Conference Agenda

Organized by the AMS Executive Committee.

The academic job market is in bad shape and getting worse. Many graduate students and their professors in academic music programs focus on applying for academic jobs and postdocs and know little about how to prepare for and apply to other kinds of jobs. Most performers know how to audition for ensembles, roles, and educational programs, but they don’t always know what’s involved in getting a job that’s not strictly focused on performance. The aim of this panel is to introduce attendees at the AMS annual meeting in Minneapolis – both graduate students and their professors – to people who have studied music at the graduate level and have found (or created) non-academic jobs. Each of our panelists will describe their path from graduate school to their current occupation. They will explain what they like about their current jobs, and how they benefited from their university education. They will also suggest strategies for acquiring the required skills and applying for non-academic jobs. Our panel includes members of the CCRI (committee on Career-Related Issues) and people from Minneapolis. They represent multiple perspectives and have different jobs.

Jessica Abbazio has a PhD in Musicology from the University of Maryland. She also has a Master of Library Science with a specialization in Music Librarianship from Indiana University, Bloomington. She is now the Music Librarian and Collections Coordinator for Arts, Humanities, & Area Studies for the University of Minnesota Libraries.

Esther Criscuola de Laix has a PhD in Musicology from UC Berkeley, and a BMus in Organ from Oberlin Conservatory. She is on the Editorial Staff of A-R Editions in Middleton, Wisconsin. She is also the chair of the Committee on Career Related Issues.

Tami Morse has an MMus in harpsichord from the University of Michigan, and a DMA from Stony Brook. She is a professional harpsichordist. She is the former Executive Director of the Lyra Baroque Orchestra, co-Executive/Artistic Director of Early Music Minnesota (formerly known as “The Baroque Room”) and co-Artistic Director of the Minnesota Bach Ensemble. She also rents out harpsichords and does harpsichord maintenance.

Anna-Lise Pasch Santella has an M.A. in Musicology and Ethnomusicology from the University of Chicago. She is now the Head of Acquisition, Humanities, at Oxford University Press (NY) and serves on the Advisory Council for the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. She was on the Committee on Career Related Issues and now serves on the Sustainable Mentorship Committee.

The session will end with questions from the audience and responses from the panelists.