Such a great work they are doing at the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and a wonderful listening library of their musical concerts.

There Website is:

http://content.thespco.org/music

At the Yale School of Music, where I teach a course called Creating Sustainable Careers in the Arts, we spend a lot of time learning how to plan. The first thing I teach my students is that planning is a TOOL, not a GOAL:  the point of a plan is to get you motivated to take action so that your plan will actually happen.  Let's see what happens when you engage in the process of planning and what that teaches you about moving forward in the direction that you want to go.

Here's the rest…

Is there anyone out there that agrees with me about the appalling state of classical music and in particular orchestral music?

You only have to look at the situation in my home town of Melbourne, Australia. The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra receives about 7 million dollars a year from the Australian government and in exchange the orchestra has to make a contribution to the cultural life of Australia by performing one original work by an Australian composer per year.  The remaining…

3 Reasons why you should build your presence on the web and how to do it.

Reason No. 1:  The web is where your students are.  College tuition is at an all time high.  Before they sign on the dotted line,  parents and students want to know how much bang they are going to get for their buck.  If you have not built a significant professional presence on the web, they cannot find information about you and therefore cannot factor your reputation and accomplishments into their…

A recent quote from a recruiter is even more reason to create and maintain your CMC social network page.  In the music business, we don't call them "recruiters" but "contractors."  Same thing.

Help recruiters find you.

It's very important to have a professional online presence so it's easier for…

We just read yet another article outlining the risks associated with teachers "friending" students on Facebook.  Schools in New York City and in Florida have disciplined teachers for Facebook activity.  School systems are advising teachers, administrators and coaches to be careful not to post items that could harm them professionally.

At CMC we saw this coming years ago, which is why we created a network for musicians, teachers and students.  It is our goal to have CMC act as a…

CMC made an unannounced visit to the San Francisco Conservatory on April 3rd.  We give it a score of 7 out of a possible 10. 

On the plus side, the security to get into the building was excellent, the people in admissions were helpful and informative and the building is new. One concert hall, one recital hall.  School encourages a sense of community by creating a student lounge where…

Video: A Critical Teaching Tool

I would like to share with you how to use the medium of video quickly, easily and inexpensively to maximize results and shorten the learning curve of your students. I am on the faculty of Peabody Preparatory and I am the director of the Maryland Talent Education Center which offers violin, viola, cello and piano lessons. This center also runs a public school Suzuki string program which serves 90 students in 1st through 8th grades. Videotaping my…

       Although I am primarily a professional freelance musician performing in various musical ensemles on trombone, alto trombone, bass trombone, euphonium and baritone horn, I am also bandleader and solo trombonist of The Music Staff Swing Orchestra; a 6 to 16 piece Big Band that plays the Dance Music of the 1930's and 40's, as well as dixieland jazz.  You may access recorded live musical performances of these groups of musicians in concerts posted on my Web. site at: …

Welcome to the launch of our new and improved social network.  Please give us feedback and let us know about anything that you think would make the site better.  Did you like the profile questions?  Too many choices? Are we missing anything?

Great Holiday Gifts for Musicians!

Click on links or images to purchase.

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Parents and Teachers,

Parents: Performing holiday music for friends, relatives and in church services is a wonderful way to motivate your child to practice and help them build a sense of pride in their accomplishments. Playing holiday tunes is also a wonderful way for students to develop better reading skills.  

Teachers:  Utilize these books to work on sight reading skills in group classes and in private lessons. 

Here are our suggestions for the best Christmas…