If the state of the world is teaching us anything right now, it’s that power is rarely what it appears to be. We see that in Washington, in institutions, in our own organizations. And we feel it in our careers. So before we go any further, let’s define our terms.
There’s an endless number of subtle and not-so-subtle ways that power shows up for musicians. Whether it’s micro-aggressions or full-on power plays, these happen in meetings, rehearsals, teaching studios, conversations with colleagues, and in performances.
Too many musicians unknowingly disown their power, assuming it was never ours to claim. Especially in the arts, we associate power with clout, funding, status—and the misuse of authority.
As a music career coach, I help clients identify and lean in to their power so they can get more of their best work out into the world. For me it’s fascinating to work with . . .
Power as an energy and a capacity we can develop
This type of creative power can’t be given. It has nothing to do with titles or position. It’s something we need to step forward into and claim for ourselves. My own exploration of power keeps me coming back to two thinkers who’ve helped me see this more clearly, and who I think will help you too.
First up, is a find from the writer George Saunders.
FYI: I’m a shameless fan and a proud member of George’s Story Club. It’s an unfolding collective adventure in analyzing stories and examining the writing / editing process. I recommend Story Club to anyone curious about their own creative work.
George Saunders on the Power of Your Voice
In Story Club, George recently posted this on his own process and on power.
“When I’m writing a story, I’m trying to be wild, lively, funny, entertaining, excessive. I’m trying to get your attention, even if there’s a trace of irritation in the attention you begin paying me. I’m trying to charm, make heat—trying to do something up on a highwire.
To me, the main question is: Am I getting any power into my prose? Without power, we can’t have truth or beauty, or any of that.
To tell you the most true thing I know about writing . . . [it’s that] we have to find our power.
How do you sound, such that the people who are listening are drawn toward you?
That’s your true voice, in my view: the one that makes people turn toward you and be captivated by you.”
George reminds us that whether you’re working in words or in sound, the thing you’ve made, your art, needs to come alive for your audience in order to make an impact.
This “coming aliveness” can only happen in performance if you’ve captured your audience’s attention. The power of your voice is in the heat, the energy that’s needed to connect and hold that attention so that an exchange of energies can occur.
I love his linking of voice to power and to the connecting with audiences. Thank you, George!
And as important as this is, the power of your artistic voice is not the whole picture. To bring into focus how power works in your career and your life, here is . . .
Robert Chambers on 5 Types of Power—and What They Mean for Musicians
My arts consultant friend Gretchen Amussen focuses on power dynamics in music schools and she turned me on to the work of Robert Chambers. Thanks, Gretchen!
Robert is a British scholar in the field of international development. He states that to really understand how power works, you need to distinguish among its types.
Here are Chambers’ 5 types of power paraphrased below with a few of my own elaborations . . .
#1 Power OVER
This is how most of us understand power. As a commodity. We think having more of it is good. And that if we abdicate, lose, or surrender power, it’s not good. In this view, we either are top dog, or we’re a victim. This is the zero/sum competitive worldview common among musicians. It’s rooted in scarcity thinking and fear. And if that’s our only understanding of power, we miss out on what’s actually possible . . .
#2 Power TO
Otherwise known as agency. It’s the ability to decide what you want to do, and then to actually do it. It’s important to see ourselves as capable and know that we can make things happen. Even when we’re not the conductor, the CEO, or the Dean. But this, too, is limited. Because it’s not just about us, right?
#3 Power WITH
This is collective power. It’s the power of unions, of self-help groups, of social action, strikes, boycotts, and of democratically led chamber ensembles. It offers a sense of belonging that comes with the experience of shared power in community, and of being committed to a cause greater than our own self-interest. But there’s more . . .
#4 Power WITHIN
This is the tactile sense, the feeling in our bones that yes, we can do what’s needed. It’s the inner belief that, scared though we may be, we can and will step into the arena. That we’ve done it before and can do it again. It’s what gets you to walk on stage even when you’re scared shitless. It’s the fuel that makes agency possible. And Chambers identifies one last type . . .
#5 Power TO EMPOWER
If you yourself have any Power OVER or Power TO (and we all do), then you also have the power to empower others: people who are marginalized, who are vulnerable, and people who happen to be children.
Let’s Make This Real: Think About a Typical Week.
You might field a pointed comment from a conductor (Power OVER, incoming). Decide to pitch yourself for a project you’ve been putting off (Power TO). Show up at a collective bargaining meeting or a chamber rehearsal where everyone has a voice (Power WITH). Walk out on stage terrified and do it anyway (Power WITHIN). And if you teach, mentor, or lead in any capacity, you’re exercising Power TO EMPOWER every time you step back and let a student find their own answer.
Most of us move through all five in a single week without naming them. Naming them changes something important. It allows you to own your power.
The Challenge of Power
Here’s where things get tricky. When you’re in any kind of leadership role (section leader, department chair, member of the board, teacher) you will be seen as having power, whether you feel powerful or not. Someone who’s been burned by authority before may brace for more of the same from you, regardless of your intentions.
You can’t control that. What you can control is how you show up.
Chambers found that the verbs that empower others tend to be humbling ones. Listen. Shut up. Sit down. Respect.
Notice that “educate” and “teach” don’t fit so well here. Not because they’re bad, but because the way most of us were taught casts one person as the authority and the other as the recipient.
However well-intentioned, that gap can quietly recreate the very dynamic you’re trying to move past. Empowering someone means creating conditions for them to discover their own answer instead of dumping yours on them.
The one empowering verb that surprises people most? CONVENE.
Many of us have the power to bring people together, to provide an occasion, a space, and enough facilitation for others to do their own thinking, reach their own conclusions, and decide on their own next steps. Think concerts, clinics, workshops. The ensemble room on a good day. These are all forms of convening.
And when this works, there’s magic. Not all at once, and not in a straight line. But over time, the group finds its collective power and a momentum that no leader could ever manufacture alone. That’s democracy, that’s chamber music, that’s love at its best.
We need to accept that we DO have power. The real question is HOW we will use it.
We have the power to develop our own voices as artists, along with the power we can facilitate to bring more good into the world through ensembles, organizations, and the concerts, festivals, and teaching studios we participate in or create.
But this power is only realized when it’s put into action, when we connect with others and engage in community in ways that help to remake this world.
Power is only realized when you put yours into action. If you’re ready to explore what that looks like in your career, let’s talk.
Here’s to claiming your powers and using them well,
Dream Big, Plan Smart, Live Well
PS: I’ve grappled with this subject before — in why musicians tend to see power as something others have and what Tár gets right about power and artistry in music. Both are worth reading alongside this one.
