Seattle Symphony Appoints 17yr old Conductor

A 17 year old has been appointed as an 'assistant' to all the orchestra's performing conductors. What's wrong with this picture? Nothing. Really. To be PC.

http://www.americanorchestras.org/todays_news/index.html

I funded my own conducting 'apprecticeship' with the Halle and BBC Phil (with tremendous thanks to Trevor Green, now in Melbourne) right after college, taking me from a wealthy student (I worked my butt off and earned enough to graduate without any loans and buy a house, too) to penniless (and have barely recovered since!).

A year after I finished my appointment, the BBC Phil then announced a funded 'conducting apprenticeship' where a young conductor would shadow all performing conductors and help them as appropriate/ necessary.

And now the Seattle Symphony announces the latest version of the same program, except this time the young conductor is so young, he's not yet even of college age yet. Wow.

Same happened with my college wind band - I founded the Trinity Students Symphonic Winds (no jokes, please) because there was no such ensemble for wind, brass & percussion players at my college. Although it folded when I left college, it was so popular for the two years I ran it that a full 14 months after I did graduate, there on the college's official new syllabus was a brand new wind band!

I've heard that 'pioneers' and 'trend-setters' rarely benefit (perhaps just commercially) from their innovations because they concentrate so much on their craft that they don't know how to market and legally protect themselves, and earn money at the same time. Well, I guess as I approach the age of 'we-can-take-him-seriously-as-a-conductor-now', I can relate. Of course, there are always exceptions like Philip Dyson and Dean Kamen, but even Howard Shultz (Starbucks) bought an existing coffee company with a great concept but no marketing/legal skills, and look what happened when a businessman took over the innovator's conception! Did you know Bill Gates didn't INVENT the desktop computer OR the operating software known as Windows?

So... as I build an incredible staff of administrative superheroes, who's my markting guru? Are YOU my undiscovered business manager? Anyone can apply - but you must be under college age, willing to work purely on commission, full of mutating hormones and acne, with absolutely no experience at all in the professional music world, love, failure, politics, joy or common sense, please.

At least then I can concentrate just on making music and not on finance, taxes, websites, copyright, contracts, politics, et al. Oh, that's right... I forgot my own motto: There's more to music than music!