• Constantly keep learning
• Figure out your communication method and stick to it

Website:

• www.garrop.com
• www.composerinklings.com

Recommended Listening:

• Lin Manuel Miranda, Hamilton

Recommended Reading:

• Orson Scott Card, Characters & Viewpoint (Elements of Fiction Writing)
• Ann McCutchan, The Muse That Sings: Composers Speak About The Creative Process
• Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game

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Daniel Felsenfeld is a composer of operas, orchestral music, liturgical music, solo works, vocal chamber music and song cycles, chamber music, and even arrangements for the occasional pop or hip-hop act. As a pathological reader, he collaborates as often as possible with living writers, creating works that are literary, theatrical, and that run from the extremely adult in content to pieces for children.

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Composer Daniel Felsenfeld discusses the portfolio life and how to make it work as a freelancing composer.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Sharon Harms
• Adult-content opera
• Richard Strauss, "To be a composer is to oversee your own world of beauty."
• Pushing boundaries
• Musical pluralism
• Listening in secret
• Understanding different musical expressions
• Freelancing
• Making it work
• Weird things happen in freelancing
• Hustling
• Not winning grants & awards
• Whitney George
• Curiosity Cabinet
• Music on the fringe
• Paying the bills
• Multiple sources of income—a portfolio life
• Doing four things to make ends meet
• Making a living
• Entrepreneurship
• Making quality music is the first priority
• There is no general audience
• Being professional
• Helping others
• New Music Gathering

Website:

• www.daniel-felsenfeld.com
• www.newmusicgathering.org

Recommended Listening:

• Ludwig van Beethoven, Missa Solemnis
• Samuel Barber, First Essay for Orchestra, Op. 12
• Louis Andriessen, De Stijl

Recommended Reading:

• Katharina Mrak, The Method: An Overview of Acting Theory According to Konstantin S. Stanislawski and Lee Strasberg

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Lewis Pesacov is a composer, musician and producer based in LA, California. As a composer, he is inspired by the transcendent potential in sounds, heard. His works have been featured in halls, festivals and museums in the US and Europe. An accomplished songwriter and guitar player, he has co-written and produced 7 of his band's studio albums, touring extensively throughout the US, UK and Europe. As a producer, he has made numerous albums ranging in style from 60's pop to experimental opera.

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Composer, producer, and guitarist Lewis Pesacov discusses how the composer is a producer and how he funded and put on a performance of his opera.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Composer as producer
• Crafting the sound world
• The history of recording
• Songwriting vs composing
• Separating the areas of yourself
• The Edge of Forever
• Elizabeth Cline
• Funding the opera on Kickstarter
• The Industry (opera company)
• The Philosophical Research Society
• Kickstarter
• Christopher Rountree
• Paying musicians fairly
• Just doing it—don't wait for funding
• Acts of impertenance
• Letting go of expectations
• Diversifying income
• Passive income
• PROs
• Get a manager
• Build a team

Website:

• www.lewispesacov.com

Recommended Listening:

• Richard Wagner, "Prelude," Tristan und Isolde

Recommended Reading:

• Ram Dass, Be Here Now

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Through her inventive programming, active composer collaborations, and precise yet impassioned interpretations, violinist Francesca Anderegg has earned renown as a musical explorer of the first order. She has performed extensively in South America, recently returning from a tour of Brazil and Argentina. She was awarded the McKnight Fellowship for Performing Musicians in 2016 and teaches at St. Olaf College. Her second album of contemporary music, Wild Cities, was released on July 8.

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Violinist Francesca Anderegg discusses her new album Wild Cities and the importance and role of new music, standing out, and working with composers.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Standing out in music
• Differentiating yourself
• Seth Godin (Ep 66)
• Having a dialogue between composer and performer
• The importance of clear notation
• Making a piece enjoyable for the performer
• Composers featured on the CD:
  • Ryan Francis, Remix
  • Hannah Lash, Adjoining
  • Clint Needham, On the Road
  • Ted Hearne, Nobody's
  • Reinaldo Moya, Imagined Archipelagos
• Communicating with the composer
• On-boarding players
• Marketing your piece to the players
• Having multiple stake holders
• Music advocacy
• Language
• Pandering
• Setting the audience's expectations
• Working through the dip
• Multiple streams of income

Website:

• www.francescaanderegg.com

Recommended Listening:

• Wild Cities
• György Ligeti, Violin Concerto

Recommended Reading:

• Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude

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The podcast is changing name to The Portfolio Composer. Listen to learn why.

Andrew Hitz is an entrepreneur, musician and author. He is the co-founder of Pedal Note Media and the host of "The Entrepreneurial Musician" and "The Brass Junkies" podcasts. During his career, Andrew has performed in over 30 countries and 40 states. He is the former tuba player for Boston Brass and has also performed with the National Symphony Orchestra and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Andrew also teaches at George Mason and Gettysburg College.

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Entrepreneur, tubist, and podcaster Andrew Hitz discusses how composers can get noticed and shares valuable business tips and strategies.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Boston Brass
• Hitz Publications and Pedal Note Media
• Getting noticed
• The gate keepers have disappeared
• Websites
• Ep 64 with Jessica Meyer
• Selling ourselves
• Gary Vaynerchuck
• Seth Godin (Ep 66)
• Removing the ego
• Just do things
• You have to do more than just write good music
• Finding your audience
• Stop procrastinating
• Get over your reservations about selling yourself
• Network
• Embrace failure

Website:

• www.andrewhitz.com

Recommended Listening:

• Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 2
• Aaron Copland, Symphony No. 3
• Phish, Live Phish Vol. 1: 12/14/95, Broome County Arena, Binghamton, New York

Recommended Reading:

• Gary Vaynerchuck, Crush It
• Seth Godin, Lynchpin
• Jim Collins, Good to Great

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Kevin Kelly is the founding executive editor of Wired magazine, and a former editor/publisher of the Whole Earth Review. He has also been a writer, photographer, conservationist, and student of Asian and digital cultures. He is an in-demand speaker and author. He writes about technology, the economy, and the future.  His most recent book, The Inevitable, was released June 2015. His previous books include Out of Control, New Rules for the New Economy, Cool Tools, and What Technology Wants. Currently he is a senior maverick at Wired and lives in Pacifica, California.

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Speaker, technologist, and author Kevin Kelly discusses his book The Inevitable and what the future of music creation might look and the ramifications of emergent and maturing technology.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Copying is inevitable
• Generatives
• Providing experiences
• VR (virtual reality)
• Everything heads towards the free
• AI (artificial intelligence) generated music
• Partnering with computers for music creation
• Being hard to copy
• Sell the added value, not the copy
• Functional music
• 1,000 True Fans
• Copyright, Lawrence Lessig, and Creative Commons
• Moral copyright
• Subscription-based consumption

Website:

• kk.org

Recommended Reading:

• The Inevitable

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Matthew Welch is a composer of innovative opera and genre-resisting concert music. Mixing his backgrounds in bagpipes, gamelan, experimental, classical, rock and improvised music, Welch’s compositional sound is worldly and eclectic in material, yet personal and seamless in style. Boasted by the New York Times as “border-busting; catchy,” Welch’s music has been performed in the US, Canada, Europe and Asia.

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Composer Matthew Welch reveals how composers are in the business of solving problems, just like entrepreneurs and the skillset you need to succeed in music.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Bagpipes
• Growing your audience
• Bringing various audiences together
• Alliances amongst composers
• Solving problems
• Collaborating
• Having a complete skillset
  • Performing the music
  • Conducting
  • Assembling an ensemble
  • Learning how to program a concert
  • Creating an audience
  • Recording your music
  • Marketing your music
• Music creation is in dialogue with the environment it's performed in
• Who, what, when, where, & how
• Sounds good vs perfection
• Well crafted & rehearsed music
• Marketing your own music
• MATA Festival
• Not waiting for someone to recognize your music

Website:

• www.blarvuster.com
• www.experimentsinopera.com

Recommended Listening:

• Louis Andriessen, De Stijl

Recommended Reading:

• Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change

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On February 22, 2015, Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA, conferred the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters upon Mr. Biegel, for his achievements as a world-renowned pianist, recording artist, chamber music collaborator, champion of new piano music, composer, arranger and educator. With a list of recordings and collaborations that is extensive (and impressive) he leaves a legacy that is hard to match.

He is a pioneer of commissioning projects joining multiple orchestras as a model for commissioning new music in the 21st century, Mr. Biegel created the first largest consortium of orchestras in 1998 for Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's 'Millennium Fantasy' premiered with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 2000, followed with 26 orchestras in the USA.

Leonard Bernstein said of Jeffrey Biegel's piano playing, "He played fantastic Liszt. He is a splendid musician and a brilliant performer." These comments helped to launch Mr. Biegel's 1986 New York recital debut, as the third recipient of the Juilliard William Petschek Piano Debut Award, in Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. He studied at The Juilliard School with Adele Marcus, and is currently on the piano faculty at the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College.

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Pianist Jeffrey Biegel explains how commissions are about the composer, the performers and the audience, and how you can expand your network, build consortiums, and get more performances.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Jake Runestad
• Reflecting the society you live in
• Commissions aren't about the composer
• The audience has to like it
• Making sure new music stays alive
• Forming consortiums
• Analyzing ensembles and doing research
• Getting a contract
• Knowing yourself
• Knowing your voice
• Getting into the trenches
• Making sure the performer is a good fit for you and your music
• Removing the walls between composer and performer
• Increased accessibility
• Developing friendships

Website:

• www.jeffreybiegel.com

Recommended Listening:

• Giuseppe Verdi, Requiem
• Various Composers, Weston Noble Conducts The Luther College Nordic Choir

Recommended Reading:

• Musical America

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