Overcoming fear of rejection and taking your career into your own hands with Dimitri MALIGNAN (part 2)

Michelle Lynne:  So with this US thing, can you talk a little bit about your entrance angle and if you wanna mention the collaboration with Lily? ‘Cause that’s like a really cool story.

Dimitri Malignan: Yes. And one thing I can mention too is the importance indeed of collaboration. So you mentioned, uh, Lily Arbisser is a, uh, singer I know from the US and, uh, for example, you know, we just started exchanging some emails, uh, some years ago because, uh, of my, uh, so I have this project Missing Voices, dedicated to, uh, the works and lives of, uh, Jewish composers who were persecuted in the Holocaust. And that’s a very dear project of mine I’ve been handling for the last, five years now.

Michelle Lynne: Was your master’s thesis…

Dimitri Malignan: It was my master’s, uh, thesis and just developed to be, you know, the project of my life, basically. And I’ve been doing CDs and concerts… and all kinds of nice things. And, uh, Lily was also interested in this kind of repertoire. She was doing her own concerts, um, back in the US, started exchanging ideas.

Michelle Lynne: Well, she found your documentary on YouTube.

Dimitri Malignan: Precisely, and she reached out on my website, email address, which I never check.

Michelle Lynne: But that’s, that’s crazy that someone— ’cause people are always pushing back on posting and sharing and content and so you put your documentary up that you created with your thesis. A complete random stranger in the US finds it, emails you, and then

Dimitri Malignan: So one of my big, uh, you know, the thing I started to realize a lot in the last years is that big things rarely happen, like on the first encounter with someone. Like, it’s never when you first have, uh, an exchange of emails or when you first meet a presenter or whatever, that something happens. It’s always after a couple of times, three, four times, after many years, sometimes that actually something develops. So you have to be super patient. You have to consider that this is a, a marathon. You know, we are not doing a sprint here, so,

Michelle Lynne: Unless you’re doing this social media sprint, which is our six-week program for social media. We will teach you how to make an artist brand— content creation. And I have a story about the sprint after that I wanna share. So yes— no, but it’s, it’s important because one of the girls in the sprint just got DMed by Laverne Cox who has 7 million followers and it was on Orange Is the New Black, and there were, anyway, very cool things happen when you start posting, which we’ll talk about— your content later ’cause your content’s also taken an interesting turn.

Dimitri Malignan: Yeah. And so Lily reached out to me. We exchanged emails, we had, uh, I had a project of a concert in New York. I wanted to perform with her. Didn’t happen. Then the year after, I was, uh, supposed to go to Canada, for some concerts because of the royal competition. I won in 2021. And, uh, I got a gig in Montreal and I said, “Yeah, why not try it?” To reach out to Lily again and see what’s possible to do in the US because, I mean, it’s nearby while you’re on the continent. And, uh, then she had some ideas of, uh, because she knew some venues and places and we had a couple of concerts last year. And then, uh, we repeated this, uh, experience this year with even more concerts. So it’s very important to reach out to musicians who have, you know, like, especially as a pianist, if you reach out to singers or string players or wind players who, most of the time, need actually a pianist. So it’s good to collaborate with them because they will have ideas for concerts and, uh, they will need a pianist. So then you can collaborate to get to meet people you get to perform and to make new connections. And then you can also, of course, offer yourself to perform with these, uh, musicians. So for example, you know, I’ve been collaborating in Europe with a lot of musicians as well, with, uh, another singer, ETA Andina. Uh, we did, uh, a CD together and, uh, with also violinist Sara Bain. We did, uh, three concerts in, uh, France, uh, in January. And…, you know, it’s a 50/50 thing. You know, the collaborator has concert ideas, you have concert ideas, and then it just— it’s just very important.

Michelle Lynne: I mean, I mean, I wanna push back on you because I know a little bit about the details. I mean, in Asia, you’re, you’re booking like three or four or five for November, right? And you’ve, you’ve played, you’ve played dozens of times in France. So I mean, I understand maybe the feeling of rejection has been higher in France than these cold pitches that you’re setting that are surprisingly working for you.

Dimitri Malignan: I mean, most of my concerts are still outside of France— like I would say more than 50% in any case, which

Michelle Lynne: Okay.

Dimitri Malignan: You know, I’m glad to play abroad. That’s not an issue…

Michelle Lynne: Okay. But I would like to perform for sure more in France. But it’s a tough, uh, tough market. Okay.

Dimitri Malignan: A topic for another podcast. But, um, I was saying, even in the Netherlands where I studied, it’s also, you know, a country where there are lots of musicians and, uh, I try to perform there and I perform from time to time, but I would like to perform more. But yeah, people have their own circle of musicians they want to, uh, promote…

Michelle Lynne: Yeah, that’s important. That’s important. Okay. So with this US thing, can you talk a little bit about your entrance angle and if you wanna mention like the collaboration with Lily? ‘Cause that’s like a really cool story.

Dimitri Malignan: Yes. And one thing I can mention too is the importance indeed of collaboration. So you mentioned, uh, Lily Arbisser is a, uh, singer I know from the US and, uh, for example, you know, we just started exchanging some emails, uh, some years ago because, uh, of my, uh, so I have this project Missing Voices, dedicated to, uh, the works and lives of, uh, Jewish composers who were persecuted in the Holocaust. And that’s a very dear project of mine I’ve been handling for the last, five years now.

Michelle Lynne: Was your master’s thesis…

Dimitri Malignan: It was my master’s, uh, thesis and just developed to be, you know, the project of my life basically. And I’ve been doing CDs and concerts… and all kinds of nice things. And, uh, Lily was also interested in this kind of repertoire. She was doing her own concerts, um, back in the US, started exchanging ideas.

Michelle Lynne: Well, she found your documentary on YouTube.

Dimitri Malignan: Precisely, and she reached out on my website, email address, which I never check.

Michelle Lynne: But that’s, that’s crazy that someone— ’cause people are always pushing back on posting and sharing and content and so you put your documentary up that you created with your thesis. A complete random stranger in the US finds it, emails you, and then

Dimitri Malignan: So one of my big, uh, you know, the thing I started to realize a lot in the last years is that big things rarely happen, like on the first encounter with someone. Like, it’s never when you first have, uh, an exchange of emails or when you first meet a presenter or whatever, that something happens. It’s always after a couple of times, three, four times, after many years, sometimes that actually something develops. So you have to be super patient. You have to consider that this is a, a marathon. You know, we are not doing a sprint here, so,

Michelle Lynne: Unless you’re doing this social media sprint, which is our six-week program for social media. We will teach you how to make an artist brand— content creation. And I have a story about the sprint after that I wanna share. So yes, no, but it’s, it’s important because one of the girls in the sprint just got DMed by Laverne Cox who has 7 million followers and it was on Orange Is the New Black and there were— anyway, very cool things happen when you start posting, which we’ll talk about your content later ’cause your content’s also taken an interesting turn.

Dimitri Malignan: Yeah. And so Lily reached out to me. We exchanged emails, we had, uh, I had a project of a concert in New York. I wanted to perform with her. Didn’t happen. Then the year after, I was, uh, supposed to go to Canada, for some concerts because of the royal competition. I won in 2021. And, uh, I got a gig in Montreal and I said, “Yeah, why not try it?” To reach out to Lily again and see what’s possible to do in the US because, I mean, it’s nearby while you’re on the continent. And, uh, then she had some ideas of, uh, because she knew some venues and places and we had a couple of concerts last year. And then, uh, we repeated this, uh, experience this year with even more concerts. So it’s very important to reach out to musicians who have, you know, like, especially as a pianist, if you reach out to singers or string players or wind players who, most of the time, need actually a pianist. So it’s good to collaborate with them because they will have ideas for concerts and, uh, they will need a pianist. So then you can collaborate to get to meet people—you get to perform and to make new connections. And then you can also, of course, offer yourself to perform with these, uh, musicians. So for example, you know, I’ve been collaborating in Europe with a lot of musicians as well, with, uh, another singer, ETA Andina. Uh, we did, uh, a CD together and, uh, with also violinist Sara Bain. We did, uh, three concerts in, uh, France, uh, in January. And… you know, it’s a 50/50 thing. You know, the collaborator has concert ideas, you have concert ideas, and then it just— it’s just very important.

Michelle Lynne: So you’re saying that you find venues, people to pitch to intuitively. But how do you keep track so you don’t forget? Oh yeah, I talked to them about a project. I mean, that’s where things can fall through the cracks.

Dimitri Malignan: I do forget. I’m not perfect. So, uh, I probably need some more sessions from, from TFA, but I’m getting better at that. Um, trying to get more structure. I’m trying to— sometimes I have a, you know, Google Docs where I put, you know, uh, the list of people I’ve reached out to or I want to reach out to,

Michelle Lynne: Yeah.

Dimitri Malignan: And, uh,

Michelle Lynne: Can we jump to the follow-up strategy? Because I know that like this is one of the main things you said you learned from being in the Mastermind. What is the strategy for you? What are your angles? And then I’ll share a little bit about what I’ve done recently.

Dimitri Malignan: I mean, I know that some people would say, you know, like after one week you have to follow up after two weeks or whatever. I don’t have this clear pattern in my mind. I just follow up when I feel like it’s a good time and when I also have time, when I have a clear mind, you know, because also something we discussed a lot in the Mastermind is how do you, you know, handle your time between practicing—which for a pianist is many, many hours per day—and doing all the admin work, which for me was always a big stress.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah.

Dimitri Malignan: I would practice, I would think nonstop about, you know, my emails and when I would do my emails, I was stressed about not practicing.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah, exactly.

Dimitri Malignan: Learned also to handle my time better…

Michelle Lynne: I think, I think you do that exceptionally well. Now, if I know how you’ve organized— because you just had this huge concert last week in Italy. For me it’s like I get in these phases of like, “I’m so zeroed in on an upcoming program that I can’t do anything else.” Like, last night I played this new Mozart program and, Leo, and it’s like I couldn’t handle anything else. My brain is so full, like I, I can’t even look at emails or messages— just annoy me, ’cause I’m like, I have no brain space for this. I can’t do half and half or something. It’s like a, a week of this and a week of something else.

Dimitri Malignan: It’s very hard. I mean, I still have, uh, difficulties, but, uh, to get, uh, a bit more organized—and one thing I learned to do also is to handle energy levels a bit better. So,

Michelle Lynne: Yeah. We talk a lot about that in the Mastermind.

Dimitri Malignan: So, you know… during practice, when I have high energy levels— because that’s the most demanding, in any case, mentally and physically— yep, and doing the admin I’m low on energy. But, you know, I know my practice wouldn’t be so great anyway, so I can just put myself in front of the laptop… and, um, so yeah, to follow up— basically, yeah, just when I have time, when I feel it’s a good time and I would just, uh, yeah. You mention about— what do you say? So I think it’s always a little bit awkward to say, “So, uh, did you read my email?” You know, that’s a little bit passive-aggressive also, like you remind the person that they forgot to, to read your email or to answer. I usually say, “Have you had time to consider my offer?” Which is

Michelle Lynne: Oh,

Dimitri Malignan: A bit more diplomatic, you know.

Michelle Lynne: You are very diplomatic with your writing. That’s true. Yeah. That’s good.

Dimitri Malignan: I mean, one thing I learned, uh, from you is that, indeed, in this collaboration mindset, uh, with the venue, is that you have to pat them on the back a little bit too. You know, you have to show them interest and show them that you are genuinely interested in performing with them— not that they understand that you are writing the same email to a hundred, uh, venues.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah.

Dimitri Malignan: So I’m trying always to be a little bit specific,

Michelle Lynne: Yeah.

Dimitri Malignan: According to what they usually program, what they, what musicians they usually, uh, have. Uh, yeah, I’m trying to just give a little compliment, you know, like, “Oh, I love your series because, you know, whatever.” And,

Michelle Lynne: Just showing general interest. I mean, everybody listening to this needs to read How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. It’s from the thirties. It’s outdated language, but the concepts ring true. Show interest in the other person. Be specific. Show them that you actually care. A little bit of empathy. I am assuming you’re busy. Yes. Thank you for giving the presenter a little bit of grace. They’re getting hundreds of emails all the time, and if you come in with a, “Did you see my email?” it’s just gonna be a little bit more annoying for them. It’s a nagging thing, rather than coming in as a generous “Hi, just wondering if we could chat.”

Dimitri Malignan: Yeah. And one thing I also started to do, which, uh, because I found it was a bit of a waste of time, you know, when you send like your full CV or your full biography or presentation document— whatever— they never actually have time to read through all of this. If you just give a few bullet points in the email of whatever achievements you have, or just give a link to your website if you have a good one, and they will make their own mind about it. You know, like I stopped doing the full résumé thing because they never have time to read through it. And if they actually answer and they are, you know, responsive to what you say, of course you can send more information and get into more detail. And that’s a, a thing also, like we discussed, uh, about how you handle the fee question with the venue. Again, that’s something you don’t want to bombard on someone on the first email, like, “Hi, my fee is that, please hire me.” You know, you have to be a little bit smart, a little bit, you know, gracious. And second or third email, you start talking money, you know, and see— first you have to see if you have a good contact with the, with the venue, and be flexible in any case.

Michelle Lynne: So, so many people skills. I teach this in my entrepreneurship class. I tell ’em all the time, like, you need two things to make it as a musician: you need to be really good at your instrument and you need to know how to talk to people— because all of this back and forth game, and it’s not manipulative. It’s just like the art of relationship. Like, hello, get to know each other, connect, build the relationship first. And then, as you’re saying, like fees come in later at a later email, and then— well, maybe people listening would say, “Well then, how do you know if they’re even within budget?” Like, let’s say your concert fee is seven or eight hundred and their max is two, two or three. How do you not waste your time pitching to venues that weren’t even worth it in the first place?

Dimitri Malignan: Yeah, I mean, of course there is a bit of hit and miss and sometimes the conversation drags a little bit too much and then when you actually mention the money issue, then they say, “Ah, actually we don’t have that budget.” Okay, that’s too bad. But it is what it is. I mean, it’s something you have to go through.

Michelle Lynne: And would you, would you play for less than your fee currently? What? How do you make that decision?

Dimitri Malignan: So it depends a lot on, like, first of all, do I— is it an extra amount of time and preparation to do that concert… So what I’ve started to do is that whenever it’s a concert where, you know, I can choose the program myself, the repertoire myself, for example, when it’s free, program, and it doesn’t add on my plate too much preparation, you know, I’m happy to do it for a lower fee. That’s fine. I just need also the experience to play and to get to know people and, uh,

Michelle Lynne: To use it for next opportunities.

Dimitri Malignan: Exactly. And for content also, you know, if it’s, you can film and you can have some good social media content and in a post-COVID era, it’s important to play in any case, you know, because we had a couple of years of not playing, so it’s good for your artist history and musicianship to play whenever, you know, they start to be like, specific on the program. Like, uh, they want this piece, you know, uh, it’s in a—or if it’s in a period where you’re playing a totally different repertoire, uh, you have, uh, someone, you know, asking for something specific and it adds a lot of time and preparation, then you have to consider what is more valuable. You know, because time is money, you know? So if you waste— I mean, in quote, if you spend, let’s say, more time on this concept, but the money you earn is not worth the time you spent, then maybe the concept is not worth it,

Michelle Lynne: Or if you’ll get to play the repertoire multiple times. Like, yeah. Last night for me, a candlelight—I had written and said, “Can you learn this new Mozart and Chopin program?” And I was like, “Yeah, sure, but can I do it a bunch?” Because it is so hard and I would love to play again. And currently they don’t have it booked another time. But I said yes because I was like, “You know what? I need to learn this for me. I should just be able to play these pieces. This is good for my development.” So that helped me make that decision.

Dimitri Malignan: And then if, I would be obliged, let’s say, to get this concert because it’s a good concert, even if it’s, uh, with a different repertoire, then I would be, of course, glad to have money that I would consider is right for the amount of time spent for that. So,

Michelle Lynne: Right.

Dimitri Malignan: Get into that discussion with the, with the presenters, like, you, do it graciously, you know. You don’t go like, uh, “Hi, my fee is, uh, 1200.” I say, “Based on similar concerts… I had in the recent month in similar sized venues or festivals, the usual fee was 1200.”

Michelle Lynne: Also, that’s social proof for the presenter to know like, “Oh, this is current market rates; this is what he’s getting in other places.” So if I’m playing less, I should be aware that I’m getting paid less at least.

Dimitri Malignan: Exactly. Uh, I had, uh, an experience like this very early on in my career, so it was probably 20 or something. And there was a festival—they invited me and they said, “Uh, it’s 150 Euros.” And, uh, I said, “Listen, guys, I mean, it’s quite low compared to other similar gigs, you know, like even in, I mean, in France, I, I must say, it’s quite well… well paid generally in festivals. They always give, you know, five, 600, you know, it’s kind of the average.” So 150 was very low. And they said, “Ah, yes, but we are, we are not, uh, a big festival. We are not logged on.” And I said, “That’s, uh, no, that’s not true. You know, because there are some smaller festivals who also, uh, give five, 600. You know, you don’t need to be logged on in Toronto to give five, 600 because 150 is the price— is the, the money you give to the piano tuner, uh, for one hour of work.” So they consider that you go play a concert one hour of work. But of course it’s the whole hours you put in beforehand of preparation…

Michelle Lynne: But if they’re concert presenters, they shouldn’t even be thinking like that. They should know what it takes us to get on stage and present and perform.

Dimitri Malignan: And then they said, “Ah, since you are, you know, such a big shot now,” they said, “We are increasing to 250.” I was like, “Very, very nice. Thank you very much.”

Michelle Lynne: Since you’re such a big shot. Wow. That could have been, like, them being very passive-aggressive too about that.

Dimitri Malignan: And that’s the experience, you know, when you are young artists. And unfortunately I didn’t have guidance back then. You know, I said, you know, I was fresh out of conservatory, uh, competitions and everything. I was in the mindset, kind of old school, you know, from your teachers that, “Yeah, you do all the courses… You win competitions and everything will go well.”

Michelle Lynne: Yeah,

Dimitri Malignan: No, absolutely not.

Michelle Lynne: I had that. I had that too. They’re like, “Just, you know, practice really hard, work hard. It’ll be okay.” Like, okay,

Dimitri Malignan: I— I wish TFA was there five years ago, but

Michelle Lynne: What other follow-up strategies do you have besides email? Will you do anything else?

Dimitri Malignan: So I’m not a phone person. I know many people are—

Michelle Lynne: I.

Dimitri Malignan: People, but, uh, I, I never phone because I find it a little bit intrusive also in a way, you know, like, if it’s someone you know— okay, maybe—but if it’s someone you don’t know, I find it a little bit intrusive to call.

Michelle Lynne: You didn’t grow up. I am, I’m, I’m a lot older than you. You didn’t grow up how I did when, like, your best friend would phone you every day because that’s how we talked. I mean, phoning is very normal. You just phone. But I know, I know. I think now it’s like more of an arrangement. Like, “Can I give you a call sometime this afternoon?” You send that as a text and then they agree, and then now you have to like agree to call people.

Dimitri Malignan: But, uh, yeah, I don’t push too much… if they’re on social media, and that’s something you, taught me, actually. I try to, uh, you know, put a, like, put a comment, uh, DM something, uh, if they post a, story, whatever— just

Michelle Lynne: DM something unrelated. That’s— this is the golden. If you have listened this far into this podcast—which is the longest episode we’ve ever done— then here’s your golden ticket. Okay. You, you write them about something, they post a funny story or something about politics that you agree with or whatever it is. Just like, give a thumbs up, give a fire emoji. Be like, “Yes, this is awesome. Uh, their dog. Oh, what a cute dog.” Anything to get you front of mind on them. And then they’re gonna think, “Oh yeah, I’m meant to get back to you.” Here she is.

Dimitri Malignan: Yeah, no, for sure. Yeah. And that’s a very efficient, uh, tip. But then if I see, you know, after two or three emails that they actually didn’t reply, I just leave it like that. I’m not, uh, worried that much about it anymore.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah. I recently had this thing where somebody came to a candlelight concert and then, uh, spoke to me after and, and asked me to come play at his summer festival. It was, it’s for like a huge amount of people. He asked me, “You know, can you, could you play for 5,000?” I was like, “Of course I can.” And, and then he took my card and, and, uh, I didn’t get his email, which was dumb, but I— then I had to DM someone else to get his name and then I started harassing him via multiple channels. I emailed his website— no answer— emailed his, uh, went on Facebook, added a friend request, no response. Uh, then Instagram, also no response, but he’s like 70, so I don’t think he uses it. Then I commented on his post, “Hi, I sent you a DM.” Still no response. And then three days ago, LinkedIn—I sent the message and, uh, got an answer back, “Hi, Michelle, haven’t forgotten about you, your business card’s sitting on my desk.” I’m like, that’s great, but that doesn’t help me get booked, so please, you know? But anyway, I learned this from Ari Hair Stand, who— who, he’s in the pop world and he has this book called How to Make It in the New Music Business. And he said, follow up until you get the no. Until they say no. We are trying to get ahold of them because, again, they might be busy. And if they’re not interested, they can just tell you that it’s not a good fit. But you need to know that because you don’t wanna let these opportunities fall through the cracks simply because of miscommunication or disorganization, which unfortunately many musicians struggle with.

Dimitri Malignan: Yeah, I, I had one story like this actually with, uh, LinkedIn, so I was trying to find the person through like five different networks, you know, and I ended up on LinkedIn. Then he gave me a number on Telegram of, all of all systems. And then, you know, I ended up having a, having a gig in, uh, in Asia. And sometimes, like as I said, you know, I, for example, for one presenter, I stopped following up after like the third email— especially that it was a bit annoying because the person was saying that they wanted to have me on the concert. Then I followed up like, “So what are we doing?” No answer. Six months of nothing. Then I get a phone call on Christmas Day at

Michelle Lynne: That’s a good story.

Dimitri Malignan: 1:00 PM lunchtime—

Michelle Lynne: Christmas.

Dimitri Malignan: Day. Uh, “Can we do a concert in January?” So, yeah, you never know. Our career is crazy. I mean, we expect the, the unexpected sometimes.

Michelle Lynne: Christmas Day. Okay. Yeah, I mean, we, we didn’t have you back on for another episode around boundaries, around how to contact people. I once had a composer FaceTime me at 11:00 PM. I was horrified and then he hung up immediately. So of course I texted back like, “Hi,” and he’s like, “Oh no, I was just doing the thing where I needed to save your number and my phone.” So I hit dial so that I would have the number—they could add you as a contact. I’m like, “You FaceTimed me at 11:00 PM and I’ve never met you. I’ve never spoken to you.” Anyway, um, let’s talk about your content strategy. It’s taken an interesting turn. I think you posted today, uh, playing in your housecoat.

Dimitri Malignan: I mean, yeah, you’ve enabled the fearlessness, I’m afraid. So

Michelle Lynne: When you, when you came into TFA, what was your content strategy and how has it evolved to now?

Dimitri Malignan: I have none. So

Michelle Lynne: Okay.

Dimitri Malignan: Something that was interesting to me in TFA was the social media aspect of things. So you also had, sorry, guidance in this, uh, field.

Michelle Lynne: Well, my guidance is literally DMing 50 musicians who are hiding in their stories and saying, “Make this a reel… What are you doing? Make this reel…”

Dimitri Malignan: So I was really, uh, anti-reel…

Michelle Lynne: Yes.

Dimitri Malignan: So I thought it was a hassle. You know, I didn’t know how to work the thing on Instagram. I didn’t know about CapCut, Canva, whatever, you know. I was like, “This is taking way too much time.”

Michelle Lynne: Are you, are you using Canva for social media? ‘Cause then we need to talk.

Dimitri Malignan: I am.

Michelle Lynne: You are.

Dimitri Malignan: Yes.

Michelle Lynne: Canva.

Dimitri Malignan: Are we still friends?

Michelle Lynne: How are you doing? Canva. Okay.

Dimitri Malignan: Uh, I do. It’s okay.

Michelle Lynne: Okay. We’ll talk later. No, that’ll be a, it’s gonna be a personal phone call. Like, “Please let me help you with your— why are you using Canva?” Anyway, continue.

Dimitri Malignan: It was taking away too much time, but one thing that I learned was that you don’t need to necessarily post fancy reels. You know, you don’t need to spend five hours on doing a fancy reel if you don’t have, like, the proper tools to do it. You know, if you’re not a geek, a nerd and you know exactly how to do the fancy reels and you have time for that, or you have an assistant doing that for you, you don’t necessarily need to do that. You just do something simple but very consistent. You know, you post more regularly. And then when I started doing this, it drew my engagement quite considerably. And people were, you know, engaging and responsive to, to the content, which I think at first I was mostly posting, mostly serious stuff, you know, like from my concerts or whatever. And then I started posting more, let’s say, funny stuff. And, uh, yeah—that’s another side, you know, also I want to show on social media is that we are normal people. You know, we have our lives, which are, you know, not always so dramatic and so serious, you know, and we, we can also have fun, uh, on the way.

Michelle Lynne: And what’s the response when you’re more open and what kind of, what kind of content are you talking about?

Dimitri Malignan: I mean, you know, practice reels have been very, uh, efficient, you know.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah, I mean, you did the Killing Perfectionism in Classical Challenge.

Dimitri Malignan: You know, showing the behind-the-scenes a bit, you know, like, uh, not everything is perfect. And, uh, yeah, trying to be a bit, distanced from the whole, from the whole seriousness of being a musician. That’s what people want to see also on social media, you know, they want to escape a little bit, the whole drama.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

Dimitri Malignan: Some, uh, some, some uplifting funny things as well. So, yeah, posting in my robe was a controversial move,

Michelle Lynne: I mean, I was a bit surprised, but, okay.

Dimitri Malignan: But, uh, I mean, I’ve been pressured by some coaches. I remember in the summer there were the pajamas also.

Michelle Lynne: Okay, Amelia—in our Fast Forward membership, there’s also posting pajama reels. So it was like this big joke on the calls of, like, a few people posting, ’cause most people in Fast Forward have done the Killing Perfectionism in Classical Challenge. Um, I think that’s how I’m actually making a course around this. It’s gonna be, uh, my first digital course. It’ll be for the membership only around how to shift these mindsets of what— what you’ve described on this episode. I mean, the transformation that you’ve gone through. I mean, I don’t think I realize—I know, I know your story in bits and pieces, but it’s, it’s a lot to hear how much has changed for you and how, I think, how quickly you kind of grasped the concepts and then ran with it too on your own. I mean,

Dimitri Malignan: Because again, you know, I had all of these intuitions in a way. I knew more or less how it worked, but I never really took action,

Michelle Lynne: It’s like you needed permission or something, or—

Dimitri Malignan: I need confirmation, validation. Also, it’s important, you know, we have sensitive people, so if you have someone supportive—and TFA has been an extremely supportive community for me—so, um, yeah, that has enabled, uh, me to be more open about my art and fearless.

Michelle Lynne: Wow. That was beautiful. Well, thanks for sharing everything. I think there’s so much gold here. Um, what’s, what’s one thing that you want people to do after listening to this episode? What’s an action point?

Dimitri Malignan: Of course, for those who are not familiar yet with the TFA programs, I mean, I really encourage you to, uh, check it out because, I mean, either it’s Fast Forward, uh, the membership, Sprint, Mastermind, coachings—I mean, they’re different aspects… and I’m sure you can find something that is, uh, interesting for what you need, uh, at that moment, as it was important for me back then. And it still is. And second of all is just to, you know, get out there, be fearless, you know, uh, just, uh, don’t overthink everything you have to do. Like, the important thing is just to get your art out there.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah.

Dimitri Malignan: On social media and by email to presenters, you know, just do it, you know? Like the famous, uh, shoe band. Just do it and, uh, you know, results will happen, you know? But don’t overthink. That’s important. I was an overthinker. I still am to a certain extent, and, uh,

Michelle Lynne: How do you deal with rejection? If you send, if you send the 400 emails, you don’t hear back.

Dimitri Malignan: Of course it’s never pleasant. But rejection as a musician is something we have to deal with. In any case, all of our lives, you know, like I—I mean, we have more rejection in a month than most people in a year or even in many years, you know, because we just, we are freelancers. So of course we don’t have—I mean, some people have stable jobs, of course, you know, they are teachers or have positions, but as a freelancing artist, you have to get a new contract every time you have a concert… So you deal with rejections. You deal with the rejections in competitions all the time in conservatories with your teachers. You are getting criticized all the time. So that’s something I learned to protect myself from, uh, in any case, from a very young, uh, age, you know, and to just, when there is criticism, always take what you feel. It’s, is constructive. Just forget immediately about what’s not. And, uh, it’s the same with rejection. You know, like, it’s nothing personal. You— you know… I mean, sometimes they actually don’t like how you play, but it is what it is. You are an artist; you know that will happen.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah.

Dimitri Malignan: That’s part of the deal of being an artist. You cannot please everyone. You can try to please most people, but you cannot please everyone, and that’s part of the deal. So

Michelle Lynne: Yeah.

Dimitri Malignan: You just have to live with that and be a bit more distanced with this situation…

Michelle Lynne: Yeah. If I could change—I was thinking about this yesterday— if I could change one thing, I would just try to tell myself, “Don’t let things touch you so personally with this, and keep this distance with the trying, trying ideas, trying rejection, trying projects, trying to talk to people and not taking it so sensitively.” It’s so hard to separate yourself from your work, though, because we care so much.

Dimitri Malignan: I mean, of course sometimes it’s not fair, you know, when they don’t invite you, but they invite someone else who has less qualifications, let’s say, than you have.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah.

Dimitri Malignan: Feels it’s not fair, but that’s life…

Michelle Lynne: Do you go on your social media and complain about it if that happens?

Dimitri Malignan: I mean, one big thing I learned is not to complain and just to, you know, be upset about it for two hours and then move on.

Michelle Lynne: No, I’m, I’m only saying that because I’ve recently seen so much negativity in complaining on social media. I don’t know what’s going on. Maybe it’s like the political atmosphere. People are just a little bit more worked up, but it’s like people are wasting so much time and energy focusing on the wrong things, so

Dimitri Malignan: I mean, you know, like one of the most important moments in my career— so when I was doing competitions, uh, I did the Rubinstein Competition.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah. Yeah. Please tell this story, actually. Yeah.

Dimitri Malignan: So, about rejection and about how we handled that: I did the Rubinstein Competition. Um, I was not—I didn’t pass the first round and I learned about that in the evening. The next day, ’cause it was COVID still, so things were happening a bit online and with recordings and everything, the next day I had to, uh, record the first round of the Montreal Competition. So I remember I was at home,

Michelle Lynne: That’s Montreal for everyone who can’t understand what he’s saying.

Dimitri Malignan: Montreal… Yes. Uh, I was at home in the evening. I didn’t pass the first round of Rubinstein. I was quite upset about it because I thought I did a great job. You know, I played quite well because sometimes, of course, you’re not happy about how you played. But that time I was quite happy about how I played. So I found it was not fair, but still I had to play more the next day. So I had to recollect and focus, you know, ’cause if you just complain about it, then you never get out of this negative spirit. And I remember my parents were there and they were like, upset also about it because they’re parents and they care, but I told them, like, “Just chill, you know, ’cause I have to, to focus for, for tomorrow.” And I went past the first round and then I went to the finals and I won the third prize, audience prize, and Bach prize. I played the same pieces as in Rubinstein, more or less the same way I imagine. So

Michelle Lynne: You never know. Yeah,

Dimitri Malignan: A jury didn’t like, the next jury liked.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah,

Dimitri Malignan: So yeah, that’s how I deal with rejection. I just take it, uh, with a pinch of salt.

Michelle Lynne: Yeah. That’s good. And some doors are gonna open. And then you just run with those doors. I mean, you won the Bach Prize and now you have a Bach album, and then you got, you know, reviews from there. And that’s built up to your, your CD releases. I mean, you have more CDs out than I think, uh, any artist that I know for sure, your age. I’ve always been really impressed and surprised at that. That’s why I think, I think that’s why everyone thinks you’re older when you’re on the calls, or maybe it’s the beard— who knows?

Dimitri Malignan: Maybe, but the, the listeners cannot know that.

Michelle Lynne: Well, this is going on YouTube, so if you guys wanna see the hair and the beard, go check it out on YouTube. Hey, thanks for everything. You’ve shared a lot of wisdom. Um, any final thoughts? Any, uh, anything else you wanna add?

Dimitri Malignan: Be fearless.

Michelle Lynne: I—I didn’t coach you to say this. No, but it’s, it is nice that you’ve even taken on more like a facilitator role in the Fearless Artist now too. So just to show people like things can change very quickly when you start investing in yourself, taking yourself seriously, presenting yourself, getting strategies, getting focused. I mean, all the things you’ve done— I mean, your playing’s always been excellent. So it’s just been a matter of, um, putting these other strategies and boundaries in place to get you some momentum forward. And yeah, what’s coming up for you?

Dimitri Malignan: Um, so I have, uh, some concerts in Italy, uh, this, uh, spring coming up. Uh, very nice program with Schumann or Bert and Klau, Schumann bras as well. Um, and then, uh, yeah, I have this Asian tour and, uh, with concerts in India, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia. So that will be super exciting for my Asian debut, uh, CDs coming up. So with this Missing Voices, uh, CD series I’m working on with a French label and the artistic director of, uh, that series—and, uh, so we have one CD coming up in, uh, September and another one at the end of the year— so that’s all very exciting.

Michelle Lynne: Dimitri, thanks for being here today and, uh, it’s a pleasure having you on TFA. I’ll see you on the call on Tuesday. Thanks, everybody, for listening and make sure you go follow Dmitri on the socials… that is DimitriMalignan, is that right?

Dimitri Malignan: That’s perfect.

Michelle Lynne: Okay, DimitriMalignan on Instagram. We’ll follow him there. And of course, thanks for listening to the podcast. Let us know what you loved about this episode, and we’ll see you on the next one. Bye, everybody. Be fearless.