by Christine Witmer Music manager, Dave Creel seems to have his career in music management all figured out. As the founder of Chieftain Artists, a boutique music management company, he makes the business of managing artists seem suspiciously easy.
True Confessions of an Opera Lover
By Emily Mahon Got Grit? Years before I even knew what opera was, my 4th grade teacher, Miss Smith gave me the “True Grit Award.” I’m not sure if it was because I was caught punching a girl in the locker room for insulting my less than popular friend, or whether it was because I led a mini-feminist revolution in …
PATRICK TOBIN – ITS A PIECE OF CAKE
by Andrea Davis It all started with a 6th grade writing contest back in Montana. Patrick Tobin entered his short story and it took second place. He says of the experience: “I loved it. I discovered this writing thing is FUN.” Today Patrick is an award-winning fiction writer and is the screenwriter of Cake, which he adapted from his own …
Artzray Interview with Musician and Songwriter Sam Friend
Game of Thrones video takes the New Orleans Swamp Donkeys to the next level. It’s been a helluva a year for the New Orleans Swamp Donkeys, a jazz group that “recalls the New Orleans music of roughly a century ago, with youthful, high-spirited aplomb” (Nate Chinen, The New York Times). The traditional New Orleans jazz group toured Europe, released two …
3 Tips for Beginning Ballet Partnering For Girls
After hours of barre, relentless plies and tendus, and working up strength in pointe shoes, a dancer then faces ballet partnering. Whether your first opportunity comes from a summer intensive or from your home studio, partnering can be a rarity due to the surfeit of ballerinas and deficit of ballerinos. But, partnering is valuable training, and feels just a step …
The Most Relatable Musicals for Millennials
Best Musicals to See Over the Holidays Most Millennials might be known for their serious commitments to Netflix, but that doesn’t mean the musical theater genre has to die. For the generation that is known for having the attention spans of goldfish, the idea of sitting through a 2-hour spectacle of flamboyant singing and dancing may not be the most appealing. …
The Kid Speaks: An Interview with Trumpeter Glen Marhevka
Glen “The Kid” Marhevka is the trumpet player for Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and a master trumpeter at that. Here is a story of personal drive, mentor relationships, disciplined training and cooperative band experiences over the past thirty years. It sounds a lot like the music he makes: collaborative, energizing and filled with those gorgeous brass instruments that make …
Jazz Piano Techniques for the Classical Player
Crossing Over: Jazz Piano Techniques for the Classical Player In the 1984 classic, The Karate Kid, Mr. Miyagi agrees to train Daniel LaRusso in the fabled art of karate. But for the first several weeks of training, he makes a frustrated Daniel do nothing but the same chores around the house, over and over again. (Bear with me, I’m actually …
My Long and Winding Road to Music College
As a recent music college graduate, I have found myself re-evaluating my transition from high school to college and the events that led me to pursue a life in music. Looking back, I could never have seen where this long and winding road would take me. My choice to go to music college literally changed the direction of my life …