‘The Savvy Musician’ to be in residence at UCA

CONWAY — David Cutler, author of the 2010 book The

Savvy Musician, will visit the University of Central Arkansas in Conway as an artist in residence today through Tuesday.

Cutler is director of music entrepreneurship at the University of South Carolina, where he also teaches. According to his biography at savvymusician.

com, Cutler is a classical and jazz composer, pianist, educator, author and speaker.

According to the website, “In all these pursuits, he works to push boundaries while connecting with new audiences.”

Stefanie Dickinson, UCA assistant professor of music theory and faculty sponsor, said the residency will be unique.

“He will be sharing strategies for managing the business side of a career (marketing, branding, advertising), but also for cultivating audiences and advocating for oneself and others,” Dickinson said. “He realizes that the arts scene is changing and offers visionary ideas about adapting in order to maintain one’s viability.”

She said residency events will target arts students, faculty and arts-minded community members.

“Although his focus is on music, his strategies and ideas are relevant for all the arts,” she said. “His visit this semester is timely with news of possible defunding of [the National Endowment for the Arts] and ever-increasing loss of funding for the arts in general.”

Dickinson met Cutler at the 2013 International College Music Society conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

“David participated as a performer, but his reputation as an arts-entrepreneur guru preceded him,” she said. “Traditionally, academic music programs focus on teaching students to be better performers, scholars and educators. Unfortunately, there is not enough time to teach them practical aspects of supporting oneself as a performer or independent educator. David’s work addresses the business side of these careers, but he goes beyond this to address arts advocacy and making a difference through the arts.”

Cutler, one of the world’s leading voices on arts career and entrepreneurship training, has offered groundbreaking seminars for organizations such as the Julliard School, the Dutch Classical Music Meeting, the New World Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Music America. In 2013, he founded The SAVVY Arts Venture Challenge, an experiential workshop that trains participants to innovate, collaborate and build arts businesses from the ground up. In June 2016, he directed a College Music Society Summit focused on the future of 21st-century college music schools. “His first book, The Savvy

Musician, offers practical advice and creative ideas on crafting a career in the arts,” Dickinson said. “More than 100 small vignettes of success stories in all areas of music are scattered throughout the book, making for a very inspiring read.”

Dickinson said the book “gives young artists optimism for an uncertain future.” “His new book, The Savvy

Music Teacher, covers how to make a living as an independent teacher and how to make an impact in the arts,” she said. “David is very personable and approachable. I know our students will feel comfortable interacting with him. He is a true visionary.”

Residency activities, all free and open to the public, include the following:

• Today, 7:30 p.m. — Public concert featuring compositions by Cutler performed by UCA music faculty in the Snow Fine Arts Center Recital Hall. The concert will include a conversation on creating innovative experiences and opportunities in music.

• Monday, 7 p.m. — Community presentation: Doing the Wrong Thing and How It Can Lead to Success in the Arts, with a Q&A and reception, UCA Downtown, 1105 W. Oak St., Conway.

• Tuesday, 10:50 a.m. — Public presentation: How Music Education Can Change the World (and Why it Often Doesn’t), the Snow Fine Arts Center Recital Hall.

• Tuesday, 1:40 p.m. — Public presentation: A Life in the Arts: Nine BIG Ideas on Career and Financial Success, the Snow Fine Arts Center Recital Hall.

For more information, contact Dickinson at (501) 8522669 or sdickins@uca.edu.