PROJECT JUMPSTART PRESENTS
THE 8TH ANNUAL INNOVATION COMPETITION
February 6, 2021
Open to any student enrolled in the Jacobs School of Music
1st prize: $1,500
2nd prize: $1,000
3rd prize: $250 (x 2)
Present Your Own, One-of-a-Kind Entrepreneurial Project
Mentoring provided to all entrants!
We’re excited to be holding the eighth annual Project Jumpstart Innovation Competition as part of our mission to spark innovation and encourage creativity in the Jacobs School–and this year, it’s completely virtual! If you’re interested in developing an innovative project, or if your student group or ensemble would like to present an idea, follow these simple steps:
- DEVELOP AN INNOVATIVE & ENTREPRENEURIAL IDEA
This can include a performance project, an app, a service, a festival, or a residency. Not sure about your idea? Come to our info/brainstorming session on Thursday, November 19, 1-2pm (Zoom registration link). - DEVELOP YOUR PROJECT
Plan out your project in more detail at the Project Workshop on Tuesday, December 8–drop in anytime between 1-3pm (Zoom registration link here)! You’ll also work closely with mentors at the OECD in the weeks following so that you can feel confident and comfortable in front of the judges on the day of the competition. - WRITE A STATEMENT OF INTEREST
Deadline: Friday, December 11
Write a brief (200 word max) description of what you’re interested in doing for the Innovation Competition and send it to jumpstar@indiana.edu. - SUBMIT A COMPLETE PROPOSAL
Deadline: Friday, January 22
Email your complete proposal with any accompanying media (links to media work as well) to jumpstar@indiana.edu. - PRESENT YOUR PROPOSAL
Saturday, February 6 | 10am-1pm | Zoom
Finalists will be invited to present their project proposals to a friendly panel, made up of Jacobs School faculty and administration, a representative from the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Kelley School of Business, and a member of the greater Bloomington community.
We can’t wait to see the entrepreneurial minds of the Jacobs School come together for what is sure to be a thrilling event! Please let us know if you have any questions by writing to jumpstar@indiana.edu.
LAST YEAR’S WINNERS
The seventh JSoM Innovation Competition took place on Saturday, February 1, 2020 with eight contestants who presented an impressive variety of proposals. The First Prize of $1,500 went to Austin Pancner (DM, Trombone), for his project “The Functional Musician.” The Second Prize of $1,000 went to Luc LaChapelle (MM, Music Scoring and Visual Media), for “Lesson Virtuoso.” The Third Prize of $500 went to Jordan Plunkett (BSoF, Oboe and Arts Management), for “A Musician’s Journal.” Hats off to the finalists as well – Hippocrates Cheng, Emma Goulet, Luc LaChapelle, Bryan Page, Aron Frank, and Ben Jacob.
Our thanks to The Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Kelley School of Business for their support and mentoring of the project. Directed by competition judging chair Dr. Donald Kuratko (Dr. K), the JCEI has been a steadfast supporter of this competition from its inception. We’re also grateful to the three additional judges this year – Sean Starowitz (City of Bloomington), Robin Lasek (Director of Communications at the JSoM) and Monika Herzig (Senior Lecturer in Arts Management at the O’Neill School and jazz entrepreneur).
THE PROJECTS!
The Functional Musician | Austin Pancner (Winner)
The Functional Musician offers online health and wellness services dedicated to helping performing musicians develop a holistic approach to life – one that perfectly complements their lifestyle. Through functional strength training, mobility, and sustainable nutrition habits, musicians are taught how to reach peak physical performance and stay there for the rest of their lives. The Functional Musician currently offers subscription services for nutrition coaching and customized workouts based around client goals and needs. The next phase in development is titled “Mobility for Musicians,” a subscription-based service that contains several different components, including resources, exercise programs, mobility workouts, as well as pre-performance and recovery mobility workouts.
See Austin’s Website here: The Functional Musician
Lesson Virtuoso | Luc LaChapelle (Second Prize)
The goal of Lesson Virtuoso is to elevate the quality and profitability of remote music lessons by providing private instructors with the tools necessary to create valuable and engaging learning experiences on par with, or in certain cases exceeding, traditional in-person lessons. The features of Lesson Virtuoso include those already present in other online lesson providers such as optimized audio, improved latency and reliability, file sharing, media playback, lesson scheduling tools, lesson recording and playback, screen sharing, an online directory of instructors, and a convenient browser-based version for students.
Assistant Principal: A Musician’s Journal | Jordan Plunkett (Third Prize)
A specialized journal that bridges the gap between artistic expression (which tends to be relatively carefree) and strict organization (which is on the structured side). Both are necessary for a serious musician.
FINALISTS
Cross-Cultural Music Collective | Hippocrates Cheng (Finalist)
Through the development of a performing ensemble, CCMC encourages Western-classical musicians and scholars to know more about, understand, and appreciate different kinds of music in the world. Among its goals, CCMC encourages local art creation and organizes concert and performance workshops in Hong Kong and U. S. It also promotes both traditional and new music written for a mixed combination of instruments and singers from different cultures.
Expression | Emma Goulet (Finalist)
Expression is a collaboration tool for conservatory students that matches the need for performance with opportunities in the community. Similar to a ‘gig’ service that currently operates out of the Jacobs School of Music (Musical Attractions), Expression takes potential to the next level by harnessing social media platforms, business networks, and the power of a dedicated website. Expression’s integration into the life of the conservatory student enables it to be an education tool that teaches students how to market themselves, how to recognize opportunity in their community. Likewise, it serves as an entry point for employers looking for high-end musicians to perform at a large variety of events.
Sostenuto | Bryan Page (Finalist)
Sostenuto is a media entity that has the mission of bringing attention to the health of our planet by exposing where our ecosystem needs help through the use of musicians and media. The company will produce powerful music videos by bringing exceptional artists to areas that are in a state of environmental devastation. These issues can range from highly polluted beaches to forest fires to oil spills, hurricanes and more. Through cross-posting, partnerships and artist collaboration, Sostenuto will quickly gain a following and combat the difficulties of organic growth. Sostenuto will have a presence on Tik Tok, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook, as well as having its own website. The potential exists for the project to integrate with established media giants such as VEVO and National Geographic.
The Americas Chamber Orchestra | Aron Frank (Finalist)
The Americas Chamber Orchestra (ACO) is a professional chamber orchestra which activates artistry and promotes cultural awareness among its musicians and the communities which they serve, through innovative musical projects. As a performing ensemble of the 21st century, we seek to reimagine the ways in which classical music and other genres are presented before a general public. In doing so, we produce innovative performances which engage communities by drawing upon our cultural surroundings. We believe this is a meaningful path forward for classical music, and that our ensemble will become one of the leading ambassadors in this movement towards reimagining performance. Comprised of musicians at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, ACO was created out of two major needs identified in classical music: a necessity for redefining the way that classical, contemporary, and traditional music is presented before a general public; and a necessity for the professional development of classically-trained musicians currently studying in conservatories.
Thunder Perfect Mind | Ben Jacob (Finalist)
The BASILICA Music and Multimedia Performing Arts Organization will present THUNDER PERFECT MIND III: An Ecstatic Celebration of Cycles and Synchronicities in commemoration of the 2020 Autumnal Equinox. This large-scale immersive interactive interdisciplinary installation-performance production will feature performances by musicians, dancers, poets and works by video and ambient sound artists to create a spectacle of sight, sound, words, ideas, and emotions whose synthesis will address profound considerations of such fundamental elements of the human experience as time, being, meaning, community, and cosmic order and chaos. The wide variety of both traditional and experimental performing and visual arts involved will provide the audience with a radically inclusive multicultural multimedia experience whose intensity of contrasts will encourage transcendent reflections on the nature of existence in a forum that is open to all ages and will be free of charge.