How to get exposed

[punkpianist360]

Is going through the trouble that musicians of other genres worth it?  I mean, recording a demo, making a press kit, sending it out to places like Naxos and prestigious halls in your area?  Will all that work succumb to anything?  Or are competitions the only way of achieving a concert career.

[carolynjoseph]

You are absolutely right, exposing you skills are very necessary to find out competitors and place when you can realize you ability and you some offers. 

[avguste]

Competitions are not the only way to get noticed.

My personal belief is that hard work and self promotion 24/7 works the best.
For this you need a resume, bio, repertoire, mp3s, videos and a website.
Then I would start with contacting local presenters and progressively grow from there.

I wouldn't contact Naxos and the big players yet. You need to build your performing experience, repertoire and such.

I would suggest you check out my e-book on Self Management. I write about the steps in it. You can find it here (bottom of the page)

[omar_roy]

avguste is right.  A website that has videos, recordings, biography, etc is absolutely essential.

Do competitions, hold recitals, get into contact with local orchestras and other classical performing groups.

Perform as often as possible at as many different venues as you can, and competitions whenever possible.

[avguste]

It is not only about performing, but also about presenting one self and promoting one self.
Being able to promote, post anywhere on the internet, talk to people helps alot as well.
But again, the first step is the training, then resume/bio and so forth. And finally the website and business cards.