Kronos Quartet: Monday YouTube Fix
Andrew Hitz
The Kronos Quartet will go down as one of the most influential chamber groups of all time. This is their very famous arrangement of Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze.
Enjoy!
Hitz Academy Blog
A blog about performing music, teaching music and the business of music.
Are You Making Mistakes or Sleeping?
Andrew Hitz
"Only those who are asleep make no mistakes."
- Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA, worlds largest furniture brand
Make mistakes in the practice room.
Make mistakes on the podium.
Make mistakes on your career path.
Or sleep a lot.
10 Skills That Are Hard to Learn But Pay Off Forever
Andrew Hitz
Here is a good list written by Rachel Gillett (@rgillett23) on 10 skills that are well worth the time it takes to master them.
(My favorites are time management, consistency, and knowing when to shut up.)
Meridian Arts Ensemble: Monday YouTube Fix
Andrew Hitz
The Meridian Arts Ensemble is one of the most creative brass groups out there and have been for decades. I am a huge fan of the music of Frank Zappa and it is not easy to pull off without sounding forced.
This is as good as Zappa covers get.
Enjoy!
Why It's All On The Student
Andrew Hitz
"The great aim of education is not knowledge but action."
-Herbert Spencer
I was always taught that if you want to evaluate your belief systems examine your actions and not your thoughts.
If you are an aspiring orchestral musician and you don't play your first notes of the day until 11:00 then you believe that you don't need to start playing early in the morning in order to win a job.
If you are a music education major who doesn't record yourself conducting except when you are required to for a class then you believe you can become a good enough conductor to get and keep a top job without doing so.
If you are a musician who is not great at sight reading and you don't practice it each and every day then you believe that you will eventually get a break in the business that will not involve needing to be great at sight reading.
Believe your actions over your words.
The Entrepreneurial Musician: Brian Pertl, Dean of the Lawrence Conservatory
Andrew Hitz
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Brian is the Dean of the Lawrence Conservatory of Music and a former ethnomusicologist for Microsoft. After interviewing him for the podcast I was filled with optimism for the future of collegiate music education in this country. I also wanted to high five him.
He is the perfect meld of artist and businessman and I learned a ton from speaking with him for an hour.
Brian touched on a wide range of topics in this episode including:
- How a $50 gig playing the didgeridoo led to his full-time employment for 16 years at Microsoft which led to him becoming a dean
- Always saying yes when asked if you are capable of something
- The importance of pivoting in one's career
- How giving people autonomy over projects can unleash creativity
- The value of questioning traditions within music
- Being ready to seize an opportunity
His passion for combining artistic expression with entrepreneurial skills has him on the cutting edge of what a music education should look like at the collegiate level today.
Books Mentioned:
The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris
The Savvy Musician by David Cutler
Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath & Dan Heath
Links:
Contact Brian: https://www.lawrence.edu/conservatory/faculty/brian_pertl
Brian's TEDx Talk: http://www.tedxlawrenceu.com/speakers/brian-pertl/
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To help support the show to offset the ongoing costs associated with producing and distributing this podcast please visit http://www.pedalnotemedia.com/support-the-entrepreneurial-musician
Next Episode: Jeff Conner of Boston Brass and author of "The Portfolio Musician"
Insights on Playing from Mallory Thompson
Andrew Hitz
"I think that….wherever you are in your career, it’s all the same…you’re working on the same things…making good attacks, making good releases, playing musically, showing a wide dynamic range, and not taking anything musical for granted."
-Dr. Mallory Thompson (Director of Bands at Northwestern University)
Dr. Thompson is probably the best conductor I've ever played for in my career. I had the privilege of being in her first band at Northwestern on the heels of being in John Paynter's last band there.
The beauty of her as an educator is that she demands the exact same things of everyone in front of her, like the list above.
Pleasing a set of ears like Mallory Thompson's is not complicated. It's just a lot of work long before you sit down in front of her.
Russian Orthodox Choir: Monday YouTube Fix
Andrew Hitz
All that any of us instrumentalists are ever trying to do is sound like singers. Phrasing, intonation, blend, interpretation, dynamic contrast. Everything is modeled by singers.
This clip of a male Russian Orthodox choir made me melt. So much soul. The name of the group is not listed but the baritone soloist is Chernegov-Nomerov Egor. What I wouldn't give to be able to sing like that! They are singing Chesnokov's "Gabriel Appeared".
The video is not great quality but the audio is good and the performance is unreal.
Enjoy!
The Brass Junkies: Amy McCabe
Andrew Hitz
Listen via
I had the privilege of playing with Amy on Easter this year at the National Cathedral here in Washington, DC. She's got one of the best trumpet sounds you will ever hear in your life. Everything looks so "natural" when she plays. (Translation: She's done a ton of work!)
Her story is a fascinating one. She went to undergrad to become an elementary school librarian and then ended up one of the world's best trumpet players well before the age of 30. It's a story worth hearing so we're glad she was willing to be a guest on the podcast!
The Founder of IBM on the Formula for Success
Andrew Hitz
"Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It's quite simple really. Double your rate of failure."
-Thomas J Watson (Founder of IBM)
You will fail many, many times before you succeed.
So get busy failing...