Matt Boresi Keynote: The Savvy Artist in a Hostile World – Full Session
Matt Boresi
Matt Boresi is a librettist and theater instructor and holds an MFA from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. He received the ASCAP Max Dreyfus Award, and is an IL Lincoln Laureate. Matt is acting instructor for the North Central College Musical Theatre Workshop. Boresi has also worked as a resident librettist at the Lark Theatre and Manhattan Opera Theatre. His work has been performed by MOT, The French Institute, Tanglewood, and at the NOA and OPERA America National Conventions. His translation of "Quando M'en Vo'" was featured in Bronx Opera's La Boheme. Boresi and Hilliard’s "Don Imbroglio – An Opera You Can’t Refuse," enjoyed an acclaimed run in the Off-Broadway N.Y. Musical Theatre Festival.
In his keynote speech at the SEA (Self-Employed Artists) conference held in February 2008, playwright Matt Boresi explores the need for artists to embrace the business side of their work. He discusses some of the challenges that artists may face when making this leap, recommending that artists temporarily squelch their inner bohemian in order to embrace the business thinking that is crucial to enduring financial success on any scale. He also addresses the need to be able to articulate what you do concisely and the value of networking, and closes by explaining a concept he dubs the savvy artist's contract with a hostile world, which is a roadmap to forging a career in the arts.
