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From One Performer to Another: Michelle Wood

Tinalley String Quartet’s cellist delivers her top tips for a successful “portfolio” career  A few years ago I was asked to be involved in a Q&A style session with a group of young musicians in Melbourne who were about 10-years younger than myself. I was asked to open up about my life in music – specifically, how it was I came to have (and I quote) “my enviable portfolio career.” I found myself asking the obvious question – what exactly does portfolio mean? It seemed to imply that I had my life neatly packaged into a small suitcase, and as a cellist, I can assure you, that is never possible!  This model of professional multi-tasking has become a familiar career path for many classical musicians. For me, it’s a combination of orchestral work with the Melbourne Symphony, chamber music with Tinalley String Quartet, wonderful (but sometimes draining) peripatetic teaching and coaching, and any freelance performing that comes my way. Frankly, I think ‘musical mongrel’ would have been a more apt description of my career, as it’s hard to feel like a pedigree pooch with so many different things competing for attention.  Fortunately, I like it that way. As I described to…

February 24, 2016