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Alain Barker

Director, Office of Entrepreneurship and Career Development
Indiana University Jacobs School of Music - Bloomington, IN

Alain Barker is founding director of the Office of Entrepreneurship and Career Development at the IU Jacobs School of Music, with a career that includes arts organization development, arts policy research, communications and marketing, performance, and teaching.

What's an emerging opportunity that can be developed in the classical music performance world / how can classical music expand its impact in the present moment?

Classical Music is going through a ‘break-out’ moment with all kinds of media, leading to an expansion of the artform and enabling connection to millions of people around the world. As with other transformational times, the emergence of the new platforms and technologies fundamentally changes the ways in which the artform can be imagined, created, performed, distributed, and experienced.

How does your institution reflect the values of the AVANT initiative in general, and/or the IMPACT PERFORMANCE competition in particular?

The OECD (Office of Entrepreneurship and Career Development) at the IU Jacobs School of Music is a hub of creative activity with a mission to explore and support emerging pathways to a successful life in music.  The AVANT Project adds to our collection of activities that includes mentoring, curriculum, project development, organizational partnerships, and more.

What would you say to an artist considering applying to the IMPACT PERFORMANCE innovation competition?

This is an amazing opportunity for you to connect to your core mission as a performer in a world that requires fluency in not only your art, but also in deep cultural awareness and technology. Likewise, the competition allows you to reimagine classical music as a societally responsive artform, one that is able to express deeply meaningful and impactful stories in the 21st century.