Re: Re: Success: Talent or hard work?

[Elizabeth Volpé Bligh]

Sounds like a great read! I always wondered about the “game” of classical music; why some artists get all the grants, the prizes, the reviews, etc., while similarly-gifted artists get totally ignored. I am convinced that there are many back-room deals going on between managers and agents. And then there’s the issue of the same music being played over and over again on radio stations, while you never hear some great “indie” bands. In Canada, at least we have the CBC, which has special programming for local artists, such a “West Coast Performance”, but they don’t broadcast it over the whole country! The future for musicians seems to be in getting their stuff onto the Internet and promoting it that way, bypassing the record companies and agents entirely. Still, don’t give up on performing arts organizations; we need all the help we can get! The VSO has a new “Horizons” series which spotlights seldom-heard music, we are commissioning a lot of new Canadian composers, and we are getting more and more new, up-and-coming soloists.