Published: April 16, 2012
THIS WEEK ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP WEDNESDAYS:
MANAGING YOUR PERSONAL FINANCES with guest DENNIS PAUL from Elevations Credit Union
How many of you have student loans? Credit card balances? Other financial responsibilities? How many of you are already saving for retirement or paying your own health insurance? Do you know your credit score and why it’s so important? For information on these and other issues, come to E-Weds this week! No matter what your career path, this session is for YOU.

This Wednesday, 5:00-6:30, C-113

As always, free pizza and soda. And CONVO available this week!

SUPER OPPORTUNITY FOR THIS SUMMER:

THE CHUCK MORRIS INTERNSHIPS: LONDON & L.A., Summer 2012
The ECM, in conjunction with AEG Live and Kilimanjaro, Ltd, are pleased to announce internship positions in Los Angeles and London for Summer 2012. This is an exceptional opportunity for hard-working students interested in the commercial music business to gain valuable experience with one of the world’s leading concert and events promotion agencies. A stipend is provided for transportation and living expenses. Email Dr. Nytch for additional information and application procedure.

ARTICLES OF THE WEEK:

New Rules for Innovation.What does it mean to be “on the cusp of a post-industrial revolution”?

The Freelancer Mindset. Blogger Peter Spellman offers some thoughts on a mindset that is an awful lot like the entrepreneurial mindset. Part I of a series.

ENTREPRENEURIAL THOUGHT OF THE WEEK:

Astrid Baumgardner & Lessons from Four Musician-Entrepreneurs: Part IV

Astrid Baumgardner is a consultant and career coach who has become interested in the specific field of the arts and artist-entrepreneurs. If you’re not familiar with her Blog, you should check it out (). She conducted a panel discussion with four musician entrepreneurs, and I’m going to highlight each question (and occasionally expand on the commentary) for the next few weeks. Come along and follow the paths of these artists as they share their wisdom!

The panel included:

Timo Andres: freelance pianist/composer;Tina Hadari(a CU ALUM): violinist and founder ofMusic Haven; Paul Murphy: free-lance trumpeter and teaching artist with the NY Philharmonic; and
Sam Quintal: violist and member of theJasper String Quartet.

Next Steps in Career Evolution

At some point, you will realize that you do not have to do everything! Have the courage to say no to things that do not fit your vision. It helps to have a list of criteria that you use before saying yes to an opportunity. Here are some things to consider:

• What is the quality of the venue, the audience, and the other performers?
• Does it pay and how well does it pay? On this note, it is important to negotiate the right fees. If you don’t like doing this,hire someone who can do it for you!
[<< learn now anyway! -JN]
• Does it fit my mission?
• What can it lead to?
• What relationships are at stake?

Allow yourself to grow and evolve. Your interests and goals may change and be flexible enough to recognize the shift.

Take Risks

One of the panelists felt that musicians tend to gravitate to the “safe” whereas other artists seemed to be more willing to take creative risks. In this day where the supply of musicians exceeds the demand for traditional musician services, it is doubly important to be creative about creating opportunities. It helps to be clear about what you want to do and to have the courage to say so. Often, musicians are afraid to do that for fear of foreclosing their options. The advice from the panelists was to follow your convictions and not to be afraid about not pursuing things that did not make sense for you.

= = = = =

This can be a difficult thing to balance. On the one hand, artists at the emerging stages of their career need to be open to a wide range of opportunities, even those that might not be very interesting or don’t pay well. Exposure, experience, and the opportunity to build relationships can be valuable in any situation, even those that don’t look very promising on the surface. And as long as you go into those situations with that entrepreneurial mindset operating you can benefit from almost any experience.

That said, you will soon need to begin making choices, and the questions they suggest you pose above are useful ones for understanding how to make your choices good ones. And when all else fails, trusting your gut will rarely steer you wrong!

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And without further adieu…

The Video of the Week!

How do you think you train a dog to do this?? Thanks to Margaret Romero for sending!

Okay guys, KEEP ‘EM COMING! J

The Entrepreneurship Center for Music •Jeffrey Nytch, DMA, Director

Email:jeff.nytch@colorado.edu•Office Hours: T/Th: 9-11 a.m. W: 2-4 p.m.– or by appointment

Entrepreneurship Wednesdays: 5-6:30 p.m., C-113 • Follow us on

OPPORTUNITY UPBEATMarch 20, 2012

THE COLLEGE OF MUSICannounces theFellowships for study at the Aspen Institute, 2012:

Application Criteria:

ØCurrent full-time graduate or undergraduate student in good standing,who will be continuing studies at CU in Fall 2012
ØAccepted for summer study at the Aspen Music School
ØRecommendation of applied teacher

Fellowships have ranged from $500 to $1,500.

Deadline for applications: April 13, 2012 to Graduate Office C109

COLUMBINE UNITY CHURCHseeks a part-timeSound Engineerfor selected Sundays and guest events. Must be familiar with set-up, mixing, monitoring, and recording. Contact Jay Swartz at303.646.7588orjaywswartz@gmail.com

RINN UMC(Frederick, CO) seeks aChoir Director for Easter 2012. 
Professional training required. Rehearsals leading to sing on April 8, 2012 Easter Sunday which may lead to a part time position for a choir director/music coordinator for the whole year. Choir Director is needed who enjoys singing, directing a church choir, and enjoys working with church singers in 4 parts.
Needs to begin immediately to meet the 20+ choir members, select three or four anthems appropriate for Easter, conduct rehearsals following church services beginning March 11 thru April 1 and Saturday morning, April 7, to sing on Easter Sunday April 8 at 9:30 a.m. Worship Service. Will sing three/four pieces to be sung at one portion of the Easter service. $350, with possibility of extending to a part-time position with the church. Interested parties should contact Rev. Barbara Johns-Schleicher atartsoul7@gmail.com.

ROAD OF CREATIVITYannounces its firstSummer Retreaton becoming a musician entrepreneurJune 3-9. The retreat is a five-day immersion into the fundamentals of music entrepreneurship. Participants will engage in innovative training sessions with groups such as Alarm Will Sound, and will expose skills and attitudes imperative for success in today’s music world.Early Bird Discount for the first 20 registrants!

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITYto participate in abenefit concert for “Teach for America”in April. Organizers are looking for a few different musical groups to volunteer their talents. The benefit will be on campus in Flemming 155 on either Friday, April 13th or Saturday, April 20th in the evening (the date will be finalized shortly). Although this event does not pay, participants are invited to eat at the meal. There is no piano available, but there is sound equipment. This is a great opportunity for chamber groups and soloists to get some performance experience while helping out a very worthy cause. Anyone who is interested should contact Andrew Marshall atAndrew.Marshall-1@colorado.edu.

C4C GIGS AVAILABLE!The C4C is continuing their special “Food Weeks” that feature different cuisines from around the world. They’re interested in having CU musicians play for the dinner hour on selected nights, in return for a modest honorarium and free dinner for all involved. A fun and tasty opportunity to perform in a relaxed setting, for solo performers up to a group of 4 players. World music performers and works featuring Latin, Asian, or Middle Eastern influence encouraged! Contact CU GIGS Coordinator Nathan Hall for more information:musicref@colorado.edu.