Balancing social "politics" with music -- any words of wisdom ?

[Karli]

Okay, I will start off right away by saying that I am feeling a little discouraged in this area at the moment.  This  season has been riddled with lots of talk and concern about sponsors and donors and financial support...  so many thoughts about pleasing people and pleasing the right people.  And then there are those whom if you don't please in just the right ways, well, they black list you.  And, in some dark corner of my mind, part of me wonders if one day I will actually be one of those people that young artists are trying to please (I think some people want to become this type of person) ?  Maybe I will become exactly what I am writing about ?

I am not extremely far along in my performing career, but the experience I do have gives me suspicion that it only gets to be more and more about what I am writing about from here on out !  I guess I am not even asking a specific question ... I mean, I have thousands of questions, of course ! 

The thing is, I know that the reality of performing is along the lines of what I am talking about.  The world is along the lines of what I am talking about !  It's just, I am not sure I could do this year after year after year ... I just don't know.

I would love to hear people's thoughts and experiences with how you cope or maneuver around or just deal with the politics that seem to come with performing (and even overtake it ?).  Any words of wisdom ... anything !

If you have chosen not to go the "performance" route in part because of this, I would like to know that, too. 

Thank you very, very much !

Karli

[guendola]

Don't call it politics, call it schmoozing. It is a much nicer word with way less dirt on its shoes

And now start doing it. Thinking and worrying won't get you anywhere. If you want to make a living as a pianist, you have no other choice; well, eventually you can hire an agent to get you jobs.

[slobone]

I think things are a lot better today than they used to be. Today you have a better chance of having a career based solely on your talent.

I just read a biography of Leonard Bernstein, and boy, was the music world a mess in his day! A very small number of men controlled all the bookings, and to get ahead, you either had to bribe them, or even... Certainly schmoozing wouldn't have been enough.

[ted]

That is certainly one reason I have supported my music through other means. I do not possess anywhere near the right personality to fit comfortably into that type of social mechanism. Come to think of it, I have never engaged in it in the workplace either. That is probably why I have never risen very far in occupational hierarchies.

[counterpoint]

Sacrificing his inner artistic convictions for "success" is absolute the wrong way. What a "success" would that be...?!?! Of course, if your main goal is to get famous, just do what people ask you to do. But that's not what a real artist does.

Fortunately I was far away from having any chance in a career as a performer.
Everything has it's good - if you look on it the right way 

[guendola]

Sacrificing his inner artistic convictions for "success" is absolute the wrong way. What a "success" would that be...?!?! Of course, if your main goal is to get famous, just do what people ask you to do. But that's not what a real artist does.

Fortunately I was far away from having any chance in a career as a performer.
Everything has it's good - if you look on it the right way 

Nice ideas but one has to make a living. You can't feed on music.

[Karli]

Okay, well, I appreciate the responses and I have calmed down a little bit since posting this thread  .  Let me say, I have been in kind of a great debate with myself over this thing for years actually, but all the while, as I pursue my musical/life interests, my life seems to take me (right now anyway) in this direction. 

One thing that I have recently realized is that all of these people, whatever their particular accomplishments, well they are just people, too.  And, I am interested in getting to know people, I just would like to stay focused on that particular aspect more than on other things (and that is my choice afterall).

I have an underlying musical goal, which is primarily that of teaching, actually.  Funnily enough, I would like to be able to provide an incredibly unique music/life education for a select group of students.  This particular type of education is such that it lives only in my imagination and wildest musical dreams at the time ... and because of that, there is still so much of it that I can't actually see.

What that all means in relation to this thread, is that I would use whatever I "got" out of pursuing this performance path as a means of ultimately serving my educative goals.  In a sense, I suppose I am actually currently pursuing a path of fame, however, it is not for the sake of fame, but for the sake of my ultimate musical goals.  I am ultimately pursuing a path of musical freedom and I have realized that I should not limit what form(s) this pursuit takes, based solely on how something may appear on the outside.

My deepest musical goals may take years to come out right -- it is just some seed that has been deeply inside of me since I have been on earth.  In the meantime, I will follow whatever paths seem to give my ultimate musical goals a channel of expression and some form or structure to develop within.

Now, how is all of that for jibberish ? 

All of what I just said is how I feel inside but I can't imagine it makes an ounce of sense or has real meaning to others on the outside. 

[guendola]

One more thought: Nobody will come and drag you to a concert hall for performing.  There is only one way to get there and if you don't try it you should ask yourself if you really are a pianist by heart.

Sacrificing his inner artistic convictions for "success" is absolute the wrong way. What a "success" would that be...?!?! Of course, if your main goal is to get famous, just do what people ask you to do. But that's not what a real artist does.

What is a pianist who doesn't perform? Certainly not an artist, at least not an active one.  There is nothing wrong in schmoozing a bit in the right places. Just don't sell your soul to the devil. In my opinion an artist without a minimum amount of realism is a bit silly. Art is not a god you pray to, it is a very sophisticated means of communication and it needs to be published. An artist, who doesn't reach out for audience can't be very fond of his art and if he relies on his mental powers instead of talking to real people it won't work.

[richard black]

Some people schmooze well, some people seem to impress without doing anything active, some people don't bother and make a quieter musical career, perhaps with something else on the side. Thinking of performers I know well, the really successful ones are in the second category: the schmoozers may make some progress but no one takes them seriously for long.

[steinway43]

I think things are a lot better today than they used to be. Today you have a better chance of having a career based solely on your talent.

I find this hard to believe. Do you have any examples? People seem shallower and shallower as time goes by and politics and LOOKS, at least in my experience, are incredibly important. You don't see a whole lot of unattractive people on classical CD covers (Koscis being the one exception I can think of) and it's not becuase only pretty people can play, I assure you.

[rc]

I find this hard to believe. Do you have any examples? People seem shallower and shallower as time goes by and politics and LOOKS, at least in my experience, are incredibly important.

True, physical appearances have a larger role, what with mass media and all.  I've been reading a lot of old books recently and it seems to me that shallowness and politicking is nothing new.  Today we talk about it, in the 1700's William Penn talked about it and in ancient Rome the stoic philosphers talked about it (probably any philospher from any age saw the rest of society as shallow ).

I don't think it's anything to worry about.  Most people won't be able to recognize an outstanding talent one way or the other.  People skills is a definite plus in all walks of life, since in the end whatever we do is about people (teach: people, perform: for people).  It's helpful to be able to talk to people.

Even without schmooze, eventually discerning listeners will recognize talent that's a cut above, and have a tendancy to talk FOR you...  Still, one has to be playing before discerning ears could ever hear, no?  I'm with Guendola, it's pointless without an audience.

[jpowell]

Don't call it politics, call it schmoozing. It is a much nicer word with way less dirt on its shoes

And now start doing it. Thinking and worrying won't get you anywhere. If you want to make a living as a pianist, you have no other choice; well, eventually you can hire an agent to get you jobs.

I just don't do this. And that's why I don't have loads of concerts. But so what.

[jabbz]

I'd personally rather have a handful of meaningful concerts than masses of uninspiring concerts.  So, my hand to anyone who chooses this path!

But, I'm not really a performer, I'm a composer. I write what I want to write, not what everyone else wants me to write. Am I a modern composer? Yeah, I guess. I don't often get performed, I refuse to schmooze as well. I'll probably sell out in the end. I have a finance and a wedding to pay for.