Name: Nicholas DeMaison
Websites: www.myspace.com/operacabal, www.southhadleychorale.org
Hometown: Rochester, NY; now resides in New York City
Artistic Disciplines: music composition, conducting
Fractured Atlas Member Since: June 2007
Fractured Atlas Services Used: Development Grant, Fiscal Sponsorship, Event Liability Insurance, Calendar of Events

Both a composer and conductor, Nicholas DeMaison is the founding music director of Opera Cabal, a fledgling experimental opera company bent on the creation and production of new music, new opera and new theater; and the director of the South Hadley Chorale, a 90-voice symphonic choir in South Hadley, Massachusetts.  Recently, he took the time to answer a few of our questions…

Who/what are your biggest influences?

As a composer, the usual suspects, from Perotin to Feldman, Manoury, Scelsi, and Lucier; as a conductor, Boulez, Carl St.Clair, Gustav Meier, and Lucas Vis; as the builder of artistic communities, organizations like the The Walden School, The La Jolla Symphony and the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE).

What has been your greatest success to date?

It seems that “successes” for me always come in unlikely places and forms.

When the South Hadley Chorale decided to hire me, I was pretty stoked  despite the fact that I would be making a 150-mile commute every week from NYC up to central Massachusetts.

And Opera Cabal’s biggest success so far was also, strangely, its biggest disaster.

We typically make use of non-standard performance spaces: private homes, art galleries, old warehouses…whatever.  About a year ago, we organized and booked our second 4-day festival of new opera/music/theater (Delusions : 2007) at the Zhou B. Art Center in Chicago’s Industrial Bridgeport neighborhood.  Artists and musicians were coming from New York, San Diego, Madison, and Buffalo to perform/display their work.  During the performances on the second night, the commissioner of the Chicago Police came to the gallery and shut down the festival, citing the gallery’s lack of a Public Presenter’s License.  Turns out, the gallery had run into this problem before…

(Editor’s note: Read more about the gallery’s closure here.)

We left that night completely defeated, feeling that nearly seven months of planning, preparation etc. had just evaporated.  On Saturday morning, some friends who had heard about our disaster offered to let us use a large performance space in their home.  We scrambled for the next 9 hours, moved our entire setup (sets, lights, sound equipment…everything) across town to Hyde Park, and at 7pm, Phyllis Chen’s Toy Piano Roadshow, the Nonsense Company, and Opera Cabal played to a modest, but very devoted crowd of 25.   It was the most powerfully intimate and magical performance I have ever experienced, and it drastically changed the way we think about our work.

How did you hear about Fractured Atlas and what motivated you to become a member?

I heard about Fractured Atlas from Nathan Davis, a NY-based percussionist, and even though at the time I had no idea how I might use the varied services offered, it seemed more than likely that at some point in the future I would.

How do you use your Fractured Atlas membership?

Event advertising, event insurance, and a professional development grant.   Opera Cabal has applied for fiscal sponsorship, as well.  As soon as I am no longer an “underemployed” musician, I plan to look into the health insurance packages.

How would you finish this sentence: “The artist’s role in society is…”
“…to demonstrate an alternative.”

How can we read more about and experience your organizations’ work?

We haven’t officially started advertising any of these events, but Opera Cabal has two upcoming shows this season:

- My own “Ursularia,” and new pieces by Rick Burkhardt, presented in collaboration with The Nonsense Company; at Chicago’s AVaerie, Dec. 11-13, 2008
- Sciarrino’s “Lohengrin,” in collaboration with The Nonsense Company and UC San Diego; at UCSD’s brand spanking new Prebys Music Center in La Jolla, CA; May 16/17, 2009

And the South Hadley Chorale performs Bruckner’s Mass no. 2 in E Minor on March 15, 2009, in Mount Holyoke’s Abbey Chapel; South Hadley, MA.

To read more about our/my work, you can check out our reviews in Time Out Chicago, and the blogs Telecommuniculturey and Deceptively Simple.

Images:

Top: Nicholas DeMaison

Middle: Ryland Barton, Jonathon Eliot, and Griffin Sharps performing Eliot’s “Lamia.”  Opera Cabal’s Collusions : 2007 Festival, April 2007, Zhou B. Art Center, Chicago.

Bottom: Majel Connery (Artistic Director, Opera Cabal) as St.Ursula, in Nicholas DeMaison’s opera “Ursularia.”  Opera Cabal’s Collusions : 2007 Festival, April 2007, Zhou B. Art Center, Chicago.

“As a photographer, I am actually a small business owner as much as I am an artist.” – Anonymous Survey Respondent

In our quest to better understand the professional development needs of artists, we went beyond the survey/interviews and researched various external sources to find out what artists, arts managers, and industry experts were saying about career and business development in the “new economy.”

As we have all witnessed, the world has been “re-created” by the exponential growth of the web and technology. The Internet has fundamentally changed how we conduct business, socialize, and manage our lives. Rapid advancement and exponential increases in global communication have created an entirely new competitive environment for most industries. Older companies are restructuring to remain competitive and newer companies are emerging to meet the unprecedented demands of the “information age” customer. The cost of producing and distributing products and services has decreased so dramatically in some industries that traditional supply chains have shorten or rerouted through new intermediaries. Artists and arts organizations have not escaped these changes.

Traditionally, artists were tasked with developing their craft, then “auditioning” or “presenting” for an intermediary such as a film studio, theater company, record label or gallery. The intermediary would often invest in the continued development of the artist’s work, prepare it for the marketplace, expose it to an audience and sell it for a profit. The same model persists in the not-for-profit arts sector, except that raw talent is cultivated by organizations that received philanthropic funding or government support. Regardless of whether the middle man is for-profit or not-for-profit, they both operated a supply chain in which artists audition for their “big break.” 

However, the advent of new technology is creating a paradigm shift, a change in the power dynamic. ProTools, Garageband, Finalcut Pro, digital cameras, downloadable content, eCommerce, YouTube, MySpace, Napster, and other social networking sites have allowed artists to cheaply produce, market and distribute their work. They do not have to rely on the resources of the “middle man” to reach their audiences or realize financial returns. In fact, in some ways they are better position in the new economy then the big conglomerate or major institution, because they have little overhead. They don’t have to hit the mass market, they can make money marketing to small niche segments of the global village.  

Some examples of what D.I.Y artists are doing:

• Photographers are finding that the Internet and improved data management programs are making it easier to market directly to their customers, increasing opportunities for self-employment and decreasing reliance on stock photo agencies.
• Musicians are selling downloads over the internet, filming their own low budget videos for YouTube, offering free downloads to spur ticket sells for gigs, manufacturing their own merchandise and creating profit sharing programs so fans will solicit sales from friends.
• Actors are producing their own films/plays, using social networks to bring in audiences, and broadcasting work across the globe via the Internet.
• Writers are self-publishing and growing their fan base via blogging/interactive media.
• Visual Artists are selling their prints through e-gallery spaces and getting more active in mix media that can reach virtual audiences.
• Filmmakers are making a name for themselves via YouTube and creating work for premium content websites.

Another major reason why the traditional career model is changing is that traditional firms and organizations are experiencing budget crunches. Traditional firms have been losing money on the decline of legacy products (i.e. DVD’s and CDs) and the decline in philanthropic funding. This has forced them to be more selective about whom they “hire.” They no longer want raw talent they can mold; they want artists to “audition” with proven profitability. They want the artists to come to the “table” with an audience, as measured by MySpace hits,  downloads, user-generated website testimonials, positive reviews from citizen journalist, Google results, and viral-marketing based fame. 

Although there are still opportunities to succeed using the traditional career development model, artists are increasingly competing on the principals of entrepreneurship. For example, one of the artist consultants (and working artist) we interviewed told us the story of why she started consulting. Early in her career she was struggling to launch a painting career in Northern California by submitting her portfolio to galleries and curators. She was very frustrated with her career’s lack of progress when she read a newspaper article that changed her approach. The article told of a corporate woman who gave up her corporate career in pursuit of an artistic career. With the aid of a business consultant, she created a fully researched business plan that targeted the underserved market of northern Californian wineries.  Within a year she sold $100,000 worth of paintings.

This shift from dependant to independent artist, from employee to entrepreneur, has left a number of artists confused about how to approach their career development. The Internet continues to give rise to revenue streams that turn traditional business models upside down and provide numerous options for artists to market their work. However, they are finding an equal number of obstacles in differentiating their work from peers and attracting the attention of a critical mass of people. All these factors leave artists feeling overwhelmed by (and under trained for) the new DIY environment.

Fractured Atlas aims to use its core competence in technology and its ability to create strong networks to connect artists with experts, resources, services, and information that can help them navigate this new terrain.

There’s an interesting new blog on the NY Times website called Measure for Measure:

With music now available with a single, offhand click, it’s easy to forget that songs are not born whole, polished and ready to play. They are created by artists who draw on some combination of craft, skill and inspiration. In the coming weeks, the contributors to this blog — all accomplished songwriters — will pull back the curtain on the creative process as they write about their work on a songs in the making.

The authors include Andrew Bird, Darrell Brown, Rosanne Cash, and Suzanne Vega.

What I like about this kind of “creative process” stuff - aside from its inherent interestingness - is that it helps to dispel some of our naive romanticism about art and art-making. Whether you’re a novelist, an actor, or a rock star, making art that’s half-way decent takes lots and lots of hard word and dedication. Getting a glimpse into how others approach that work and impose discipline on their own process can be more inspiring than any fantasy of intuitive creative genius.

If you haven’t heard about this yet, I encourage you to check it out. In moby’s own words:

you can listen to the available music and download whatever you want to use in your film or video or short. the music is free as long as it’s being used in a non-commercial or non-profit film, video, or short.

Check out mobygratis to get the full details.

This post was brought to you by Amy Wrzesniewski, the coolest Board Chair that a nonprofit arts org. could ever wish for…

Sorry you haven’t heard from me lately! Beyond a bit of travel I did (which I’ll talk about in a separate post), we had some technical changes that prevented me from posting until now. Enjoy this week’s member profile!

Name: Terese Genecco
Website: www.teresegenecco.com
Hometown: Oakland, CA
Artistic Discipline: Music
Fractured Atlas Member Since: April 2006
Fractured Atlas Services Used: Calendar of Events, News Releases, Audience Development

Today, we’re featuring Terese Genecco, a vocalist, musician, band leader, and nightclub entertainer who fronts an eight-piece “little big band.” The band has been performing in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles for the past two and a half years in two, multi-award-winning shows called “Drunk With Love: A Tribute To Frances Faye!” and “Drunk With Love: The Sequel!” Genecco has become known as “Cabaret’s Class Four Hurricane” for her high-energy performances and the raucous, party atmosphere she creates during her shows. Terese found Fractured Atlas through its Open Arts Network partner, Theatre Bay Area, which she is also a member of.

Genecco says that she uses her Fractured Atlas membership “to read about what other artists and arts organizations are working on and presenting. It’s good to stay informed about issues having an impact on other art forms, not just the music business. I am interested in the healthcare issue and have read about the ongoing efforts to provide coverage to individual artists. Fractured Atlas is a great way to keep current with a global community of artists and projects. Reading about what other members are creating is stimulating and informative.” Thanks for the shout-out, Terese!

We asked Terese a few questions about her work….

What/who are your biggest influences?
“I am most heavily influenced by Frances Faye, a nightclub entertainer who was known as the ‘Queen of the Supper Clubs’ in New York during the 1930’s and 1940’s, and went on to have a very successful recording career,” says Genecco. “She was known as a ’singer’s singer’ and was the favorite of Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Mitzi Gaynor, Buddy Hackett, Sammy Davis Jr, and all the great entertainers of the mid-20th Century. Faye was funny and irreverent, smart and sassy, an amazing jazz musician, a master at handling a band and an audience, brave, courageous, and openly gay in the 1950’s!” Genecco’s other influences are many, including: Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Barbara Cook, Bette Midler, Billy Joel, Elton John, Melissa Etheridge, k.d. lang, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Louis Prima and Keely Smith, Wesla Whitfield, Russ Garcia, Jack Costanzo, Anita O’Day, and Chris Connor, among others.

What have been your greatest successes to date?
Genecco states that, “Artistically and musically, a pinnacle reached so far was a spontaneous standing ovation we received at a packed nightclub in New York (The Metropolitan Room) after one of our performances of the song ‘Frankie And Johnny.’ It was about 40 minutes into the show and we had whipped everyone up into a frenzy. It literally stopped the show. It’s a difficult arrangement for the band to perform live, without a conductor, and I’m pretty busy telling the story and singing, so it’s got to be a very concentrated effort by every one of us to pull it off. When we do, it’s quite a magical and transformative experience for everyone, musician and audience alike.” Genecco also says that she’s excited about winning a Backstage Bistro Award last year, being named to Time Out New York Magazine’s Top Ten Best list two years in a row, and being asked to sing twice at Rose Hall at Jazz At Lincoln Center in the Mabel Mercer Foundation’s annual Cabaret Convention. She definitely has a lot to be proud of!

Finish this sentence: The artist’s role in society is….
“…. to stimulate, educate, articulate, provoke thought and emotion, create beauty, reflect reality, challenge the status quo, and, in my particular case, ENTERTAIN!”

How can we see, experience, or learn more about your work?
Genecco and her “little big band” perform in an open-ended run most Saturday nights in San Francisco at The Rrazz Room, inside the Hotel Nikko. They will be in New York BB King’s Blues Club on May 6, where they will be performing at the Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs (MAC) Awards show. And, of course, Genecco has a plethora of websites you can visit! First and foremost, there’s www.teresegenecco.com and www.myspace.com/teresegenecco. Her electronic press kit can be found at www.sonicbids.com/TereseGenecco and, most importantly, you can purchase her CD at www.cdbaby.com/cd/teresegenecco, on iTunes, and other online digital distributors.

Hey there Fractured Atlas fans! Sorry this is coming a bit late this week. I just returned from a great conference in Los Angeles hosted by our good friends, the LA Stage Alliance. While there, I was able to spend time with my colleagues at the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, one of Fractured Atlas’ Open Arts Network partners. As such, I wanted to let you all know about two great events they have coming up…. The first is their Designer & Stage Manager Showcase on 4/25. The second is their Charting the Course conference for the advancement of arts education, artists, and arts organizations on 4/21. You should definitely check them out if you’re in the area on those dates.

And here’s our member profile for the week…. Enjoy!

Name: Salli Squitieri & Gabriel Butterfield, Paul Butterfield Fund & Society
Website: www.myspace.com/pbfs or on YouTube or on Tribeca.net
Hometown: Key West, FL
Artistic Discipline: Music
Fractured Atlas Member Since: January 2004
Fractured Atlas Services Used: Fiscal Sponsorship, Healthcare

Today, we’re featuring Salli Squitieri and Gabriel Butterfield, the heads of the Paul Butterfield Fund & Society, an organization dedicated to the preservation of the legacy of Blues musician Paul Butterfield and the rich traditions of the Blues style of music. PBFS also strives to assist struggling artists, specifically those who are dedicated to serving underprivileged and at-risk youth, with emergency relief, project support, and cultural enrichment.

We asked Salli and Gabriel a few questions about their organization and its work….

What/who are your biggest influences?
“This is a tough question as there are so many people who influence us through their compassion and individual efforts to help their fellow human beings. We have seen people go through their own personal encounters and adversities and, despite it all, they step forward to offer a lending hand and support many genres of art. But, having received a personal phone call from Patch Adams, taking a moment from his time and projects to simply call and say he cared…. To hear everything that he has gone through and yet [he] never loses sight or course of his goals…. [He] has been a big influence…. He has stepped off the conventional path to forge forward with a cause that he truly believes in…. combining art, health awareness, and love as a healing force.”

Salli states that Jim Richards, a drummer who has personal significance in her family’s life, was also a strong influence. “[He] always saw the good in people…. By focusing on that good, [he] brought out the best in them, not only on a personal level, but on a creative level as well.”

Finally, Salli cites her own father, Salvatore Squitieri, “who never went anywhere empty-handed,” and Gabriel’s father/the organization’s namesake, Paul Butterfield, as major influences. “[Paul Butterfield] has impacted so many people in so many different ways and on a global basis. Although he has passed, 20-plus years later, Paul Butterfield is still impacting people. He was a bridging force in one of the first integrated bands, stepping outside of the confines of genre-slotting to merge many unique styles of music.” Salli states that many well-known musicians are where they are today as a result of Paul’s actions as an artist and musician.

What have been your greatest successes to date?
“Our greatest success to date has been the development of our PBFS Special Care Packages for Struggling Artists — our small way of saying that we care,” Salli states. The project was designed in 2004 to assist artists with fundamental needs and special gift items to raise their spirits in times of hardship. “It lets struggling artists know that someone does care and does understand, and what the rest of the world is enjoying is not unreachable to them. We all deserve the best from time to time and it feels good to bring a smile and a moment of hope to someone who is in time of hardship.”

Another PBFS success was their recent 2007 PBFS Gathering & Blues Jam, which brought together musicians, heads of Blues societies, and heads of various industry-related organizations, who created a unified team effort to network and assist one another with similar projects and endeavors. “But,” Salli remarks, “the single moment that made all the work worthwhile was presenting legendary Bluesman Sam Lay with a PBFS Award of Recognition and seeing him touched to the heart as he was moved to tears with joy and pride.” The Gathering also brought two 14-year-old Blues musicians to Clarksdale, Mississippi, where they had the chance to play with Blues legends, taking a journey into the yesteryears of Blues history.

Finish this sentence: Art is important because….
“…. it colors our world so brightly, is a conduit and a bridge, that breaks the barriers of spoken language, finding a common ground and unspoken language that people of all walks of life (who might not otherwise be in one place at one time) can merge, enjoy and learn from each other. It touches the mind, heart, and spirit, it evokes emotion and ripples through time, leaving its impact not only on the world, but on our souls.”

How can we see, experience, or learn more about your work?
Check out the PBFS sites listed above, on YouTube, MySpace, and Tribeca.net!

Our good friends at NYC Performing Arts Spaces have put out a much needed new study entitled Where Can We Work? about the challenge the city’s musicians face in finding affordable space to rehearse, record, and perform. As James Barron wrote in this morning’s NY Times:

Steadily rising real estate prices are taking a toll on all but the best-financed music groups and institutions…. In other cities, some groups in the hunt for affordable rehearsal space might begin as “garage bands.” But few people in New York City have their own garages, and musicians say that finding an affordable place to practice is as much of a challenge for performers who make a living in music as it is for part-timers and amateurs.

For as long as I’ve been in this industry, the theatre, dance, and visual art communities have been screaming out in desperation about the dearth of affordable, appropriate space. But this is the first time I’ve seen anyone shine a light specifically on the space needs of musicians, and it’s a welcome development.

You can download the full report here.

Of all the artists featured at last year’s Benefit, few are as well-traveled as violinist, composer, and Fractured Atlas member William J. Harvey. Over the past two years his project Music for the People has ventured to Zimbabwe, Moldova, the Philippines, and Tunisia to present concerts, classes and workshops to underprivileged populations. He considers his music a form of cultural diplomacy.

“Cultural diplomacy is distinct from the diplomacy of states in that it doesn’t involve policies or negotiations,” says William. “Music makes an ideal medium for cultural exchange. Its universality partly stems from its political neutrality.”

William’s decision to follow this path was made after the attacks of September 11th. Shortly afterward he performed for members of the Fighting Sixty-Ninth regiment as they returned from a long day of rescue and clean-up work at Ground Zero. The experience instilled in him a desire to use the power of music to offer comfort and to bridge the barriers between cultures.

His travels have taken him to countries that are severely afflicted by poverty and disease. Most recently, he traveled to Zimbabwe to teach composition workshops to orphans affected by AIDS. “Other charities address the needs of the body,” he says. “What about the needs of the soul? There is a tendency to view people in third world countries as the sum of their most desperate needs. A kid who is hungry and orphaned because of AIDS is still a kid.”

William recently received the McGraw-Hill Companies’ Robert Sherman Award for Music Education and Community Outreach in recognition of his work with Music for the People. In 2007, he hopes to return to Tunisia, the Philippines, and Zimbabwe. He will perform select solo violin pieces at the Fractured Atlas 2006 Benefit.

You can find more information on Music for the People at www.musicforthepeople.org.