Arts Enterprise at UW-Madison

A new partnership has been launched between UW-Madison and the Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society called Arts Enterprise, a program at UW-Milwaukee that gives young artists the career skills necessary to become leaders in today’s cultural environment.

The program is led by Stephanie Jutt, Artistic Director of BDDS and Professor of Flute at UW–Madison, in partnership with BDDS Executive Director, Samantha Crownover. Stephanie and I have performed together in Madison, and after being impressed by her work with BDDS, I’m excited to hear about this new venture.

Planned activities include music entrepreneurship courses, a student-led organization and a new venture contest.

They will hold their first ever Arts Enterprise Symposium in Madison from Jan 30-Feb 1. Speakers include Angela Myles Beeching and Gary Beckman, both of whom I was able to work with at the Brevard Conference on Music Entrepreneurship.

For more information, visit the Arts Enterprise website. You can also read an interview with Samantha Crownover on the Arts Entrepreneurship Educator’s Network here.

Preparing the Generation-E Musician

For one of our first posts, I have to give a big plug to my alma mater. The Eastman School of Music, home of the Institute for Music Leadership and the Arts Leadership Program, is hosting a three-day workshop titled “Preparing the Generation-E Musician.” This workshop is featured in an article on InsideHigherEd.com, which can be found here.

When I graduated from the Arts Leadership Program in 2002, I came away with coursework experience in grantwriting, arts media and promotion, recording, entertainment law, writing about the arts and music technology. I also had the opportunity to do an internship in Artistic Operations at the Rochester Philharmonic, and to do freelance PR work for local artists while in school. But more than that, I came away with the knowledge that the environment for music was changing, that large organizations weren’t (or at least not quickly enough), and that something needed to be done.

What I love about Eastman’s new initiatives, which include a Center for Music Innovation and a music company/project “incubator,” is that they are taking exactly the next step that I believe is necessary for any higher education institution that trains students for a career in the arts. It captures the ethos of our work with Fifth House, and of this site, bridging the gap in a practical way between what a student learns in the classroom, and what he/she is able to do in the real world, by providing hands-on experience and a nurturing place for new ideas to grow before they are born in the marketplace. ESM is also creating a new venture challenge – an competitive opportunity that awards promising new projects with the resources to begin work.

My ALP experience is one that I’m extremely proud of, and one that helped to shape my career in a defining way. I’m proud that they are taking this next step in leadership, and encourage you to check out the Inside Higher Ed article for more information on the upcoming conference and programs.