About Us

Recognizing the fundamental power of music and its importance in peoples' lives, the Institute for Music Leadership was created to actively engage musicians in new ways and challenge them to think more broadly about music, its role, and their role in society. It serves as a center for the creation and implementation of new ideas related to music leadership — for Eastman students, alumni, and practicing musicians at all stages of their careers. The goals of the IML reflect the expansion of Eastman's role as an innovator and a standard bearer in professional development.

The IML consists of 4 distinct areas: Careers and Professional Development
Catherine Filene Shouse Arts Leadership Program (ALP)
Center for Music Innovation and Engagement (CMIE)
The Orchestra Musician Forum (OMF) and its website Polyphonic.org

Like an orchestra, these areas often work together simultaneously, but they also have projects and goals they work on individually. 

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Although separate from any individual degree program at Eastman, the IML strengthens and sustains core programs that prepare graduates to serve as artistic leaders. The Institute serves as the "umbrella structure" for the following areas and their main products and services:

Careers and Professional Development

• Individual sessions for help with your résumé, CV, cover letter, other professional documents, and career path advice
• Online resources through NEC Bridge, providing 1000s of opportunities in music, including auditions, teaching positions, competitions, internships, and more
• Credentials file services through Interfolio
• Coordination of on-site auditions at Eastman from major music festivals and organizations
• Many additional online resources for jobs, preparing professional documents, graduate study, professional development, funding and grants

Catherine Filene Shouse Arts Leadership Program (ALP)

• Courses on leadership, arts administration, musical entrepreneurship, careers in music, performance, contemporary orchestral issues and health for musicians
• Certificate program providing intense, one-on-one advising and coordinated access to all ALP components to those who have applied for and been accepted to the program.
• Internship program providing paid, for-credit internships in Rochester, as well as paid, summer and post-graduation"externships" in the U.S., Canada, and around the world (available only to students in the certificate program).
• Sponsorship of special guest speaker events

Center for Music Innovation and Engagement (CMIE)

• New Venture Challenge
• eTheory
• Speed Lessons
• What is Entrepreneurship (videos)

The Orchestra Musician Forum (OMF) and its website Polyphonic.org

To enhance the professional development and broaden the perspectives of musicians who are participants in North American symphony orchestras and other musical arts organizations.

• Polyphonic.org offers innovative articles, video interviews, blogs, and Spotlights of notable orchestras
• Polyphonic On Campus - Video Blogs, articles, helpful resources, and interactive webinars by young musicians — for young musicians

Created in fall 2001 with generous support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Institute for Music Leadership at the Eastman School of Music was the first center of its kind in the country.   The IML reflects the Eastman School's longstanding role as an international leader in music, and was the bold next step in the evolution of Eastman's groundbreaking "Eastman Initiatives" - the series of innovative programs and partnerships designed to better prepare students for entry into the challenging and changing music world of the 21st century.

A vital hub for creating, sharing, and implementing cutting-edge ideas and programs, the IML:

• provides Eastman students, alumni, and professional musicians at all stages of their career with the broad education, specialized skills, and diversified experience they will need — in addition to their exceptional musicianship — to become versatile music leaders who will shape our musical and cultural future
• seeks to develop and maximize leadership potential in its participants through a variety of programs, professional development opportunities, intensive seminars, "real world" experience and a certificate program
• offers a proactive response to the changing state of music today by challenging its participants to think more broadly about music, its role, and their roles in society
• is committed to leading the music profession into a new era

Always at the forefront of educating musicians of the future, the Eastman School is dedicated to the comprehensive education of world-class musicians while embracing with leadership and initiative the changing state of classical music. The IML was created to formally promote these longstanding ideals, serve as a center — and benchmark — for music leadership programs and activities, and respond to and help shape America's changing musical and cultural environment.

The impact of this cultural change on the country's performing arts system was studied in-depth by RAND, a private nonprofit research organization, and supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts as part of a five-year, multi-million dollar initiative. The July 2001 report, The Performing Arts in a New Era, examined the entire performing arts system in America over the past 30 years, and indicated that a fundamental shift was taking place. (The major objectives of the study were to examine trends affecting audiences, artists, organizations, and finances, and to identify policy implications of those trends. For more information, visit www.pewtrust.org)

Through the Eastman Initiatives of the 1990's, and the creation of the Institute for Music Leadership, Eastman addressed many of these issues head-on to ensure the vitality and relevancy of music and the arts in the 21st century.

Moreover, the IML is true to founder George Eastman's original vision of educating musicians of the highest quality who contribute meaningfully to community life. The IML will enhance Eastman students' educational experience and professional development, not detract from it.

In 2001 when the IML was created, its focus was primarily on the changing state of professional orchestras in America and a new curriculum that offered courses that bridged the "Ivory Tower" and the "Real World." -- the Arts Leadership curriculum. The emphasis on orchestra issues and a practical, relevant curriculum are still there, but the IML has changed over time to reflect the needs of our students.

Entrepreneurial thinking has always been a hallmark of Eastman culture, and in 2004 the School was honored with a five-year, $700,000 grant from the Kauffmann Foundation to formally integrate entrepreneurship education into Eastman academic activities. This was done for Eastman students through the ALP curriculum and for senior U.S. music school administrators through the presentation of several influential workshops at national conferences.

The School administration recognized that greater efficiencies could be met by folding the office of Careers and Professional Development under the IML umbrella, and they did so in the fall of 2005. These gifts, which are outlined above, helped ESM to leverage the financial, physical, and intellectual assets of the Symphony Orchestra Institute, Paul R. Judy, founder and create the Orchestra Musicians Forum (OMF). On April 10th, 2006, the OMF unveiled www.Polyphonic.org, the ultimate online companion for today's professional orchestral musician.

With the Kauffmann gift in 2004 coming to a close, the Center for Music Innovation and Engagement was established in 2009 to continue the evolution of entrepreneurial thinking at the School. The establishment of the Institute for Music Leadership has allowed the Eastman School to create a unique atmosphere among music schools, where ideas can flourish and students are empowered to shape their own destiny by developing the skills and networks they need to adapt to the changing and challenging arts world. The IML is committed not to follow, but to lead, react, adapt and morph its curriculum to meet the needs of the musical world that our students will inhabit as professionals.