Lisa Bielawa	The Week of June 24th, 2007

Composer and Vocalist

1. What’s in your wallet right now?

picture of my brother and his kids, $22, receipt for a new suitcase.

2. What do you wish your parents taught you about money?

happily, they didn't teach me very much about it! i think that's good, it's allowed me to make my own discoveries about it, and form my own habits and opinions about what matters.

3. What is your worst habit around finances?

not allowing myself to buy something that will really be beneficial to me. i have to convince myself several times over that i really need something or i won't buy it. except for books - i ALWAYS buy books.

4. What makes you happy?

books.

5. Personal philosophy around money?

i've always been a freelance musician, my whole adult life. since i've never had a regular income, i've learned to live on very little if necessary. my philosophy about leaner times: if you only have $15, spend it on a very nice glass of champagne. my philosophy about times that are more flush: don't hoard it away for later. use it to live. stock up on happy memories, satisfying gestures of self-care and spontaneous acts of generosity - instead of cash. they will last longer.

6. Where does money come from?

it comes from fortuitous convergences of activity and attention.

7. What would you do with a million dollars?

divide it up among a dozen or so of my most prized and gifted friends/colleagues in the arts, so that all of us could stabilize our lives for a period of time and make work that can have real impact.

8. What is your most prized possession?

my piano, which is a 1927 steinway M.

9. Who is your role model?

i have no role model. i wish i did!

10. What is your greatest achievement?

finding a way to be happy and healthy as a freelancer in the new music field.

11. How did you decide to get into music?

my parents are musicians, so i came by it honestly. i have been writing music as long as i can remember.

12. What contributions to society do you want to make?

i want to continue to have opportunities to bring people together to have meaningful musical experiences together. seeing the way in which music animates, invigorates and inspires people - listeners, instrumentalists, children, artists in other fields, scientists - i want to keep that flame alive.

13. If you could buy one thing right now what would it be?

a very quiet month alone with my piano.

14. Favorite activity that doesn’t cost a dime?

playing the piano doesn't cost anything anymore, since the piano is already mine! but aside from that - running along riverside park in manhattan.

15. How do you indulge yourself?

the usual girl things: shoes, chocolate, the russian vodka room.

Composer/vocalist Lisa Bielawa fell in love with her Steinway M the minute she laid eyes on it in a fifth-floor New York walk-up. Moving it across town to her apartment would have meant paying thousands of dollars and getting rid of all her furniture. So when the owners vacated, Lisa moved in to their furnished apartment, piano and all. Lisa took out a credit union loan to buy the piano but a friend encouraged her to apply for an arts grant. Lucky Lisa got it. "I never had to make a monthly loan payment. I paid it all back right away and threw away the loan book."

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