The Other Graduation with Martha Mook

Acclaimed for her electrifying performances and compositions, pioneering composer/electro-acoustic violist, Martha Mooke transcends musical boundaries, enhancing her classical training and expertise with extended techniques, digital effects processing and improvisation. A Yamaha Artist and leading clinician on electric and progressive string playing, she has toured with Barbra Streisand, Peter Gabriel, Andrea Bocelli and Star Wars in Concert and has performed with Elton John, Trey Anastasio, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Laurie Anderson, Tony Bennett, Bon Jovi, Patti Smith, Damon Albarn, Blur and many others.

http://www.marthamooke.com/about.html

The Other Graduation is a NYSCA supported, ground-breaking lecture – concert series designed to help young musicians who have recently graduated or are about to graduate understand the broad variety of possible career choices as professional musicians in the contemporary art and music world. Often trained in a formal, closed setting, focused on excelling in their own discipline and in a very traditional way and a classroom or studio setting within an educational institution, students graduate inadequately prepared for the ‘real world’ careers. As an active and somewhat unconventional educator (preference to hands-on approach, constantly changing and fluent curricula and lesson plan, small groups or individual coaching and mentoring, implementation of technology, insisting on collaborations, and in general, against all and any rigidity), Paracademia’s director and founder, Milica Paranosic has had numerous exposure to students, young musicians, music lovers who want to engage more that just on a hobby level and people desiring a career change, who more than frequently did not know what their choices are. The range and dynamic of contemporary music professions has changed, and is continuing to change drastically and new professions are literally ‘invented’ every day. They are typically not mentioned, much less explored in traditional schools. Thinking ‘outside the box’ may not be popular or preferable in everyone’s opinion; however, it may be necessary in order to succeed in our already challenging and competitive profession.