Lectures

Service and Storytelling

Drawing on over a decade of experience in arts administration and entrepreneurship, this lecture examines the key elements that make creative projects and businesses thrive. "Service and Storytelling" helps musicians identify their target audience and understand how customer behavior shapes the success of their work. Attendees will explore principles from psychology, behavioral economics, and marketing, and dive into how storytelling and a customer-focused approach can deepen their connection with audiences. Whether launching a new project or growing an existing one, focusing on serving the community rather than just seeking support leads to more meaningful, lasting success.

Getting Around The Gatekeepers (given at GFA 2021)

This lecture gives an overview of how guitarists can build meaningful, sustainable careers without the backing of a traditional gatekeeper within the industry. The main objectives are to get attendees thinking about themselves as entrepreneurs as well as musicians and to come up with actionable steps for them to advance their careers. It will also explore how technology and social media have changed what is possible for an individual to do on their own; the rise of portfolio careers; the importance of self-awareness and empathy; and using long and short-term goal setting to achieve success.

A Performance Guide to Selected Jazz Arrangements of Roland Dyens

(given at GFA 2019)

This lecture explores several of Roland Dyens’ arrangements of popular jazz pieces from his collections Mes Arrangements a l'Amiable and Night and Day. This examination includes information on the harmonic and structural aspects of the pieces; historical and biographical details about relevant styles and artists, as well as Dyens’ allusions to them in his arrangements; and discussion of solutions to difficult passages and extended techniques within the arrangements, all with an eye towards producing more accurate interpretations of the pieces.