A few years ago I began noticing how the audiences at my classical recitals were aging! That’s when I came up with the idea for Living Piano: Journey through Time: Historic Concert Experience which details the history of the piano in musical performance. In period costumes I perform with extremely talented young artists who come out as Mozart and Liszt. We perform on authentic instruments from my collection showing how the piano came to be. Audiences both young and old attend the shows and it brings classical music to new people.
Every year conservatories churn out hundreds of highly skilled musicians around the world. These musicians enter competitions and compete for the dwindling jobs available playing in orchestras. So how do you get noticed in this world?
The first thing you have to remember is that nobody is going to discover you. You may be one of the greatest pianists in the entire world but if you don’t promote yourself and nobody hears you, you are very unlikely to enjoy any level of success. Even if you have an arrangement with a management company, you will still have to manage them!
If you’re working towards a professional career there are options you can pursue to make money in music. Teaching can be a reliable form of income and there is always a demand for committed music teachers. You can pursue professional teaching at the university level or in public or private schools. Or you can start teaching from your home studio or even travel to people’s homes. Networking with local musicians can open up performance opportunities. If you know some talented musicians you can set up a chamber group or offer your services for parties or events. You can work accompanying and even offer solo recitals.
Real success can sometimes come from people offering creative new avenues of performance. Some great examples are: Christopher O’Reilly and his Shostakovich meets Radiohead. Yugu Wang is a fantastic pianist who wears lavish outfits to draw more attention, and Lang Lang stands out from the crowd not only with his brilliant technique, but his extreme facial expressions that again gets people’s attention. While these are all very talented musicians, by adding a little bit more to their presentations they get noticed in this world where countless other accomplished musicians remain relatively obscure to the public.
It’s important to remember that a very small percentage of your audience will be highly sophisticated musically. You must reach your entire audience and offer a memorable performance. But before all this, you have to figure out how to get the engagement in the first place! You must embrace promotion, marketing, and sales. Remember, having a successful career in music, you are working in the music business which is very competitive. Try and present something unique not only in the performance but in the whole way you package your show. You may have to try several unique presentations until you find something that resonates with audiences and catches fire. You can learn what works with each performance and not be afraid to be wildly creative!
Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729