With my studio's biggest performance of the semester just around the corner, marketing is underway not just for a live audience to fill the hall, but to tune in to our live webcast of the performance.
Why am I doing this?
-Conventional wisdom is self-promotion. To draw attention to my growing studio and the work they are accomplishing.
To make Adams State an attractive place for potential students to study music, consequently providing my current students with other quality students and opportunities in which to collaborate.
To build a following. Playing for a large and receptive audience is a plus for any performer. No one likes to play to seatbacks without bodies.
An attempt to be trendy and techy. Dialing into industry standards of production.
Of course, there is truth to the above. Those reasons tie into the ultimate rationale for promoting the concert, but are not my primary goal.
Over the past few years, my concerts have garnered local attention and built a very supportive audience. We take pride in our presentations and are always excited to share the percussive arts with our community. However, this is a biproduct of the educational goals I have set out to offer to my students.
Here's what it's really about:
- I want my students to play great for the sake of making great music.
- I want them to understand the cause and effect relationship of proper preparation and peak musical experiences.
- I want them to consider the professional neccesities of programming, audience building, quality performances, and personal and musical growth.
- And above all, I want them to look beyond their very supportive regional audience and understand that musical preparations and offerings should reach beyond "a" performance and "tonight's" audience to the untold audiences and experiences in their future. THAT is what it's about.
Raising the stakes for their own growth. It's already apparent in the preparation cycle.
I hope to make this a permanent process. Then we raise the stakes again... I'm thinking a recording project...
Watch the performance on Wednesday, March 2nd at 7:30pm Mountain Daylight Time at
www.adams.edu/live
