Navigating neoliberalism: cultivating community in contemporary music

As we enter the first quarter of the twenty-first century, waning public interest in classical music has required industry groups, musicians, and advocacy organizations to shift their business model to resemble that of a private corporation participating in a competitive marketplace. Their establishment of niche communities within the marketplace are most observable through ensemble branding, programming, and targeted marketing tactics; these realities are a byproduct of classical musicians’ adaptation to a mercurial neoliberal global climate that has come to define the economic landscape of the past thirty years. Through the exploration of the semiotic meanings underlying the programmatic choices of contemporary chamber ensemble Eighth Blackbird, Newfound Chamber Winds and the work of No Divide KC this paper seeks to illuminate the ways in which these organizations have successfully navigated an expanding neoliberal marketplace by embracing the principles within which it operates. In the larger conversation regarding the relevance of classical music and its future from the stance of a performer, these organizations’ branding and programmatic choices as a means to cultivate community serve as three examples of what is demanded to successfully cultivate a career as a 21st century musician: adherence to the principles of a neoliberal marketplace, including their establishment of niche communities and, entrepreneurially- minded, value-based branding decisions.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.M. (Master of Music)

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Musicology (UMKC)

Grantor

University of Missouri--Kansas City

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Trapani, Emily

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Granade, S. Andrew

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10355/108861

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:mospace.umsystem.edu:10355/108861