Now that I’m retired (kinda, sorta) I have the advantage of being able to look back and see how my own career has made certain turns—all for the better I might add. But when I graduated from college I had no idea that someday I would be teaching at a prestigious music school like Eastman or playing in a respected orchestra like the Rochester Philharmonic. We all must evolve with opportunities that present themselves to us and adapt to challenges that face us. Change is good. Learn to embrace it. It keeps us interested and non-complacent. It’s impossible for us to know what “the next big thing” will be, but if we have a solid musical foundation and a healthy dose of curiosity, we will be able to take that step into something that may not be so immediately comfortable or familiar. Just as music itself is constantly changing and evolving, the business side of music does so, too. In both cases, musicians must adapt or become irrelevant.