Business lessons from professional musician and a crucial diary date

A piece I wrote about Alison for the Sheffield Telegraph

Alison Smith is a professional classical guitarist, internationally acclaimed, who has been described as “one of the most exciting and lyrical guitarists to emerge in recent years.”

Last weekend Alison – a friend for over 20 years – was in Sheffield to perform a classical guitar concert. Afterwards I thought it would be interesting to ask her about the business of music: how does she make a living as a professional musician? Her career includes performances for international festivals, music societies, and in many more contexts; she has also recorded CDs; and she teaches, both in institutions and privately.

Alison kindly agreed to do a radio interview for my Business Live radio show, broadcast this morning on Sheffield Live radio, and you can get hold of the podcast now. Whether you’ve got a burning interest in music as a career or you’re running your own business, the interview is crammed with nuggets of advice and expertise you can learn from. Have a listen!

Today’s programme also featured studio guests Tom Sutton and Sam Christmas of the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and Industry. They told me about the forthcoming Connect Sheffield event which sounds well worth putting in your calendar to attend.

Here’s the podcast:

Timings:

• 0 – 9:21 introductions and updates, including data from Deloitte showing that consumer confidence rose across
  Yorkshire during Q2 2017, bucking a national trend; a report from Co-operatives UK revealing that the co-operative sector had a turnover of £36 billion and employed around 226,000 members of staff in 2016; and commentary from Richard Wright, executive director of Sheffield Chamber, about this week’s HS2 announcement;
• 9:21 – 21:30 Sam Christmas and Tom Sutton;
• 21:30 – 53:30 Alison Smith (more about Alison here)
• 53:30 – end wrapping up (music played at the end of the radio show removed from the podcast)

More about my Business Live radio show (which you can hear every Friday morning from 9-10am on Sheffield Live radio). Enjoyed this? Share it using the buttons below.