In this course, I teach the practical aspects of producing your own performance project that they never taught you in music school.
What we cover:
Over the course of 8 weeks, we meet twice a week, alternating 60-minute trainings and 90-minute group coaching calls or guest interviews with leaders in the new music industry.
- How to articulate and refine the foundational details of your project (the who, what, when, why, and how of it all)
- Audience building techniques
- Budgeting tools and tricks
- Marketing dos and don’ts
- How to find the right performance platform for your project – especially in a pandemic
- Fundraising 101
All events take place on Zoom and are recorded. Every training comes with worksheets to give you some practice in a sandbox environment, building that confidence you need as you move forward with your project in the real world.
“[My student] was over the moon after her conversation with you. You made a BIG difference in her thinking and she came away so inspired by everything. I can’t thank you enough.”
Ryan Muncy, Music Entrepreneurship Professor at Mannes School of Music
“One conversation with Maren revealed more about how I was holding myself back than weeks of brainstorming on my own. She invites you to see the world as she does — with optimism, curiosity, and positive energy.”
Christopher Still, Los Angeles Philharmonic
I’m Maren Montalbano, GRAMMY® Award winning mezzo-soprano, career coach, and active producer, curator, commissioner, and performer of new music.
My career now includes international tours of commissioned world premieres, collaborating with and recording works by Pulitzer Prize winning composers, writing and producing a one-woman show exploring sexuality and gender power dynamics… but it wasn’t always that way.
In music school I was taught there was ONE path to success – the elusive Young Artist Program (YAP). But apprenticeships and YAPs were not only a limited path – they were expensive!
I had bills to pay, but was determined to make a living singing… so I carved out my own path by taking many different gigs, finding which ones fit, and networking.
My peers went on to get their graduate and post-graduate degrees, and I went to the School of Hard Knocks.
While it was grueling, my path opened me up to a world of possibilities more aligned with my values, more suited to my lifestyle, and more conducive to making an exciting, relevant, and profitable career in singing.
And what I discovered was the more I leaned into my own artistic vision through my own performance projects, the more work and attention I started to get.
This is what I want for you too. By using my techniques, you’ll have a secret weapon in your back pocket… an array of tools that will make you more hireable, fulfill you artistically, and allow you to show up as the leader you truly are.
“Maren is a world-class singer and innovator. As a coach, she has the unique ability to leverage her own artistic successes into a pathway for others to enhance their own creativity.”
Jennifer Rosenfeld, composer and musician’s coach
“Maren takes tremendous care in teaching and guiding me from wherever I may come from, on any given day. Our time together is always constructive, dynamic, and most-fulfilling.”
Lourdes Starr Demers, Curtis Institute of Music