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Hello, I’m a composer who works primarily in theatre. At the start of the pandemic my mom got cancer and the doctors told us she should eat organic to avoid pesticides. Since even organic-labeled produce can contain pesticides I decided to grow an organic garden. My posts here will be my #music #gardening #cooking #organic food. Here are a few pics from my kitchen as a means of #introduction.
@jblue delighted to meet another composer for theatre in here.
Hows the gardening going?
@mosgaard nice to meet you too!
How is/was Covid affecting theatre productions where you are?
Garden is going good. All the plants that want to be warm are inside now and adjusted to shock. It was a little touch and go with the moringa but it’s happy now. Outside, the kale is finally recovering from a baby bunny attack this summer and other winter produce isn’t ready. Except hackberries 
@jblue sounds good, it's a lot of planning with all those plants.
Covid resulted in a lot of cancelled productions and tours, but luckily our own productions (we are self producing) could be produced in regards to restrictions when the country was open. A lot of the government culture funds and private funds was very flexible in changing plans, so projects was manageable. So we are quite grateful everything considered.
How about where you are?
@mosgaard I was based in the UK but I am American and moved back to the US. I had a residency job that was supposed to start but then got pushed back bc of administration hang ups. Then Covid happened and my mom got cancer. All of my projects in the UK evaporated and funding has been an ongoing issue. The guy who was hiring me for the residency got fired and the company is no longer interested in opening this position. Everyone I talk to online wants me to work for free.
@jblue I don’t really know the scene in UK/US, but is there any chance free gigs could become a royalty income or are people just really inconsiderate of your livelihood or economy?
@mosgaard what’s happening is that I get in touch in person or over phone with theatre makers (directors, choreographers, etc) and they want me to do really intensive production for free on the off chance that it might get picked up. In these interviews, I will mention that I really need a contract that will protect my IP and that the music stays in my IP and we can reuse some of my old contracts as a template. They agree but afterwards, I am ghosted. It’s crazy out there.
@jblue that’s extremely depressing and unfair. But you’re doing the right thing demanding a contract and protecting your rights.
Do you have any other artistic projects you can do in the meantime, that bring some value (financially or creatively) to your work as an artist?
@mosgaard I’m finishing up an audio portfolio that showcases my specific talent, I can imitate composers really well and I’m turning into a trump opera that I’ll post online. Maybe someone will hear it and hire me.
Also waiting for more followers bc the bird site has depressingly low impressions whenever I’d post stuff. Of the few who saw it, almost no one played the tracks. And that’s with having a few hundred followers.
@jblue sounds like a very good idea! My experience is, that a good portfolio makes the first talks about a project way easier. Have you thought about using Instagram for music? I have a lot if friends who do that with success, I’m not into it myself though.
@mosgaard yeah, I have an Instagram but mostly I just get reactions from bots or commercial entities. 