The Road Ahead
Photo by: Nancy Harder. Road from El Calafate to El Chalten, Argentina “Each of us has the right and the responsibility to assess the road which lies ahead and those over which we have traveled, and if the feature road looms ominous or unpromising, and the road back uninviting-inviting, then we need to gather [...]
Profit Clarity for the Freelance Musician.
photo: PhotoSteve101 A year ago, I sat down and had a hard look at the “real” costs of my business — the business of teaching, accompanying, coaching, and performing. The prep work required for each of the activities I did fluctuated greatly. Some activities required 5-10 times as much prep work as the others. I [...]
When You Need Space
Recently, I arrived at my edge of “go” and “do” I knew I needed space. As Lenedra Carroll writes in The Architecture of All Abundance, “Stillness creates space in our thoughts and our embodiments. Without the space that silence, rest, and breath give us, our lives, our bodies, our minds grow tightly compressed. We experience [...]
The Year I Discovered How Clutter Blocks Success
This guest post is by Christine Kane. Christine Kane is the Mentor to Women Who are Changing the World. She helps women uplevel their lives, their businesses and their success. Her weekly LiveCreative eZine goes out to over 12,000 subscribers. If you are ready to take your life and your world to the next level, [...]
An Answer: What Music is All About
This past week a youtube video blew me away. Heart provoked. Soul expanded. Inspiration exploded. I was playing with a french horn student in their lesson. This was our last rehearsal before her junior recital and her teacher pulled up this video as a means of facilitating and pushing her artistic freedom and expression. It [...]
Boring to Hip. 10 Ideas for Making Classical Concerts More Exciting.
(Photo by: hippiedude) Disclaimer: I love classical music. I’ve dedicated my childhood, adolescence, education and professional life to it. What I’m about to say may have me shamed by the classical music community at-large, but here it is: I often find classical concerts boring. And I know I’m not alone. As a whole I find [...]
What Taught Me To Be Young Again.
I’m aging in reverse. Groomed to be a classical pianist from the age of 5, life growing up felt very Serious. By 12 years old I had begun working as a professional musician. I started college at the age of 15 and upped my rigorous discipline of academics and hours-long practice sessions. At 17 my [...]
CM Interview Series: Noreen Murdock
The Composed Musician’s Interview Series highlights passionate, purposeful musicians with entrepreneurial + creative mojo. Today, I’m stoked to interview the amazing Noreen Murdock, one of the youngest orchestra directors in America. She’s the Executive Director of Salem Chamber Orchestra in Salem, Oregon and a collaborative pianist. She has a BA in Music from Willamette University and a [...]
Love + Genius. A Valentine’s Wish For You.
Photo by: s58y In an interview on Radiolab, the brilliant Malcolm Gladwell put forth a revolutionary idea, “So-called ‘geniuses’ are not, in fact, more talented, more evolved, more intelligent or more genetically-gifted than ‘regular folks’, but rather, they are actively in love with the object of their (vocational) affection. And they stay in love. For [...]
The Family + Friends Discount. To give or not to give?
Photo by: Asenat29 Entrepreneurship guru, Marie Forleo, released another brilliant Q&A video this week: The Friends and Family Discount Dilemma. The video got me thinking about the dilemma from the lens of being a musician. As musicians, we’re often asked to give, even expected to give free & discounted services to our family and friends. The question [...]
Follow Nancy
