By: Marisa N Benson
© 2010
What is Professional
Development?
 Professional development is a journey to enrich one’s
skills, talent and capabilities to further excel in one’s
career goals.
 It can include academic and career-oriented education
and experiences, it can be formal or informal and
group based or individualized.
Why is it important?
 Focuses on human development vs. product development
 Provides opportunity to create work and build new
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partnerships with colleagues and communities
Increases quality and level of performance– musicians and
music managers not only become engaged but learn new
skills to become future leaders and advocates
Improves accessibility to resources
Keeps one up-to-date on new trends and developments
Provides forums for discussion on best practices and
challenges
What are the Benefits?
For the Musician:
For the Music Manager:
 Empowerment to create work
 Create consulting work
 Gain financial and other
 Discuss best practices and
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resources, i.e. training, living
space, etc.
Expand and finely tune your
technique
Collaborate with fellow artists
Reach new audiences and
enhance their experience
Networking
challenges
 Learn the techniques and
nuances of organizational
management\Increase your
network and access to
resources
 Build your reputation
Types of Professional
Development:
 Residencies
 Fellowships
 Master Classes
 Internships
 Workshops
 Conferences
 Mentorships
 Other Resources
Residencies
 Offer living space and may offer stipend
 Take place in organizations, schools and community
spaces, and usually last from 3-6 months
 Provide opportunities to:
 Create new work, produce songs
 Create site-specific work
 Present and share work produced with other arts
organizations and communities
 Collaborative music making
 Build Sustainable relations with institution and
community
 Engage with media and broadcasters
Master Classes
 Train-the-trainer classes taught by experts in the field,
usually are for small number of participants
 Through master classes you can:
 Become inspired
 Learn technique and interpretation from an expert,
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hands-on
Ask technical questions
Receive feedback from your peers
Produce collaborative work
Apply what you learn in your community
Workshops
 Hands-on experiences, at times open to the public
 Complementary to performances or master classes
 Provide opportunities to:
 Experiment with a range of possibilities to produce
critical and challenging creative work
 Collaborate with peers, engage in an exchange of ideas
and techniques, perform one another’s work
 Explore social issues through your art form
 Enhance your audience development strategy
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Use community engagement to reach new audiences, and
increasing accessibility
Mentorships
 Can have up-down, down-up, or lateral structure
 Last from a few weeks to a lifetime
 Offers participants one-on-one support
 Present Opportunity for:
 Collaborative work to be produced
 Your own work to be critiqued
 Through the mentor-mentee relationship:
 You can gain access to key contacts in your field
 Advice becomes accessible
Internships
 Usually, range in duration from four weeks to one year
 Provide the opportunity to:
 Enhance your skills and experience
 Be exposed to the culture of the work environment
 Be engaged in work responsibilities
 To learn about challenges and best practices
 To make key contacts, and build sustainable relations
with colleagues in your field
 Serve as a possible transition into a career
Fellowships
 Usually one year in duration
 An opportunity to work on specific projects, or create
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your own project
Enhances your resume
Provides you with more extensive work responsibilities
May connect you with a network of alumni, and key
contacts
Some fellowship programs also provide classes or oneon-one sessions that can enhance your technical
knowledge and expertise
Conferences and Forums
 An event symposium that provides a place to:
 Discuss best practices, and challenges
 Learn about new trends and developments
 Share information about program experience and upcoming
initiatives
 Network with your colleagues from diverse areas
 Usually features:
 A key-note address
 Panel Sessions and Presentations
 Artist Showcases
 Round-table discussions
 Workshops
 Seminars
What level are you in your
career at this time?
 Are you an emerging, mid-career, or senior level
professional?
 For professional development to be effective you
should create goals and objectives and track your
progress
 If you are an emerging leader, what goals do you plan to
achieve in five to ten years?
 If you are a mid-career professional, what goals do you
plan to achieve to rejuvenate your work?
 If you are a senior-level executive, what steps are you
going to take to make your impact legendary?
Professional Development Strategy
for Emerging Leaders
 Create an online network of engagement
 Participate in master classes and workshops
 Get a mentor
 Complete internships and fellowships
 Create a key collaborative project
 Participate in a residency program
 Participate in an international visitor program
Model Opportunities for Emerging
Leaders
 Cultural Visitor Program
 Atelier Program
 Emerging Leaders in the Arts Network
Cultural Visitor Program
 In the U.S. a two-three week program of
professional development in which
performance artists
 Participate in workshops, master classes
 Present performances, and share
presentations
 Network with your counterparts to build
sustainable partnerships
Cultural Visitor Program Video
This is a video of the Cultural Visitor program for hip-hop break-dancers.
The program is administered by the Kennedy Center in partnership
with the U.S. Department of State.
Atelier – Residency Program
 Collaborate with artists in genres or artistic disciplines
other than your own
 Professional artists in residency for intensive
collaborative work with students and faculty
 Provides students with the opportunity to work on
creative projects alongside important emerging artists
and renowned masters
Emerging Leaders in the Arts Network
 A list-serve for young professionals in the arts
 An announcement of opportunities that include:
 Training opportunities: workshops and master classes
 Networking opportunities: Discussion forums and
receptions
 Job opportunities in the field
Professional Development Strategies
for Mid-Career Professionals
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Teach a master class
Lead a workshop
Supervise interns and fellows
Become a key advocate for music issues
Host international visitors
Create collaborative work with artists from other
genres/ disciplines
 Join a consortium
 Present at conferences and forums
Key Opportunities for
Mid-Career Professionals
 Cultural Envoy Program
 Global Encounters
 International Fellowships
 Join a consortium:
 International Music Managers Forum
 International Federation of Musicians
Cultural Envoy Program
 Usually, two-six weeks
 A train-the-trainer program
 Focuses on addressing issues through art forms
 Can include master classes, workshops, performances,
the production of new work, the creation of
institutions (i.e. recording studios), curriculum
development, and other types of outreach
programming
Global Encounters Program
 Usually six months to a year
 Focus on sharing world music traditions
 An exchange between communities, it includes:
 Mid-career musicians traveling to the partner country as part of the
exchange, during which they:
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Present Master Classes for Teachers
Lead workshops in high schools
Work on curriculum development, specifically incorporating music
studies and world cultural traditions into the social sciences
Engage the students in a simultaneous distance learning concert that
includes a Q&A component
 Global Encounters program website on U.S. – Mali Exchange
http://www.carnegiehall.org/article/sound_insights/Mali/art_in
tro_mali.html#
International Fellowships
 Range from three weeks to one year.
 Offer opportunities to:
 Create your own project and see it through to fruition
 Participate in a shadow experience, during which you can
experience a similar position to your own and see the unique
challenges one faces in a different work environment and gain
insight on different resources available
 Attend key meetings for networking and receive one-to-one
feedback on challenging situations
 Build sustainable partnerships that can increase your access
to resources
Professional Development Strategy for
Senior Executives/ Renowned Artists
 Institute professional development opportunities
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across your organization/ community
Contribute to the design of government policy related
to music
Become a key fundraiser
Mentor an emerging leader
Participate in executive-level seminars
Create a program model of excellence
Write a chronicle of your experience
Specific Ideas for
Senior Executives/ Renowned Artists
 Executive Seminars
 Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative
 Arts Management Books by Senior Executives
Executive Seminars
 Learn ways to improve strategic planning
 Discuss best practices for:
 Leadership Retainment
 Board Management
 Effective Fundraising
 Creative Marketing (Institutional and Programmatic)
 Advocacy/ Policy Development
 Network with your colleagues, gain access to resources,
create ideas for joint ventures
Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts
Initiative
 One year of one-on-one mentorship
 Renowned masters work directly with emerging artists
 Aim: to build an artistic relationship
 Access to see the master at work
 Possibilility to create collaborative work
 Opportunity to receive a critique of one’s work
Arts Management Books by
Senior Executives
 The Art of Turnaround by Michael Kaiser, President of
the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
 Yours for the Asking by Reynold Levy, President,
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
 Arts, Inc. by Bill Ivey, Former Chairman of the
National Endowment of the Arts
New Trends in Professional
Development:
International
Digital
International
 Visitors Programs
 Hosting Programs
 Conferences
 Collaborations
 Touring and Community Engagement
Digital
 Webinars/ Video Conferencing
 Online program curriculum resources
(http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/)
 Social Networking Platforms
 List-serves, Meet-ups
 Online master classes
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/blast/music_audio/how_tos)
You are a Catalyst!
Use each professional
development opportunity to:
 Create new work! –or- Reinvent the classics!
 Reach out and impact your community!
 Collaborate with fellow artists and your audience!
 Create professional development opportunities in your
community!
 Build your network!
 Advocate!
For Further Information:
 Review the List of Selected Professional Development
Opportunities for Musicians and Music Managers by
Country
 Contact me anytime!
Marisa N. Benson, Arts Consultant
winter0100@yahoo.com