When Madison Tallman graduates next month, she’ll take away more than a degree—she’ll take a community with her.
Tallman moved to Boulder from Colorado Springs, struck by how tight-knit the College of Music is. “I just love the community here,” she says. “I have really enjoyed getting to work with fellow students and build strong relationships with other people.
“I think it makes us much better musicians when we know people on a personal level because music is such a personal thing.”
Alongside performing, Tallman leveraged the College of Music’s business offerings: She’ll graduate with a Bachelor of Music in flute performance as well as a Music Entrepreneurship certificate and business minor. “I like having a balance of tangible results—like working in the nonprofit world—and very subjective results, like playing music. I like having both. I think it’s a nice balance.”
Business courses empowered Tallman to build practical skills for potential future entrepreneurial ventures. “For the music entrepreneurship capstone, I’m working on studio materials for when I want to start a private studio,” she says. “I think that’s really important.
“There are so many aspects of that, like setting up an LLC and payments and all these nitty-gritty things—I’m really glad that I have the tools and resources to learn those kinds of things now.”
Tallman’s future goals also include playing chamber music and working in the nonprofit sector. She explains, “I want to work for a nonprofit that does outreach to make arts more accessible in schools. I actually had a personal experience with that—in fifth grade through middle school, the arts were not funded by my school. I think it’s important that kids have arts experience.”
Next year, Tallman will continue her journey in both performance and management—she’s starting a master’s program in music and arts management at Colorado State University. “I’m super excited!”
Congratulations to Madison and all of our winter 2023 and spring 2024 graduates!
