A major objective of the MSU College of Music is to develop the entrepreneurial skills and talents of our students to help them prepare for a career in music in the 21^st Century. Christine Beamer, director of Running Start, the entrepreneurial program of our College, is leading the charge together with our faculty. These efforts involve curricular, co-curricular, extracurricular, and experiential opportunities for students to learn and practice how to be entrepreneurs and use their skills to cultivate new and emerging career opportunities in music. 

A variety of initiatives are under way and are being explored and developed to achieve the College’s entrepreneurial objective, including:

• Engaging with an increasing number of visiting artists who bring exceptional musical talent and entrepreneurial perspectives to the campus
• Establishing an “Artist-Entrepreneur-in-Residence” program
• Offering 10-week mini-courses taught by current industry professionals
• Increasing incubator funding to support arts entrepreneurship projects
• Supporting student chamber music residencies that equip performers to be teaching artists
• Providing seed funding grants to help student musicians develop their professional brand
• Funding student scholarships for internship opportunities in the arts

The article in this issue of e-notes, “Running Start Lineup Helps Broaden Students’ Perspectives” provides a snapshot of visitors whose combined field of excellence and entrepreneurial focus has helped broaden our students’ perspective over the fall and spring semesters. 

We are excited about the development of these entrepreneurial programs in service of students who are planning for a dynamic career grounded in the musical arts, and look forward to creating partnerships on- and off-campus to realize these goals. We invite you to join us and invest in support of these programs that will help rocket forward our talented Spartan musicians as they prepare to change the world through the power of music.

Sincerely,

James Forger
Dean, MSU College of Music