TEM254: Monica Ellis of Imani Winds

TEM254

Monica Ellis has been the bassoon player for Imani Winds since founding it 25 years ago and is a creative force in the musical world.

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TEM254: Monica Ellis of Imani Winds

Monica Ellis has been the bassoon player for Imani Winds since founding it 25 years ago and is a creative force in the musical world.

On Today's Episode of The Entrepreneurial Musician:

• The past collaborations between Imani Winds and Boston Brass and how special it was to combine so many seasoned chamber musicians

• The importance of bringing a point of view when making music

• The people, the mission and the “badassery” that have enabled Imani Winds to survive and thrive for 25 years when so many other groups don’t make it a fraction of that time

• How a group having a strong foundation and premise helps things to always be moving forward when adversity arises

• How each time Imani Winds has brought on a new member they have brought their own authentic selves to the group (and why they always look for strong personalities)

• Why the backstage relationship is what brings the magic to the stage in a chamber ensemble

• The enormous amount of opportunities presented to Monica and Imani Winds and how they decide when to say no

• How Monica is able to be so present in her family’s life while also being so involved with Imani Winds (note this is NOT the how can you be a mother and have a career question!)

• Why “turning the switch off” is important as a musical entrepreneur since there is always something else still to do

• How the mission of Imani Winds has evolved over time (and how their mission started by knowing what they didn’t want to do)

• The musical storytelling that Imani Winds has done over the last 25 years

• Why no matter how young you are, you don’t need to wait to tell an interesting story

Show notes for all episodes of TEM including topics discussed, links to all books and websites referenced can be found at:

http://www.tem.fm/shownotes

The Perfect Mindset for Getting the Most Out of Graduate School

In this clip from Episode 181 of The Brass Junkies, the incredible Kevin Newton of Imani Winds shares what his mindset was before heading into graduate school.

I will play this clip for every single student I have who is entering graduate school.

It is remarkable when someone as young as he was is this intentional about their life.

For so many students, graduate school is what comes after undergrad and that’s as far as the soul searching goes for exactly why they want to get a graduate degree.

But Kevin saw graduate school as having a specific role in the development of his career and he crushed it.

We can all learn from this kind of awareness while heading into any new chapter of our lives!

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A post shared by The Brass Junkies (@pray4jens)

The Brass Junkies Episode 181: Kevin Newton of Imani Winds

Since I am the person who books the guests on The Brass Junkies, I always like who we speak to. I wouldn’t book them if I didn’t!

But sometimes we interview someone who leaves me feeling energized and ready to tackle anything. This conversation with the incredible Kevin Newton did exactly that.

This was one where as soon as hung up, Lance and I both were muttering to each other how incredible it was.

Kevin is the horn player for Imani Winds and is a rising star in the music world. His outlook on making music and on life is so refreshing.

You are going to love this one. I promise.

You can watch the episode on YouTube below or head over to Pedal Note Media for all of the links to where to find it.

Enjoy!

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On This Episode of The Brass Junkies:

• Growing up in the small town of South Boston, VA (where the joke is they have a Walmart and a high school)

• The benefit of having your first teacher being your mother

• Long car rides with his mother which comprised of 10% NPR and 90% making him do things like sing the alto part along with the radio

• Going to the movies twice a week as a kid and listening intently to the music and falling in love with the horn (and not even knowing which instrument he was hearing)

• The incredible mentors he has had from the very beginning of his musical journey including his high school band director, Reginald Pervis

• Having only two lessons in his life before college and how that helped him to shape his perspective

• Taking two years off between undergrad and graduate school to take lessons with different people and get some “data”

• His recognition at the beginning of graduate school that he had two years to figure out how to make a career out of this and he got to work

• Deciding early on that he wanted to study with David Jolley

• The large portion of his lessons with Jolley that were “career building” and intentionally building the specific skills needed to thrive to get Kevin where he wanted to go

• What it was like getting to audition for Imani Winds after looking up to them as kid

• His mental approach to auditions which involves thinking of it as actually doing the job rather than asking for it

• The belief that you should always look for the good in people that was instilled in him by his family

• His horn quartet, Metropolitan Horn Authority, and their quest to have as much fun as possible and to bring the horn to the world in a new light

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Jeff Scott on Being a Superstar

"How expressive can you be in the moment? Take that moment and be a superstar."

-Jeff Scott from Imami Winds while coaching a chamber group

This advice goes for anyone in a chamber music setting at all times, not just the melody.  The best chamber groups in the world have each member seizing every moment and being a superstar at all times.

Monday YouTube Fix: Boston Brass and Imani Winds

This footage is from a concert with our dear friends the Imani Winds.  We're playing the Gil Evans/Miles Davis version of "It Ain't Necessarily So" arranged by our horn player, Chris Castellanos.  This version features our trumpet player, Jose Sibaja, doing his best Miles impersonation.  The entire original Porgy and Bess album is a master class on orchestrating.  Gershwin was a genious! I love the colors that Chris got out of this very cool instrumentation, which includes Dan Hostetler on the drums.

Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4bauqWXa0I]