Prominent international music competitions – no matter your opinion of them – share one invaluable prize in addition to the money: publicity. Recently, British pianist Peter Donohoe defended international competitions on Facebook, alluding to an absence of an “effective alternative” to a competition win for young musicians hoping to make a career as an international soloist. Granted, it is difficult to downplay the importance and value of such a ‘break’ as a competition win, however, the fact remains that competitions are not, and will never be, for everybody, and of course, not every competitor can win.
So what next for the young musician who aspires to a career in classical music, but for whom a competition win – or, indeed, an international career – is simply not a reality? Thinking purely in terms of numbers, hundreds of musicians graduate from music colleges in the UK alone every year. A mere fraction of that cohort would exceed the amount of competitions available for entry worldwide, meaning that even if all of these instrumentalists and singers wanted to compete, they could not all expect to win. Besides, given that competitions of this type exist as a platform for aspiring soloists and recording artists, and not for those wishing to follow an alternative path, it is important to consider the decisions young musicians make when building a music career in which international stardom does not feature.
Research into music graduates’ career moves continues to suggest that conservatoire courses do not provide adequate career preview to their students, with many young musicians experiencing feelings of uncertainty and anxiety about their future career as a result of holding a very narrow view of ‘musical success’. The following ‘Ten Top Tips’ for young musicians are taken from the ‘Letters to my Younger Self ’ website, being run as part of a wider University of Leeds-funded project exploring young musicians’ lives and their experiences of building a music career. The website is a collection of anonymous letters written by musicians, containing the career advice they would have liked to have received when graduating from music college.
1Value all of your musical skills: The largest component of any conservatoire course concerns your instrument: the one-on-one time you spent with your teacher, classes with the other members of your department, not to mention all of that time in the practice room. It’s easy to forget about all the other musical skills you have, but further down the line, it may be your skills in improvisation, arranging, workshop leading or teaching that enable you to carve your own unique path as a musician who can do more than just perform well.
2Don’t write off teaching work: Many young musicians dismiss teaching as a ‘cop-out’ job or a nuisance pursuit that eats into valuable practice time. Recent research into Australian music graduates revealed that although only 18% of students initially envisaged themselves doing any teaching work after graduation, the very same cohort spoke of the value of teaching work in their portfolio five years later. In one letter on the website, a pianist writes of being removed from “a bubble of loneliness and fear” by teaching. Additionally, when freelance playing work can be unpredictable, flexible teaching provides a financial security that affords artists the freedom to explore other musical avenues. However, much like competing, teaching isn’t for everybody either, so if you really do just dislike children, perhaps teaching work isn’t for you after all!
3Embrace entrepreneurship: If you are hoping for a solo career, but don’t have the financial backing and publicity of a competition win, it is still possible to do a lot of this work yourself. So much of a music degree is very transferrable: the hours spent in the practice room mean that you have drive and motivation, and the diary-tetris of practice room booking and chamber rehearsals mean that you know how to organise yourself. Don’t forget that all of the people that you met – whether socially or musically – will have helped you develop those all-important negotiation skills.