Common Misconceptions About A Career in Violin (also Viola & Cello)

Young Shira follows her unique path — a model for the entrepreneurial string player of the 21st century.

There was a time when the choices for string players were relatively clear: orchestra, chamber music, teaching, and if you were very lucky, a solo career. There also seemed to be a more widespread cultural respect for classical music. Today, the landscape has shifted dramatically. Getting into an orchestra is increasingly competitive relative to the number of capable musicians graduating from conservatories. And while most students are advised to explore other musical options, most are still trained to fit into some kind of pre-formed group or institution.

That is the rub. It is a misconception to think it is enough to seek a pre-formed ensemble rather than developing one’s entrepreneurial and creative instincts. The wise music student is better off cultivating the survival skills to create — for themselves and for others — a path that incorporates their unique skills while developing new ones: a path that is value-creating, beautiful, and sustainable.

Lindsey Stirling and the Forged Path

Lindsey Stirling successfully forged a unique path unlike any violinist before her — a model of creative entrepreneurship in action.

String players have gravitated with increasing frequency toward jazz, new age, rock, and beyond. Jazz, fiddle, and rock require reading charts and knowing chord changes — but thinking that these skills alone are sufficient may lead even the most talented players to a frustrating place if they don’t discover ways to take matters into their own hands and create their own fate.

More musical institutions are beginning to offer jazz, blues, and improvisation to string players — and these are important developments. But students must ultimately forge a path through many unknowns and uncertainties. The real question is: how do we prepare and empower students for those uncertainties?

The Five Components of the Creative Entrepreneurial Artist

• The Creative Process
• Value Creation
• Working Independently
• Working With Others
• Implementation and Actualization of Idea

The Creative Process

A creative education should address questions such as: How do breakthroughs happen? What allows someone to transform a mental block into a new idea — and why does the answer often appear when it is least expected? According to Jonah Lehrer, author of Imagine: How Creativity Works, every creative journey begins with a problem — a dull ache and frustration at not being able to find the answer. While this experience often stops artists in their tracks, it is actually an important part of the process, grounded in science. For many students, that dull ache is the sense that there is a dream deep inside, yet nothing in the world that matches that possibility.

The entrepreneurial student will hopefully realize that we may be called upon to create that perfect, tailor-made path for ourselves. It is at the point when we recognize that we must create our ideal creative life that we can also identify the skills we lack — and begin to cultivate them.

Miles Davis forged his unique creative path as an artist — reinventing himself repeatedly rather than fitting into any pre-existing mold.

Value Creation

“It’s a funny thing, the state the world is in today with the economy and no jobs. This is the perfect setting for a relationship of courage and creativity to manifest within many walks of life. It is a time for great creativity.”
— Wayne Shorter, Adventures On The Golden Mean, January 2012

The concept of value creation originated with the pioneering educator Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, encompassing the goals of beauty, good, and gain. Value creation can be understood from a supply-and-demand perspective — providing a service or product that is genuinely needed — but it can also be cultivated through purpose, calling, and the will to positively impact the world.

“The basic question, then, is toward what ends and in the interests of what values human creativity is to be directed. Proper education…enables each individual to perceive life in the context of its nurturing community. Human beings will choose to use their creative capabilities both to enhance their own lives to the fullest and to create maximum benefit for their community.”
— Tsunesaburo Makiguchi

“I’m in the environmental business also. I’m in the business of improving the environment for the human spirit. And that’s what the arts do. They expand our view of the world. They allow us to be enlightened, to be engaged, to be happy, to be sad, to be introspective, to be extroverted. The arts make us human.”
— Dr. Joseph Polisi, President, The Juilliard School

It is a common misconception among artists that if our art doesn’t resonate with the world around us, the problem is the world. Sometimes we are the problem — if we are unable to adjust to changing times, or if we do not recognize ways we can grow as artists and human beings.

Working Independently

Many people have dreams and goals but believe the power to move forward depends on others. While none of us can accomplish a dream in isolation, there is much the individual can do before outside support comes into play. Learning how to take independent action — and developing the confidence to do so — is key to fostering new ideas and projects. This means using one’s natural gifts, tapping underused skills, and deliberately developing the ones that are needed.

Working With Others

What makes certain groups more productive than others? Why is working only with fellow artists you are most comfortable with not always the best way to get great results? The entrepreneurial musician learns to collaborate across disciplines — with dancers, actors, composers, designers, arts administrators — and to build something from scratch rather than waiting for a pre-formed ensemble to appear. Real-world feedback, booking challenges, and the experience of bringing a project through the flames are invaluable parts of the education.

Implementation and Actualization of Idea

Alex Cameron facing infinite possibilities — the entrepreneurial mindset in action.

It is a common misconception to think a teacher or successful artist has the answers to another person’s path. While it is possible to learn from others’ experiences and connections, ultimately no one can forge our path but ourselves. Any musician forging an authentic path will reach a point where it is obvious that it is impossible to walk in anyone else’s shoes.

Actualization is the process — and ideally, eventually, a tangible result. For some it may be the seedlings of a new ensemble or dance company. For others it may mean getting booked at a venue outside the school, or creating the nucleus of a new company from a well-thought-out plan. Execution means putting the project through real-world responses, thinking on one’s feet, and shifting as necessary to bring about a positive result. Students who develop this capacity become their own best teachers — and that self-reliance is the foundation of a sustainable creative life.

by Rozanna Weinberger