CHANGE YOUR TUNE
36 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 years ago -Incredible conversations with classical musicians about feelings (YES!), finding their value and career transitions.
Meet professional classical musicians now thriving as entrepreneurs, master craftsmen, counsellors, personal trainers, software developers, lawyers and more more.
We need to NORMALISE the reality of underemployment, unemployment, career pivots and exits for classical musicians. Are you with me?
Think classical musicians only make music?
Think again.
#changeyourtune
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Episodes
THE STRUGGLE IS REAL with Paul Bruch-Wiens
March 27, 2022 13:00 - 50 minutes - 45.8 MBPaul Bruch-Wiens is a Private Wealth Manager at Quadrant Private Wealth, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, where he lives with his spouse, two children and still has a deep passion for the performing arts. QUOTES “Singing in close harmony with my family and church community was a way of life. It was something you just did every Sunday.” “After I finished a business degree, the only thing I could do to have gainful employment based on the training was to be a bookkeeper. But I’d already...
CLASS AND CLASSICAL MUSIC with Sadah Webster
March 20, 2022 13:00 - 58 minutes - 53.5 MBA former professional oboe and cor anglais player based in London, Sadah Webster now works as an investigator and intelligence analyst. Investigating whistleblower complaints and misuses of public office. QUOTES “I was halfway through a Bachelor of Music degree when I took a year off to study linguistics and live in Thailand.” “I didn’t know what I was doing, I was petrified all the time and I was burned out.” “Looking back, emotionally, I think the fact that I was advanced as a player q...
PLAY YOUR PART with Daniel Meyers
March 13, 2022 13:00 - 50 minutes - 45.8 MBDaniel Meyers is a bass player, music administrator, and professional fundraiser who currently manages donor relations and annual giving at the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota. Before moving into fundraising, Daniel performed regularly as a substitute with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and he was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. QUOTES “I was playing with orchestras that were “the end goal” if you’re searching for a career as an orchestral musician, but I wasn’t finding the c...
SPEAKING UP with Sarah Denholm
March 06, 2022 13:00 - 45 minutes - 41.7 MBSarah Denholm was originally a classical pianist who moved into a successful career as a speaking and presentation skills coach, built after suffering from performance anxiety. Sarah’s pathway back to comfort on stage was learning the art of public speaking. She now helps others globally through her Speakers Confluence® confidence and influence coaching and training programs. QUOTES On performing and imposter syndrome “I found it so stressful, and that’s still in my body.” On being seen ...
MONEY MATTERS with Tiffany Soricelli
February 27, 2022 13:00 - 53 minutes - 49 MBABOUT TIFFANY QUOTES “At the end of first semester, I was looking around thinking about the professionals I had worked with from all different ages and backgrounds. I thought that if I wanted to add something, what might that be? I was interested in arts admin and thought if I understand what managers want then I could craft myself to navigate that sphere.” “ What was eye opening was that backstage at Carnegie Hall looks the same as backstage as anywhere else. Eye opening to see the re...
DOUBLE MAJORING with Michael Lowenstern
February 20, 2022 13:00 - 54 minutes - 50.2 MBMichael Lowenstern has spent 15 years as a professional bass clarinetist specializing in avant garde jazz, and 15 years as a professional brand marketer specializing in data-driven creative strategy. Those journeys have two things in common: They are both niche corners of their respective markets, and they are both things that most people couldn't care less about. He's currently a Principal Creative Director for Amazon. QUOTES “After music school when I turned up in NY, I stared at the pho...
INTEGRITY AND FAIRNESS with Angel Lezak
February 13, 2022 13:00 - 56 minutes - 51.6 MBAngel Lezak is a patent prosecutor with 15 years of prosecution experience who has been able to successfully leverage the knowledge and experience she gained at the USPTO to develop and execute creative, effective strategies for prosecuting both new and problematic patent applications to issuance. As part of her practice, Angel develops and manages patent portfolios for new and existing clients. Additionally, Angel analyzes existing patent families to determine the value and strength of pen...
SEARCH FOR BALANCE with Jackson Harnwell
February 06, 2022 13:00 - 55 minutes - 50.6 MBJackson Harnwell is a former singer and conductor, having studied at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and worked with artists including Anthony Warlow, David Hobson, Helena Dix, Teddy Tahu Rhodes and Yvonne Kenny. Today, Jackson oversees the clinical training of medical and health discipline students at the University of Melbourne, following a 10-year career in higher education. QUOTES “Church choir was an amazing opportunity that connected with me. To be able to create on my own, bon...
DEALING WITH FEELINGS with Ian Anderson Gray
January 30, 2022 13:00 - 50 minutes - 46.4 MBIan Anderson Gray is the founder of the Confident Live Marketing Academy and is host of the Confident Live Marketing Podcast. He helps entrepreneurs to level up their impact, authority and profits by using live video confidently. As well as being a geek, husband, and dad to two kids, Ian is also a professional singer and lives near Manchester in the UK. QUOTES “I'd get very bored very easily I was doing the same thing all the time. And it was the same thing with music, I needed to do other...
DESIGNING WITH EMPATHY with Joshua Dema
January 23, 2022 13:00 - 48 minutes - 44.8 MBJoshua Dema is Melbourne based Cellist and Digital Designer. By day he is a Digital Accessibility Consultant for a company called Intopia. By night he is a Cellist who can be heard playing music from Pachelbel to Piatti to Panic at the Disco and everything in between. QUOTES “I had this idea in mind of finding a backup career, but it needed to be something I was passionate about.” “The more auditions I took, the more I kept failing them. I enjoying it less and less… I was so locked into ...
LISTEN WELL with Kate Mrochkovski
January 16, 2022 13:00 - 47 minutes - 43.7 MBKate studied music at Manchester University. Whilst at uni she took a part-time job at The Bridgewater Hall, a concert hall in Manchester. There, she fell in love with ticketing, data and technology and is now Strategy Director at Supercool, a digital design agency working in the cultural sector. QUOTES I have an overview of a lot of different aspects of the business which is what I find really interesting. I see that big picture, where the problems are and join dots. I worked at a conce...
DRAWN ON THE WAY with Sarah Nisbett
January 09, 2022 13:00 - 53 minutes - 49.3 MBA former opera singer and self-taught live illustrator, Sarah Nisbett loves to draw the people, places and things she encounters “on the way.” Her Drawn On The Way project is helping people find the extraordinary in the everyday and to see themselves and others as works of art. Read the transcript. QUOTES “I learned how to draw on the New York subway. It was a strange kind of art school.” “I was curious about people. Who is this person? And that was an experience I liked.” “I had a reali...
EMPATHETIC LEADERSHIP with Ingrid Martin
December 08, 2021 19:00 - 39 minutes - 36.2 MBIngrid Martin is a highly sought after conductor and music educator. Ingrid trained in Medicine at Monash University and worked as an emergency physician while maintaining a busy musical life as a Conductor, Horn Player and Violinist. A decision to further her conducting training meant relocating to the University of Minnesota where she completed a postgraduate degree with mentor, Craig Kirchhoff. QUOTES “Being an empathetic person is what makes a successful doctor and what also makes a su...
CENTRED IN SOUND with Joel Carnegie
December 05, 2021 19:00 - 42 minutes - 38.7 MBJoel Carnegie is an award winning broadcaster, documentary maker, performer and founder of the international media production house The Space Company. Joel pursued a Performance Degree on Horn from the University of Melbourne and Die Universität für Musik und darstellende Austria, and post graduate study in Communications and Media at RMIT before building his unique career as an entrepreneur, storyteller, performer and musician. QUOTES “There was one track for me, that was finishing Year 1...
STAYING CHALLENGED with Jennika Anthony-Shaw
December 01, 2021 19:00 - 41 minutes - 38.3 MBJennika Anthony-Shaw is a Barrister who held the position of Project Manager and Commercial Group Proceedings Coordinator for the Supreme Court of Victoria. Jennika has performance degrees from McGill University and the Manhattan School of Music and built a successful freelance career as a global trotting Cellist before embarking upon the path that would lead her to the law QUOTES “I started out in New York where everyone is really good. There’s 3 or 4 top music schools in the city and you...
ANALYSIS AND PERFORMANCE with Katherine Norman
November 28, 2021 19:00 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MBKatherine Norman is the Senior Account Manager, Presenter Services at Arts Centre Melbourne and is responsible for the logistics of over 3,000 events across their 6 venues each year. Katherine pursued degrees in Biochemistry and Music before embarking on a career in venue management which saw her work as Usher Manager at the Royal Opera House in Convent Garden before returning to Melbourne. QUOTES “My main and first degree was a Bachelor of Science majoring in Biochemistry. I’d resisted th...
MEANS AND MEANING with Dave Melgaard
November 24, 2021 19:00 - 33 minutes - 30.3 MBDave Melgaard leads a team of testing experts at Idea Science to find optimum solutions for clients and strengthen testing capabilities. Before that, he studied Trumpet at the VCA, Melbourne University and the Royal College of Music in London. He held the position of Trumpet Master with the Slovenian National Opera and Ballet Orchestra before returning to Australia to build a new career in business. QUOTES “So many of the skills you learn in music are so useful in business.” “In sales, y...
CONCERTS ARE HARDER THAN SURGERY with Tony Prochazka
November 21, 2021 19:00 - 40 minutes - 37.3 MBTony Prochazka pursued a non-conformist training in both medicine and music. He interrupted his medical career to study Jazz Guitar at the VCA, having played Cello with the Australian Youth Orchestra during his schooling. He studied Classical Cello in Germany and London before building a successful career in cosmetic surgery. QUOTES “By the end of it I was just sold on music and that was really my awakening I guess at just how fantastic it could be.” “I just remember we had some conversat...
UPLIFT OTHERS with Tony Gray
November 17, 2021 19:00 - 33 minutes - 31 MBTony Gray lives and works in remote Numbulwar, where he is Managing Director and Pilot at AiRemote. Tony designs and delivers development programs in Arnhem Land and Indonesia. Prior to his life as a social entrepreneur, Tony was a professional musician in Melbourne and holds a Bachelor of Music (Improvisation) on Double Bass from the VCA. QUOTES This relates back to music as well, you have to do anything you can to keep you going so you can focus on the one thing and that’s developing job...
SUCCESSFUL COMPROMISE with John Daley
November 14, 2021 19:00 - 40 minutes - 36.8 MBAs former CEO of the Grattan Institute, John Daley is one of Australia’s leading public policy thinkers. John graduated from the University of Oxford in 1999 with a DPhil in public law after completing an LLB (Hons) and a BSc from the University of Melbourne in 1990. He has 20 years’ experience spanning policy, academic, government and corporate roles. QUOTES “It teaches you successful compromise, in which everyone gets most of what they want. The whole is indeed greater than the sum of th...
TRAIN THE MIND with Geoff Collinson
November 10, 2021 19:00 - 36 minutes - 33.1 MBAfter a career as principal horn player with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and guest principal with many other orchestras in Australia and overseas, Geoff Collinson found his true calling as a teacher and headed up the brass department at The University of Melbourne. 10 years ago, the digital world provided opportunities to solve problems of geographical isolation in music education and Geoff took the plunge away from a tenured position. People assumed I had given up on creativit...
LOGIC AND PROBLEM SOLVING with Kylie Weston-Scheuber
November 07, 2021 19:00 - 30 minutes - 27.6 MBKylie Weston-Scheuber is a Melbourne-based barrister specialising in commercial and administrative law. Through her previous employment, she has extensive experience as an advocate, including in contested hearings, trials, sentences and appeals. She has a PhD in law from the Australian National University. Kylie is available to accept briefs in Victoria and other jurisdictions. She is a member of Greens List. QUOTES “People think of music as being a creative pursuit, and it is. But it als...
CONTRIBUTE AND SERVE with Robert Simonds
October 31, 2021 19:00 - 41 minutes - 37.7 MBAfter 20 years in the music business, Robert Simonds resigned as principal second violinist of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in June 2021. He is now a MC/MPA candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and is seeking to merge his performing arts experience with public service. QUOTES “I wanted to leave the stage on my own terms.” “Add as much value as possible onstage and offstage.” “All large institutions should serve a public function.” “Never stop looking for people ...
PLAY AND EXPLORATION with Patrick Tapio Johnson
October 24, 2021 19:00 - 47 minutes - 43.8 MBAfter a decade and a half as a London-based freelance cellist, Patrick Tapio Johnson has retrained and has just commenced his first role as a software engineer with General Assembly. He hopes this will enable him to provide real, meaningful help to people, while solving some cool problems in the process. QUOTES “After the pandemic, things changed overnight. The pandemic wasn’t the catalyst but it was a nudge.” “Amongst musicians, many had their heads in the sand and were reluctant to take...
NEEDING PREDICTABILITY with Andrew Schwartz
October 17, 2021 19:00 - 44 minutes - 40.4 MBAndrew Schwartz holds a degree from the University of Hartford and pursued a Masters from The Manhattan School of Music in Tuba Performance. He received an MBA from Georgia State University and now works in marketing insights for Central Garden & Pet. He lives in Decatur, GA with his wife and daughter. QUOTES “I could see orchestras filing for bankruptcy, and it was terrifying. I was under the impression that if you make it, you make it. But if the Philadelphia Orchestra is filing for ban...
COMPLEX AND SPECIFIC with Lisa Kobialka
October 10, 2021 19:00 - 36 minutes - 33.7 MBLisa Kobialka has been at the forefront of some of the most challenging trials in different venues across the country and handled more than 200 litigations. She counsels and represents both plaintiffs and defendants in complex intellectual property litigation, including trials and evidentiary hearings in numerous jurisdictions across the United States involving claims for patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition and trademark infringement. Lisa represents client...
SUSAN ELDRIDGE In Conversation with Ingrid Martin
October 03, 2021 19:00 - 44 minutes - 40.7 MBIngrid Martin transforms lives through music. Her life-long mission: to make classical music relevant, interesting and engaging for everyone. Insatiably curious, Ingrid constantly asks "Who is it for? Why are we doing this? How could it be better?" Her answer usually involves challenging norms and ditching long-held traditions to create meaningful experiences for audiences. QUOTES “Probably more people have been to space than have seen me dance. Isn’t that strange because my job as a co...
FINDING SOLUTIONS with John Culver
September 26, 2021 20:00 - 36 minutes - 33.2 MBJohn Parr-Culver is a Product Manager at Oracle with a background as a freelance musician and clarinet teacher. John is currently based in Austin, Texas and has performance degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Carnegie Mellon University. Image Credit Cheyenne Parr QUOTES “I got advice on what kinds of adjacent interests to music might be a good way to send my career path down.” “I had spent 15 years thinking I was going to be a musician, so I had a bit of an identity crisis.” “I...
EMBRACING AMBIGUITY with Ralph Bathurst
September 19, 2021 20:00 - 42 minutes - 38.6 MBDr Ralph Bathurst is a musician who performs orchestral music (viola) and light jazz (piano). This background in music making informs his primary interests which focus on how organisations can become more humane places where people can discover a sense of freedom and creativity. His work life experiences in management and leadership within arts and social organisations translate directly into his teaching and research practice. Primarily his emphasis is on the arts, particularly music and th...
SOUND CONNECTIONS with Anna Schaum
September 12, 2021 20:00 - 40 minutes - 37.2 MBAnna Schaum is a professional violist and licensed counselor who works at the intersections of psychology, neurobiology, social and ecological change, in both clinical and corporate settings. She is Director of Ecosocial Development for an international photography business, and the founder of The Center for Sound Relationships, a resiliency studio in Portland Oregon. QUOTES “I think of myself as an instrument when I’m working with people.” “Sometimes I’m like a tuning fork, other times...
A NEW CODE with Anna McDougall
September 05, 2021 20:00 - 39 minutes - 36.2 MBAnna McDougall is a full-stack developer with a passion for JavaScript. She is known as "that dev who used to be an opera singer". In addition to her upcoming position as Junior Software Engineer at Novatec Consulting GmbH, Anna is also a tech blogger, YouTube creator, and public speaker. QUOTES “I had to go into every situation looking for, and wanting to find the gaps in my knowledge. And the things I'm bad at .The only way I'm going to get better is to find out what those are and work ...
IN CONVERSATION Susan Eldridge with Ingrid Martin
August 29, 2021 20:00 - 33 minutes - 30.3 MBIngrid Martin transforms lives through music. Her life-long mission: to make classical music relevant, interesting and engaging for everyone. Insatiably curious, Ingrid constantly asks "Who is it for? Why are we doing this? How could it be better?" Her answer usually involves challenging norms and ditching long-held traditions to create meaningful experiences for audiences. QUOTES “I’m seeking other people who’ve had a similar experience to me, they’ve left classical music because it...
AUDIENCE OBSESSED with Jesse Livingston
August 22, 2021 20:00 - 40 minutes - 36.6 MBJesse Livingston has a Bachelor’s degree from the Oberlin Conservatory and a Master’s degree in orchestral conducting from Ithaca College. He then transitioned into user research which eventually brought him and his family to San Francisco, CA. For the past 5 years, he has worked at LinkedIn and Netflix but is now undergoing yet another career transition; because… why not? QUOTES “My wrestle with classical music was, I didn't have a sense that people wanted to do things in new ways.” “Th...
STAY CURIOUS with Erik Lautier
August 15, 2021 20:00 - 44 minutes - 41.2 MBErik Lautier is a former professional actor and opera singer who parlayed a web design business serving performing artists in the early 2000s into a highly successful career as an ecommerce and marketing executive at publicly-traded retail companies. Today, he’s an entrepreneur, an emerging composer, and a dad. QUOTES “The definition of making it on Broadway is doing the same show for potentially years at a time. And that terrified me because I didn’t see another way.” “I’m going to teach...
FIT TO PERFORM with Caroline Juster
August 08, 2021 20:00 - 41 minutes - 37.5 MBCaroline Juster is a personal trainer and online fitness coach living in Chicago, Illinois. She helps busy millennials get strong and lose weight without fad diets or gimmicks. Caroline received a Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, where she studied trombone under Michael Mulcahy and others. QUOTES “Music school was challenging, I don’t think I was emotionally prepared for the things I was going to encounter there.” “At music school, the prospect of ...
TOOLS FOR EXPRESSION with Jeff Miller
July 21, 2021 08:19 - 37 minutes - 34.3 MBJeff Miller’s first career as a professional musician has had an enormous influence on both his furniture designs and the way he makes that furniture - something he’s been doing for the last 37 years. Music has also impacted the way he teaches, but probably not his writing of books and articles. Read the transcript on Medium. QUOTES “No amount of practice gets you around yourself.” “I was never a composer in music, but I feel that as a furniture designer that I’m a composer.” “Having lea...