Sirena Huang: a master of violin-- and storytelling for brand management.

Sirena Huang may give one of most the dazzling violin performances you’ve ever heard from an eleven-year old, but her playing isn’t the reason I find her magical.  What captivates and inspires me about her is her own storytelling and branding ability.

She not only plays her instrument beautifully, but she has researched its construction and the physics theory behind it in order to find beauty in the sixteenth century technology.  She admires its elegant design--not just a musical instrument, but also as a innovative lightweight compact structure capable of large sound production ad a wide variety of timbres.

Huang speaks of the entertainment value of finding humor in music—she speaks of enjoying bow “swordplay” early in her musical career and relates anecdotes of humorous musicians she has had the pleasure of meeting.  However, I am most impressed with her own combination of lecture—a clear entertaining explanation of why she does what she does—with her performance.  Being able to speak about her art so eloquently and on a basic level that relates to her audience gives her a character far more memorable than so many other musicians who may surpass her in virtuosity.  Combine this with the fact that she is only eleven years old, and has learned how to brand and market herself and speak about why her work is important, and we find that Ms. Huang is an entertainment delight to be reckoned with.  Today barely a teenager, she gets the entertainment business as a total picture.

So, what can we artists and creative professionals learn from Sirena Huang?  We can learn that being amazing at what we do is only part of the battle.  We need to not only continually hone our craft, but we need to be able to market ourselves effectively in order to make sure we have a career.  And, it's really helpful if we can take time to stop and recognize the beauty and elegance of technology and design that go into creating the tools that we use to make art.