Musicians have had all their performing work cancelled, but Denis Wick Artists got together on-line to have an Artists Summit. Stephen Wick took part in the online session where this diverse group of players, normally so busy, had the leisure to describe what they were doing with their enforced down time. Many of the artists already have a well-developed online presence. Denis Wick Artist Christopher Bill is the most subscribed brass player on Facebook with 450,000 followers.
Paul Nowell, known better as his on-line persona of Paul the Trombonist, has had millions of downloads and has become such an expert on monetising the internet that he now teaches entrepreneurship. Since live performances for musicians have now ceased, a high profile presence online has become more important than ever. The Denis Wick Artist Summit gave brass players a chance to listen to these experts and to contribute their own thoughts about their dream projects and give tips on how to survive the crisis. The two dozen artists taking part play a huge range of music from ballet and symphony orchestras, Broadway shows, New Orleans Brass Bands (trombonist TJ Norris plays in the legendary Dirty Dozen Brass Band), jazz (Yay Yennings plays trumpet with Snarky Puppy) to contemporary pop acts (Arnetta Johnson plays with Beyoncé).
Stephen Wick said ‘It was great to bring this family of musicians together. All our artists are wondering the future holds for them, but they are keen to support each other and come through this crisis. Busy musicians usually never have enough spare time. It was fascinating to hear of all the writing, arranging, teaching and other projects that that they were working on at home. One thing we all have in common though; we are itching to returning to performing again!’
