The Classical Musician Today (Signature Course)

Career Strategies and Discussions to Help You Grow and Succeed

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This course is part of the Alexander & Buono Academy ALL-ACCESS bundle, a single subscription that provides you access to all our courses and digital content, made up of lectures, videos, interviews and essays designed to give you everything you need for success as a classical artist.

Our introductory course, The Classical Musician Today, contains a set of videos launching a curriculum focused on preparing you for a career in classical music. Through The Classical Musician Today curriculum and its related courses, we will examine various elements that have the potential to both enhance--and even undermine--your potential for success, while giving no-nonsense advice in terms of what it takes to be truly successful.

In addition, every month, as part of our subscription series entitled "The Business of Music," we will include:

  • discussions with artists, teachers, and professionals at every stage of career development
  • essays designed to help plan and prioritize your work and study
  • questions, answers and comments that will help you better understand yourself, your level of commitment, and your talent
  • Practical examination of subjects such as:
    • how to fully prepare for performances
    • turning your art into a business
    • learning how to dress properly
    • managing social situations effectively
    • the best ways to study
    • effective practice techniques

Our goal is to provide everything you need to know about a career, while answering even the questions you may never have thought to ask—and then giving you honest, realistic, and practical answers.


Your Instructor


Barry Alexander and Cosmo Buono
Barry Alexander and Cosmo Buono

With international competitions for Piano, Voice, Strings and Flute, a career consulting firm, and a not-for-profit foundation, Barry Alexander and Cosmo Buono are helping classical artists worldwide while also building the next generation of audiences and viewers. In constant demand not only as musicians but also consultants, advisors, and teachers, they are committed to providing artists with the academic tools and mechanisms needed to launch and sustain successful careers.


Course Curriculum


  The Classical Musician Today
Available in days
days after you enroll

Frequently Asked Questions


Why should I take this course?
Laurence J. Peter once said “"If you don't know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else." Nowhere is this more true than for the classical musician. Many who feel that their talent is enough to vault them into the pantheon of great and enduring artists soon become disillusioned with careers that do not move very far beyond small venues in their home town. This is because they do not have a realistic and workable plan for career success. However much you may know about music, and however great your talent, without fully understanding the tools needed to be a successful and paid classical music professional, the chances of sustaining a career as a working musician are greatly diminished. This course is designed to give you those tools, and teach you how to use them.
What made you decide to design this course?
After having made our living in the world of classical music for decades (first as performers, and then as arts administrators), and working with hundreds of students and aspiring musicians, we realized that almost everyone we taught had the same misconception—that talent was going to be enough make a successful career. Everyone seemed to think that a producer, impresario, recording mogul, or generous donor was going to come along, pretty much out of nowhere, and do all of the financial and artistic “heavy lifting” needed to make a musician not just famous, but highly compensated as well. Since we both knew that nothing could be farther from the truth, we wanted to give artists not only a solid understanding of the classical music marketplace, but also as many ways as we could for understanding success, and how to achieve it. This is why we developed the course.
What if I don’t like the course?
If you are unhappy with the course for any reason, contact us within 30 days of your initial purchase to receive a full refund.