Where the sidewalk ends: helping music majors connect with the musical community after graduation

American Music Teacher, April-May, 2003 by Linda Holzer

Innovative Courses

At the University of Colorado-Boulder, Catherine Fitterman, formerly founding director of the Entrepreneurship Center for Music at Colorado and now associate director of the music business program at New York University, developed a series of five courses. Some of the courses are open to students from all majors, including music, theater, dance and journalism, while others are restricted to only music majors. Four of the courses are for undergraduates; the fifth is designed for graduate students.

Prepared for the Soundcheck (Fall Semester) MUSC 2081-2

Provides an overview of the recording process from the performer's perspective, from soundcheck through final mastering. Uses recorded material from in-class sessions. Examines differing approaches to recording as well as current technologies. Open to all majors.

Your Music Career (Spring Semester) MUSC 4918-2

Students will explore the many possible paths to a career in music. Topics include self-promotion, recording and production, songwriting, operating a record label and the business aspects of being a performing musician. Open to all majors.

Performances in the Community (Spring Semester) MUSC 4958-1

Learn to program music for special listeners, gain confidence speaking to audiences and share the healing gift of music. Course includes classroom theory and practical application. Open to music majors only.

Internship in Music Business (Summer Semester) MUSC 4908-800

Gives upper division students the opportunity to work in public or private organizations on assignments relating to their career goals, and allows them to explore the relationship between theory and practice in their major. May be repeated for a total of six credit hours. Requires instructor's permission.

Arts Entrepreneurship (Fall Semester) MUSC 5968-2

Provides an interdisciplinary introduction to the application of entrepreneurship principles in the creative arts. Topics include opportunity recognition, balancing risk and reward, market responsiveness and resource development. Case studies and development of feasibility study for music industry. Graduate students only.

Bonus Bytes

For a list of selected resources, go to www.mtna.org, click on American Music Teacher, then click on "Tell me more about Bonus Bytes."

NOTES

(1.) Peterson's Four-Year Colleges 2002, Peterson's Guides, (2001).

(2.) Money and Income in the United States.' 2000, U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., (2001): 60-213.

(3.) "American Attitudes Toward Music," Gallup Poll, in Music USA, NAMM, the International Music Products Association, Princeton, (March 2000). www.namm.com/education/research/gallop/ images/GallupFindings.pdf.

Linda Holzer is an associate professor of music at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock. As a pianist, she has performed nationwide, as well as abroad at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.