Just one out of ten composers in the U.S. can pay their bills through their music alone. That's one of the findings in "Taking Note," a survey conducted by the American Music Center. The study also looks at incomes, ethnic and gender make-up, and how composers use new technologies. AMC CEO Joanne Hubbard Cossa joins us to explain the results. Also: singer-songwriter Clare Burson talks about a multimedia song cycle about her grandmother, a German Jew who at 19 escaped Nazi Germany in 1938.
Want to be a Composer? Better have a Rich Uncle
The American Music Center has just released "Taking Note," a comprehensive survey of the American composer population. They look at incomes (median: $45,000), what percentage earn money from their music, ethnic and gender make-up (85% white and 79% male), and how many use new technologies, among other areas. AMC CEO ...
An Historic Thelonius Monk concert, 50 years on
It was fifty years ago this week that Thelonious Monk performed for the first time in a big stage in uptown Manhattan. The jazz pianist's show at Town Hall with nine other stellar players changed jazz history, as WNYC’s Sara Fishko reports.
Clare Burson
Clare Burson was only 8 years old when she became fascinated with the story of her grandmother, a German Jew who at 19 escaped Nazi Germany on the eve of Kristallnacht. Now the Tennesee native has created a song-cycle and collaborative artist book imagining her grandmother's life and immigration. She ...
the (changing?) face of American composers
The American Music Center's survey of composers is a typical good news/bad news affair. Most composers described themselves as working more now than ever before, yet the average income is only $45,000 - which might not be too bad in lots of places, but for the composers concentrated in ...
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