Feeding the Starving Artist: Finding Success as an Arts Entrepreneur

Rick Goodstein

The Feeding the Starving Artist podcast offers students and emerging creative artists tips and strategies to develop and build a sustainable career in the arts. Drs. Rick Goodstein and Ron McCurdy, authors of "The Artist Entrepreneur: Finding Success in a New Arts Economy", share 80 years of experience as performing artists, conductors, arts educations, musicians, arts administrators, and friends. Whether you're a musician, visual artist, writer, actor, technician or dancer, Feeding the Starving Artist has strategies for anyone interested in a sustainable arts career.

  1. Sep 22

    Seth Parker Woods

    Seth Parker Woods kicks off the 5th season of the Feeding the Starving Artist Podcast! Hailed by The Guardian as “a cellist of power and grace” who possesses “mature artistry and willingness to go to the brink,” the multi Grammy-nominated cellist has established his reputation as a versatile artist and innovator across multiple genres. As The New York Times  wrote, “Woods is an artist rooted in classical music, but whose cello is a vehicle that takes him, and his concertgoers, on wide-ranging journeys.”  Also at the forefront of fashion, Woods has topped “best-dressed” lists in Variety, Texas Monthly, and the OC Register. Woods has served on the faculty of the USC Thornton School of Music since 2022 and was appointed Robert Mann Chair in Strings and Chamber Music in 2024.  Among the highlights of his 2024/25 season, Woods performs in the world premiere of Nathalie Joachim’s cello concerto Had to Be at Spoleto Festival USA, later performing its New York premiere in his debut with the New York Philharmonic. He performed the East Coast premiere of Rebecca Saunders’ cello concerto Ire  with The Next Festival of Emerging Artists and made his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut in the world premiere of a cello concerto by Julia Adolphe. A core member of the music collective Wild Up, Woods performs as a soloist in the group’s Grammy-nominated Eastman Project: Eastman Vol. 4: The Holy Presence, released June 2024 on New Amsterdam Records. Woods is featured alongside flutist Claire Chase on a recording of music by Anna Thorvaldsdottir on New Focus Recordings.  During the 2023/24 season, Woods brought his Grammy-nominated, autobiographical tour de force Difficult Grace to San Diego and Philadelphia, following the world premiere at New York’s 92nd Street Y and performances at UCLA and Chicago’s Harris Theater the previous season.  Difficult Grace was released as an album on Cedille Records in 2023 and was nominated for the 2024 Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo. Woods also performed the Boston premiere of Thorvaldsdottir’s UBIQUE at Harvard University and was featured in performances with violinist Hilary Hahn at Konzerthaus Dortmund in Germany. With American Modern Opera Company, Woods toured a new version of John Adams’ El Niño: Nativity Reconsidered.  In addition to solo performances, Woods has appeared with the Atlanta and Seattle symphonies, in chamber music with Hilary Hahn and pianist Andreas Haefliger, and with European ensembles including ICTUS Ensemble, Ensemble L’Arsenale, zone Experimental, Basel Sinfonietta, and Ensemble LPR. A fierce advocate for contemporary arts, Woods has collaborated with artists representing the classical, popular music, and visual art worlds.   In recent years, Woods has appeared in concert at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms, the Aspen Music Festival, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Das Haus (Brussels), and Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain (Strasbourg), among many other venues. In addition to his post at USC, Woods serves on the artist faculty of the Music Academy of the West each summer. He holds degrees from Brooklyn College and Musik-Akademie Basel, as well as a Ph.D. from the University of Huddersfield. He previously served as Artist in Residence with Kaufman Music Center and the Seattle Symphony and was named an honoree of the 2023 Seattle Symphony Silver Anniversary Gala and recipient of the 2022 Chamber Music America Michael Jaffee Visionary Award.

    Seth Parker Woods
  2. Jul 14

    Susan Zhang and The Concert Truck, pt. 2

    Artist Entreprenuer Susan Zhang rejoins the Feeding the Starving Artist podcast. In addition to her work with the Concert Truck, Susan is an acclaimed pianist with "astounding musical authority" (Columbia Free Times), Susan made her orchestral debut at the age of twelve with the Augusta Symphony. She has since been featured as a soloist with the South Carolina Philharmonic, the Aiken Civic Orchestra, the University of South Carolina Symphony, and the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. She has performed in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre and Woodruff Arts Center as well as numerous other venues in North America, Europe, and Asia. Her recordings have been featured on SC Public Radio. Susan was a prizewinner of the Thousand Islands Chopin Competition, the Bauru-Atlanta Competition, the Burgos International Music Festival Competition, the Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition, South Carolina MTNA Young Artist Competition, and the University of South Carolina Concerto Competition. Her summer festival appearances include Pianofest in the Hamptons, the Banff Piano Master Class, Burgos International Music Festival, the Southeastern Piano Festival, and Brevard Music Center.Susan is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Peabody Conservatory, and the University of South Carolina. Her primary teachers have included Marina Lomazov, Joseph Rackers, Enrico Elisi, and Boris Slutsky. Susan has served on faculty at the Gilman School and Peabody Conservatory.

    Susan Zhang and The Concert Truck, pt. 2
  3. Jun 9

    Susan Zhang and the Concert Truck

    Artist Entreprenuer Susan Zhang joins the Feeding the Starving Artist podcast. In addition to her work with the Concert Truck, Susan is an acclaimed pianist with "astounding musical authority" (Columbia Free Times), Susan made her orchestral debut at the age of twelve with the Augusta Symphony. She has since been featured as a soloist with the South Carolina Philharmonic, the Aiken Civic Orchestra, the University of South Carolina Symphony, and the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. She has performed in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre and Woodruff Arts Center as well as numerous other venues in North America, Europe, and Asia. Her recordings have been featured on SC Public Radio. Susan was a prizewinner of the Thousand Islands Chopin Competition, the Bauru-Atlanta Competition, the Burgos International Music Festival Competition, the Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition, South Carolina MTNA Young Artist Competition, and the University of South Carolina Concerto Competition. Her summer festival appearances include Pianofest in the Hamptons, the Banff Piano Master Class, Burgos International Music Festival, the Southeastern Piano Festival, and Brevard Music Center.Susan is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Peabody Conservatory, and the University of South Carolina. Her primary teachers have included Marina Lomazov, Joseph Rackers, Enrico Elisi, and Boris Slutsky. Susan has served on faculty at the Gilman School and Peabody Conservatory.

    Susan Zhang and the Concert Truck
5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

The Feeding the Starving Artist podcast offers students and emerging creative artists tips and strategies to develop and build a sustainable career in the arts. Drs. Rick Goodstein and Ron McCurdy, authors of "The Artist Entrepreneur: Finding Success in a New Arts Economy", share 80 years of experience as performing artists, conductors, arts educations, musicians, arts administrators, and friends. Whether you're a musician, visual artist, writer, actor, technician or dancer, Feeding the Starving Artist has strategies for anyone interested in a sustainable arts career.