The artistic biography
There is no common thread that applies to everyone, as artists' profiles can be very different. Accordingly, there is no universal way to write an artistic biography. Not all of the points listed below will therefore have the same relevance for everyone. The following recommendations should serve as food for thought to help you optimize your individual biography.
The target audience
Who are you writing this biography for? For an organizer who is to invite you, or for the audience? As a rule, when writing a biography, you are addressing the organizer as the recipient. A biography should therefore not resemble a marketing text.
A biography for an organizer should certainly contain lists (e.g. concert halls, festivals, orchestras, ensembles, countries, prizes, etc.), as these can be used as evaluation indicators.
The beginning
Try to get the reader's attention as early as possible, start the biography with something recent or with strong facts.
Year of birth, place of birth and the age at which you started learning your instrument are not that relevant to start a bio with.
The tone
Be careful not to exaggerate or use superlatives in a biography (“one of the most gifted pianists of his generation” etc.). If superlatives or various adjectives are actually used, they should at least be backed up by a source (e.g. who ranked you among the best; who called you highly talented; etc.).
If the tone of a biography is moderate and modest, the biography usually comes across more strongly, as successes are seen as the norm.
Write in the third person, not in the first person.
The facts
Stick to reality and be precise. Also make sure that the biography does not contain any errors (spelling, grammar).
You don't have to include the corresponding years everywhere if they are not from the recent past. If you use year dates that are older than two years and none from the coming, current or past year, your biography may appear outdated. In this case, it is better to leave out the years.
Use your name or the name of your ensemble more often; repetition makes it easier to remember. In English-speaking countries, you can also use only your first name in the repetition, otherwise the combination of first and last name looks more professional.
Length and structure
The length of biographies naturally varies. As a standard biography, two thirds to three quarters of a DIN A4 page is recommended.
A tabular biography is not recommended for an organizer; write out the text.
Divide your biography into clear paragraphs to create a comprehensible structure. This will also make your biography easier to read. Assign content to each paragraph, for example orchestral engagements, concert halls, festivals, chamber music partners, ensembles, countries, prizes and awards, training, future engagements, etc.
Biographies are sometimes only read crosswise or obliquely. So if you make lists, put the strongest points at the beginning and end of each paragraph.
Education is of course an important part of a biography, but it can also be mentioned at a later point in the biography. The penultimate paragraph is often suitable for this.
Finale
When sending your biography, use the PDF format and not the Office/Pages/etc. format. The document opens much faster and looks better (no buttons, etc.).
You are welcome to insert a photo into this PDF document, as long as the photo is of good quality.
Use a font that is easy to read. When using it on your website, make sure that the background does not make the biography difficult to read.
If you use biographies in several languages, try to keep the structure the same or at least similar in all these versions.
To avoid having outdated biographical material in circulation, you can include the date or season in which the biography was written at the end of the text. You can also include your contact details in a biography for an event organizer or agency.
Name your biographies in the file name according to a uniform scheme to keep everything organized.
For example, according to the following pattern: “SURNAME_first_name_biography_language_short/long_season/last_change”
Some organizers make their own variants of the biographies (e.g. abbreviations). You can prevent this by inserting a sentence like the following:
“If you wish to revise this biography, please contact [insert name and e-mail of contact person here]. Please use material of the current season only.”