Sustaining a career in music by pursuing multiple paths, usually performing and teaching, is neither new nor unusual. In this article, I consider another option--the musician-writer--to demonstrate how the process used to create in one's primary field or career path may be transferrable to the pursuit of new endeavors. Analyzing and comparing the…

Over the decades, digital technology, social media, online streaming and subscription has changed the global music industry. Music nowadays can be created, produced, disseminated, exhibited and consumed online via the Internet. Taiwan Ministry of Culture has made a lot of efforts by launching subsidy program since 2007, holding music awards such…

This research study aims to illuminate Canadian musicians' portfolio careers across the cultural domains. Previous research has highlighted the career paths of music graduates directly after graduation, and other research has highlighted the experiences of well-known performers or pedagogues. However, little is known about music graduates who…

Making sense of musicians' professional learning pathways is of crucial importance to understanding their career progressions, their routes into creative employment, and the relevance of various policies to their professional lives. However, this is a far cry from understanding how critical reflection catalyzes diverse learning routes, especially…

This article explores the life histories of virtuoso classical music soloists with particular reference to conservatoire provision. Detailed life-history interviews were conducted with six virtuosi between May 2018 and January 2019. These participants were three singers, two cellists and a concert pianist. Resultant qualitative data were stored in…

This exploratory study reports findings from an "arts-based service-learning" (ABSL) programme where student musicians facilitated "therapeutic community music" (TCM) (Aigen, 2012) for, with, and alongside children and seniors in different community settings. The data primarily comprised student musicians' reflective logs and…

This essay explores the role that maverick qualities--"independent or unorthodox behaviour" ("The Oxford Dictionary," 2015)--play in developing and sustaining musician employability. Whilst career education for musicians often highlights new career models (Bridgstock, 2005), there is limited evidence of how these concepts work…

This paper discusses the concept of "knowledge transfer" in terms of expansion of prior knowledge, creativity and approaches to generating new knowledge. It explores professional transitions in which knowledge restructuring and identity reformation are pathways into greater work flexibility and adjustment. Two studies, exploring…

The classical music academy is a site dominated by traditional meanings of creative practice and an image of the professional creative career as solo performer that is fully available to only a very few students after graduating. The purpose of the study reported in this paper is to explore career-young professional pianists' talk about the…

What does it take to become a successful performer of Western classical music in the United States today? What factors, beyond technical proficiency and musicality, come into play? We started exploring these questions in a study of gatekeepers' (e.g., critics, artistic directors) views on key variables that contribute to the career trajectories of…