Blair Tindall has an article in today’s Los Angeles Times about musicians who excel in more than one career. Of interest to me was the appearance of a friend of mine, former OSO principal cellist Margo Tatgenhorst Drakos, who now is Chief Operating Officer of InstantEncore.com, an online source for concert listings, downloads, and streaming audio.
Blasting through stereotypical images of the starving artist, these top studio, symphonic and theater musicians explore multiple passions without compromising their musical integrity. In doing so, they also hedge their bets against the economic downturn that is eroding arts budgets and threatening employment.
“Dual careers are almost always a bonus — both for the income and for the variety and exposure to contrasting environments,” says Barbara Sher, author of the 2006 book “Refuse to Choose: A Revolutionary Program for Doing Everything That You Love.” “And the second job might allow them to use sides of their natures that aren’t expressed as musicians.”
… Manhattan Beach cellist Margo Tatgenhorst Drakos could be a poster child for Sher’s book. A former member of the American String Quartet, Drakos has taught at the Manhattan School of Music, summered at Vermont’s prestigious Marlboro Music Festival and worked as associate principal cellist with the Pittsburgh Symphony.
You’d think that any performer would be content with such a résumé. But in 2008, Drakos also earned a master’s in human rights from Columbia University’s School of International Affairs, and today she works as chief operating officer for instantencore.com, an online service in San Diego linking audiences, performers and music schools, while continuing her performing career.
I couldn’t agree more, and though I don’t have a second career (at least not a paid one), I find that embracing hobbies or avocations that steer away from one’s primary occupation provides an outlet for whatever isn’t being fulfilled in your daily gig, while also providing a theraputic effect in distracting the mind from the pressures and irritants of the daily grind.