{"id":597,"date":"2019-04-17T11:47:49","date_gmt":"2019-04-17T15:47:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/notes\/?p=597"},"modified":"2024-08-01T16:09:19","modified_gmt":"2024-08-01T20:09:19","slug":"what-would-your-lifes-work-sound-like","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2019\/04\/what-would-your-lifes-work-sound-like\/","title":{"rendered":"What would your life’s work sound like?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Andrei

Andrei Matorin<\/strong> moved me to tears during the Tom Tom Summit & Festival in Charlottesville. Photo by Daria Huxley \/ www.andreimatorin.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

When I attend professional conferences — especially one focused on “entrepreneurial ecosystems” — I don’t expect to be moved to tears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there I was, fighting back an ugly cry, in the middle of the Tom Tom Summit & Festival<\/strong> in Charlottesville last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even stranger, I wasn’t moved by anyone speaking. It was during a live performance by Andrei Matorin<\/strong>, a professional violinist and composer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matorin accompanied the marquee keynote by Pamela Abalu and Chindeu Echeruo, who delivered a dramatic presentation about designing environments and organizations for love and happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it was while listening to Matorin’s music when I made a powerful connection to another message I heard earlier in the conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just minutes before, I watched Jason Feifer, energetic editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur magazine, talk about how he defines entrepreneurs (“anyone who makes things happen”) … and three key entrepreneurial mindsets, all centered on the willingness to embrace change<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feifer emphasized true entrepreneurs never see themselves as finished … they are never one thing, always evolving. This has been referred to as being in “permanent beta.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I saw this concept embodied in Matorin’s music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we expect to hear a violinist, that familiar, classical sound comes immediately to mind, doesn’t it? Matorin was not this. He started quietly, plucking the violin strings while fidgeting with a couple of contraptions at his feet. I’m not that familiar with musical instruments, so I later learned these were looper pedals, which Matorin uses to record snippets of music and then layer all of his loops together into harmonizing beauty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I found one of his YouTube videos to show you exactly what I mean:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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