Advice, guides and stories on hiring musicians and planning live music for weddings and events.
Hello! My name is Christine Beamer and I’m a violist, and also the Director of the Running Start program at Michigan State University’s (MSU) College of Music. In my daily life, I talk to bachelors, masters, and doctoral students about their career plans. When I left undergrad at the University…
Encore talks to Houston Symphony Orchestra violist Jarita Ng about the viola, cultural transitioning, and how she got her orchestra job. How old were you started playing viola? My parents started teaching me violin when I was five. When I was seventeen, I volunteered to play viola in a chamber…
Encore talks to La Serenissima principal violist Elitsa Boganova about her recent win with the Consone Quartet at the Royal Overseas League Competition (ROSL). Can you describe the preparation process for the ROSL Competition? I have been playing with the quartet since December but ROSL is the only…
The Philharmonia Yoga Group on tour in Copacabana Beach, Brazil in 2014. The Philharmonia Orchestra Yoga Group began on my 31st birthday, July 27th, 2014. Every summer the orchestra spends a week performing at the Three Choirs Festival, in either Hereford, Gloucester or Worcester. That year we were…
Travelling with your instrument can be quite tricky, so we’ve compiled some insider tips to make it easier and save you some money. Write in to help@encoremusicians.com if you have any further information as we will keep this blog updated. Best way to fly? In my opinion, it’s easyJet.…
The Independent Society of Musicians (ISM) is the UK’s Professional Body for Musicians and the Musicians’ Union (MU) is the UK’s union for musicians. This blog post lays out a few of the differences between the two. Encore does not advise membership in one organisation over the other. The ISM and…
Congratulations! The thousands of hours of practice have paid off and you’re about to play with your favourite ensemble. You have your instrument and your concert clothes and you’ve successfully taken the train to a new city…but wait! How do you find the stage door? The rehearsal starts in ten…
But what, you say? I’ve just done them! I locked myself in a basement with energy bars and coffee for a week straight, wading through tea-stained receipts in a plastic bag (and how did that second bag end up behind the sofa?) and then trying to work out how much of my rent I can […]
What lies beneath someone who can transform a few blocks of wood into a beautifully crafted musical instrument? We spoke to the violin maker (or luthier) William Szott to find out. Becoming a luthier is hardly a ‘conveyor belt career’. What made you want to take up the profession? It was my passion…
We sat down with Edward Hughes, conductor and co-founder of the Godwine Choir to hear about their upcoming Christmas concert and what it takes to build a choir from scratch. Godwine Choir began singing together in April last year. What was it that motivated you to found the group? Godwine came into…
Manchester Universities String Society burst onto the city’s music scene earlier this year with a captivating blend of innovative programming and fierce professionalism that would rival ensembles many years its senior. We caught up with the man behind the MUSS, violist Toby Holden, to learn what it…
We sat down with jazz bassist and composer Misha Mullov-Abbado to chat about his highly acclaimed album New Ansonia and how this ‘unfailingly inventive, artfully produced, and delightfully sunny debut’ (The Telegraph) came to be. New Ansonia by Misha Mullov-Abbado I imagine you’ve been surrounded…
