12. The 21st Century Musician, with 9 Horses (Joe Brent, Sara Caswell, Andrew Ryan)

When improvisational chamber group/band/ensemble 9 Horses came to the Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music (where I work) as a guest ensemble-in-residence, I knew I had to get them on my podcast.

Joe Brent, Sara Caswell, and Andrew Ryan are living the realities of being professional musicians—or as we continue to say in 2019, “musicians of the 21st century.” (When will that century distinction end, btw?) The members of the trio collectively have experiences under their belts like working with Regina Spektor and Esperanza Spalding, composing music across multiple genres, and oh yeah, violinist Sara Caswell’s 2018 GRAMMY nomination for Best Improvised Jazz Solo.

This conversation took place crammed in a tiny basement recording studio, streaming Live on Facebook, and it definitely touched a lot of bases. To be honest, sometimes we slid into the bases, knees in the dirt and dust kicked up everywhere. It was productive, fun, and enlightening.

Here’s some of what we talked about:

What curriculum they'd include if they built a Conservatory of Music from scratch

How they feel about social media & marketing (fair warning, it's a heated discussion...)

How music is becoming "genreless," and

Whether there actually is enough time to practice.

I want to make sure I take a moment to thank a few people who made this conversation possible at Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music, especially dean Susan Van Vorst, Erika Haskell, and Bill Hartzell, as well as Scott and Julie Mawaka, whose generous support allowed for 9 Horses to visit with our students and help them create an educational, life-affirming experience. Thank you!

Show notes are available here: http://www.megan-kuhar.com/blog/the-21st-century-musician-with-9-horses