The University of Miami’s Frost School of Music has joined with Universal Music Classics, the record label, to form a partnership called Universal Music U @ Frost, designed to help young professional musicians “build and meaningfully engage with broad-based audiences” in the classical music field. The initiative was announced by Elizabeth Sobol, Universal Music Classics’ president and CEO, and Shelly Berg, dean of the Frost School. Frost faculty and students will work with executives and artists from Universal Music Classics to create “externships,” develop new concert and recording models, create new marketing approaches, and develop new audience and social media strategies. The partners will co-develop a master’s performance degree program focusing on entrepreneurship, concert programming, stage presence, long-term career development and business management, with some courses available online. “The future of great music hinges upon the futures of the performing musicians and composers who create it. Our partnership focuses on them, and on giving tomorrow’s artists the tools to expand opportunity,” said Berg. Sobol said, “It is no longer possible to operate within the old paradigms. We must take responsibility as change agents in the field, re-imagining and transforming our business to ensure a creative and vibrant future.”
Posted March 4, 2014
