The Artist's Compass - by Rachel S Moore (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

An inspiring, real world guide for artists, in the classic bestselling tradition of What Color Is Your Parachute?, that shows how to build a successful, stable career in the performing arts, from the President and CEO of The Music Center in Los Angeles, who has carved her own success through her creative talent and business skill.

While performing artists have many educational opportunities to perfect their craft, they are often on their own when it comes to learning the business skills necessary to launch their careers. At the end of the day, show business is, well, a business. In The Artist's Compass, Rachel Moore (who rose from a dancer in the American Ballet Theater's corps de ballet to become the CEO of that organization--and is today the head of The Music Center in LA) shares how to make life as a performer more successful, secure, and sustainable by approaching a career in the arts like an entrepreneur.

Misty Copeland calls Moore "a great example of a woman who used the skills that we gain as dancers to become a leader," and it's those hard-won lessons she imparts to a new generation of artists in this book--encouraging every performer to develop marketable skills alongside their creative talent. With testimonials from artists like Lang Lang, Sigourney Weaver, and Renee Fleming, plus inspiring anecdotes from Moore's own journey in the arts, The Artist's Compass teaches aspiring performers how to take charge of their own careers and how to create their own brand and marketing platform to achieve personal and professional success.

In an engaging, "realistic, but also passionate" (Publishers Weekly) voice, Moore combines her artistic and corporate experience to address the finer points of building a career in a challenging industry. The Artist's Compass is the essential success guide for aspiring artists, driving home the point that honing professional skills beyond the stage is not forsaking one's art, but for the sake of one's art.

Review Quotes

"[P]recise and realistic but also passionate, and it will give readers the sense of a much-needed guiding hand. Moore is qualified to become a mentor to a whole new generation of artists, and they will benefit greatly from her advice."--Publishers Weekly

"Moore's advice is steeped in her professional experience as an arts administrator and enlivened by her experience as a professional ballet dancer. With a genuine passion and desire to help other artists, she outlines her keys to success for a sustainable career. . . . A hopeful and optimistic treatise that will surely be required reading for performing arts students."--Kirkus Reviews

"Rachel S. Moore, the president and CEO of the Los Angeles Music Center and former CEO of the American Ballet Theatre, is a great example of a woman who used the skills that we gain as dancers to become a leader."--Misty Copeland, principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre and author of Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina

"Sound advice and a complete road map to planning an artistic career."--Library Journal

About the Author

Rachel S. Moore was named President and CEO of The Music Center in Los Angeles in 2015. A former member of American Ballet Theatre's corps de ballet, Moore was named Executive Director of ABT in April 2004 and CEO in 2012. Prior to her appointment, she served as Director of Boston Ballet's Center for Dance Education, Executive Director of Project STEP, and Managing Director of Ballet Theatre of Boston. She has also held senior positions with Americans for the Arts and the National Cultural Alliance, both in Washington, DC. As a teenager, she spent summers in New York City and trained on scholarship at the School of American Ballet and American Ballet Theatre School, before becoming a professional ballet dancer. She currently lives in Pasadena, California with her husband, two Labradors, and four cats of suspect provenance. The Artist's Compass is her first book.