“I spent the afternoon talking to a pair of truly intelligent journalists who wanted to know why it is that I so often bristle against discussions of genre, e.g.: Please, please, please, please, please, stop talking about genre.” – Gabriel Kahane

The term “arts entrepreneurship” seems to have flummoxed the music profession, with half believing it’s a merger of B-school and conservatory practices and the rest decrying “l’art pour l’art.” While at first glance, the artist and the entrepreneur may seem worlds apart, in fact they are remarkably similar.

“Criticism has been around since the first caveman howled at the moon, and his friend said, ‘You know, I don’t think you howl so good,’” the great pianist Abbey Simon once told me.

In an issue devoted to “doing it yourself,” the ultimate musical challenge may be “imagineering” a festival. Composer Matthew McBane did just that as director of the Carlsbad Music Festival.

This summer, the inimitable SilkRoad launches its Global Musician Workshop at DePauw University School of Music.