Success Beyond The Score

Interviewing the next guest in this recap of Success Beyond The Score podcast, season 2, presented a challenge in regard to timezone differences: due to lockdown and travel restrictions related to the containment of COVID-19 at the time, the British composer and songwriter Dan Whitehouse was stranded in Japan. Regardless, Millicent managed to have an excellent talk with him.

Dan has released five solo albums. He is a songwriting tutor and mentor qualified in the Sounds of Intent methodology, and he has extensive experience working directly with musicians or through facilitators such as Midlands Arts Centre or Company of Song, to create community through music.

In the first part of the interview, we learn how everything started, how it was going at the time of recording, his experiences of studying music, and everything about being signed to a label.

The second part explores the impact of COVID-19 on Dan’s life and career, after lockdown made a visit to Japan become an almost two ...

Today, I want to tell you about an experience that one of my sax students lived recently, and what there is to learn from it.

My student posted a video of herself playing that got shared to many people. One person from those she reached liked what they saw, and contacted her to book her for an event. It sounded great, until it was revealed that the gig was in only two weeks.

Panic ensued. She did not know what to do. On one hand, she did not want to pass on the opportunity to play in public, even if for free. On the other, she did not feel ready. After consulting with family members and with myself as her teacher, she decided to go for it, playing a song she already knows well, and one she was working on. She did her best, and while she received no complaints, she ended up feeling overwhelmed and a tad regretful. She told me that she wished she could have an entire year to properly prepare. I can understand, I have been there!

Last minute gigs can open many doors, but they can also ...

England, Wales and Scotland: we have had time these past few months to hear candidates out and consider our options. Now, it is the time to decide who we want to represent us in our cities and regions. Whilst it is easy to be negative and pessimistic about the state of politics, democracy is still an invaluable opportunity to make our voices be heard. Don't let it pass!

In regard to the proposals surrounding the arts and entertainment industry, the Musicians Union wrote manifestos for both the Senedd Elections and the Scottish Parliamentary Elections. These manifestos addressed all candidates, and those who committed to consider them could be a good option for you to support, if you are still on the line.

Remember that you have time to vote between 7am and 10pm, and that you must bring a form of photographic identification in order to be allowed to vote. These include passports issued by the UK, EEA states or members of the Commonwealth, driving licenses, bus passes, biometric immigr...

The next pair of episodes of the podcast Success Beyond the Score, season 2, bring us to meet and talk to the brilliant saxophonist Anna Brooks.

She is an international touring and recording artiste with the Brooklyn Funk Essentials and Joolz Holland Rhythm and Blues Orchestra. Additionally, she is a music arranger, music director, music preparation specialist and singer. She is also a teacher at the Birmingham Conservatoire.

In the first part, Anna describes herself in the musical world, and then comments on how she balances family commitments and touring. We talk about the pros and cons of having a music degree, and why being self-taught rocks! She also talks about her instrument preferences, dealing with mistakes, and what it’s like being the only female in a band.

In the second part, we delved into how we coped with COVID-19; tips for transitioning your music into a full-time professional career; how Anna started her music career just six weeks after the birth of her sons; mu...

He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying.
—Friedrich Nietzsche, in ‘Thus Spoke Zarathustra’

This quote invites me to reflect about the process inherent to creativity. What comes before what when learning how to be an artist —musician or otherwise. Why is it like this, and how it conciliates with the notion of "learning by doing."

• How does the idea expressed by this quote make you think about your creative process?
• How does this impact your music journey?

I would love to read what you think.

Continuing with our journey down memory lane, today we bring the two episodes of the podcast Success Beyond The Score dedicated to the award-wining international operatic soprano Abigail Kelly.

Her engagements include a variety of roles, like the female lead in the ‘The Marriage of Figaro’, which she performs in various languages – Italian, Russian, German and French. Abigail is the Ambassador for the National Touring Opera and is passionate about making opera available to all. Abigail is a workshop leader and vocal tutor and has been featured in Black Hair and Beauty magazine.

In the first part, episode 6, Abigail explains why she chose to become an operatic soprano, the things opera singers do which singers in other genres do not, her journey to becoming a full-time musician, and the impact that COVID-19 had on her life and career.

In the second part, Abigail gives her insights on how to bounce back; dealing with fame and the mundane; tips for building a full-time music career...

Contracts, regulations, taxes, liabilities, trademarks and copyright. There is a big legal side to working as a musician. Not all of us, particularly those who are just starting, can afford hiring a professional to take care of that. Even if you have the resources, you still need to know your way around legislation to better communicate with your advisors, protect yourself and your audience.

With all this in mind, on Wednesday 22 April 2026, Millicent will be teaching a FREE webinar via Zoom about legal know-hows for gigging musicians. It is open to everybody who has access to the internet and wants to learn! All you need to do is sign-up following this link.

If you would like to have an idea of how the sessions go, here we have a couple of examples.

• Click here to watch a segment of the session about how to promote your music.
• Click here to watch the answer to a question submitted by a participant to that same session.

Please, share this event with everybody who could be inter...

On this Easter Sunday, let's continue revisiting season 2 of the podcast Success Beyond The Score, introducing the next guest: Louise Dengate.

Louise is an exceptional vocalist and coach. After finishing her music degree, she first became a receptionist, but realised that it was not for her, and set out to grow her music into a full time career. She now has a Gospel choir, does teaching, coaching and has a music agency. During the pandemic, she navigated by developing her passion about psychology and the stage, and worked together with her husband, who is also a full-time musician, to continue their careers while also growing their family.

Here is the first part of the interview:

And here is the second part, where Louise talks about her career highs and lows, the challenges of being a female director, how to make music your career, and some truths about reality TV competitions and their influence on success:

We hope you enjoy hearing Millicent and Louise's conversation again....

It has been some time since we updated and refreshed the website. Whilst it accommodates our needs, we think we can make it clearer and easier to navigate. There are also some resources and pages that we would like to highlight better, so you can get all the benefits of being part of this community.

For this reason, we will be overhauling our page in the upcoming months. If, while using the site, you have thought about something you would like to see adjusted, added or removed, now is the perfect time to let us know. We are also all ears in regard to the kind of content you would like us to provide in addition to what we already have. 

We will seek to address all concerns and ideas forwarded our way. To communicate with us, please send an e-mail to info@millicentstephenson.com.

Thank you, and we hope that you are looking forward to seeing the new look and functionality of Success Beyond The Score!

Signups are open for the FREE webinar, ‘15 ways to promote your music online and offline’. No matter if you do music for a living, as a side job or as a hobby, you can benefit from this knowledge to expand your reach, grow a fan base, and share your art with more people.

Here’s the key information:

• Date: 25.02.2026
• Time: 19:00h UTC+0:00.
  For reference, this is 2:30pm USA EST, 7:30pm UK, and 6:30am of the 26th AEDT
• Platform: Zoom

Click here to sign up

Anyone with an interest in promoting their music can participate. Tell your friends who are also working in music, so more people can benefit!