Monday, March 11, 2013

Music Competition & Career Guide

Figuring out what to do over the summer or knowing how to get your career started in the music world can be, at best, daunting. There are thousands of competitions but frankly, searching the internet for music competitions isn't the most efficient way to spend your time. And so far as a career in music, there are a lot of hidden angles and details that you probably want to know about. We just finished creating a new Music Competition and Career Guide full of resources that will make your life just a little bit easier if you're looking for a summer competition or getting ready to graduate and start a new career.

The Competition tab offers a variety of resources to check out. The one website included here is Bakitone. This site offers a fantastic database of competitions around the world that you can easily search by instrument or location. You'll also find three books here that provide detailed information about different competitions. Finally, don't forget to read the trade magazines! Although life seems a little busy it's always worth taking the time to peruse the major trade magazine for your instrument of choice. Not only do they provide announcements about upcoming competitions and workshops, but they also provide detailed reviews of past competitions and the people that won them - a fantastically easy way to find out what makes a winning performance.

The Careers tab identifies several books providing career guidance, resources for those of you looking to continue on in higher education, and a couple writing guides for anyone interested in writing reviews and program notes. The career guidance books are as wide ranging as telling you what careers are available in the music industry and what they involve to detailed information about licensing and publisher agreements.

At the moment the guide is a bit book-laden but you can change that! There's an option on the guide's homepage to submit your links to additional online competition and career resources. Submit your links and I'll add them to the guide for the benefit of current and future students.