Last week I spoke with Karen on Marketing for Musicians, and we discussed boundaries and showing your uniqueness to the world, and understand who you are serving.

In today's conversation, I spoke with Karen about another part of her specialty - career coach, and dig into how people have different definitions of success, and to find the answers from within.

Karen Cubides is the passionate and engaging founder and CEO of the Karen Cubides Agency based in Nashville, Tennessee. Her holistic approach to coaching her clients allows her to serve a wide range of well-established musicians and young professionals alike in unique and personal ways. Through her intimate understanding of the relationship between personal growth and professional achievement, Karen builds up the individual, the artist, and the professional within each of her clients as they master goal-setting, lifestyle balance, and the nuances of our evolving industry. Her commitment, care, and creativity have connected her with incredible individuals and organizations across the world. 

Karen founded her agency early in her career out of her empathy for the people she worked with and admired. She firmly believes that musicians do not have to choose between promising careers and fulfilling personal lives. Her compassion has driven her time and again to better herself and her agency to bring out the best in each of her clients, both personally and professionally. By understanding and assessing the whole individual and not the performer exclusively, her clients continue to thrive in their creative passions and In their personal relationships. Karen has had the privilege of working with musicians of all backgrounds, from bird land to Broadway and from the Philharmonic to the Blair School of Music.

All About Chaowen Ting &
The Conductor's Podcast (Website)

Today's episode is a must listen for musicians as we learn marketing for ourselves, create opportunities and put ourselves out there for business!

Karen Cubides is the passionate and engaging founder and CEO of the Karen Cubides Agency based in Nashville, Tennessee. Her holistic approach to coaching her clients allows her to serve a wide range of well-established musicians and young professionals alike in unique and personal ways. Through her intimate understanding of the relationship between personal growth and professional achievement, Karen builds up the individual, the artist, and the professional within each of her clients as they master goal-setting, lifestyle balance, and the nuances of our evolving industry. Her commitment, care, and creativity have connected her with incredible individuals and organizations across the world. 

Karen founded her agency early in her career out of her empathy for the people she worked with and admired. She firmly believes that musicians do not have to choose between promising careers and fulfilling personal lives. Her compassion has driven her time and again to better herself and her agency to bring out the best in each of her clients, both personally and professionally. By understanding and assessing the whole individual and not the performer exclusively, her clients continue to thrive in their creative passions and In their personal relationships. Karen has had the privilege of working with musicians of all backgrounds, from bird land to broadway and from the Philharmonic to the Blair School of Music.

All About Chaowen Ting &
The Conductor's Podcast (Website)

Conducting auditions are something that's hard to navigate as each organization and ensemble does look for different things, but no one would disqualify a good conductor!

Typically, an audition for an assistant conductor would be only 10-15 minutes, while a music director audition might be a full rehearsal (2-3 hour), or even a concert cycle consisting 4-6 rehearsals, depending on the ensemble's schedule.

My objective of all conducting auditions is to share my musical ideas with the ensemble while demonstrating a representation of how my typical rehearsal flows.

Some Tips:

• Only verbally ask for things that you’ve already shown in your conducting (and not getting)
• Refrain from talking too much about the historical background, stories, etc. unless it’s necessarily and absolutely related to your point
• Have a structure of the rehearsal, and share it with the musicians
• If it’s not good, ask again. Don’t leave things when they are still bad

All About Chaowen Ting &
The Conductor's Podcast (Website)