GRMUS 674E — Leadership and Innovation in the Creative Arts

2 credits
Spring
J.Y. Song

Individuals in creative industries face all kinds of problems that pose significant challenges to their careers. These include highly volatile career environments, competitive conditions, a complex global environment, and difficult politics and conflicts between individuals and organizations. This course looks at how leaders in the creative industries develop strategies to deal with such challenges. Stressing the importance of innovation in entrepreneurial endeavors, we will study the work of artists in different disciplines—Pina Bausch, Daniel Barenboim, and Ferran Adrià. We will also look at leaders whose initiative and foresight have had significant impact on the music industry: Klaus Heymann at Naxos, Peter Gelb at the Metropolitan Opera, and Steve Jobs at Apple. By the end of the semester, students should understand fundamental concepts in leadership, entrepreneurship, and innovation. For Spring 2025, five of the fifteen class meetings (3/19, 4/2, 4/16, 4/30, and 5/14) will take place via Zoom. All other class meetings are expected to be in-person, and student attendance is required for all class sessions in accordance with the attendance policy.