Download Cindy’s budget template especially for singers. Cindy will be presenting classes at the Classical Singer Convention in San Antonio, May 23-25. See the schedule, her class description, and all that is offered as part of the Business Classes.
Spotlight on Opera, my eight-year-old community opera troupe/summer training program, tried something new this season. We established a Professional Development Series, bringing in voice teachers, stage directors, conductors, agents, and successful singers to share their expertise with singers of all levels and career tracks, offering access to resources not readily available in our area.
In keeping with our mission, we keep tuition very low. But no matter how far in advance we advertise, no matter how many e-mails and fliers and Facebook events we send out, mere days before each event my staff and I are all but begging for bookings. Most of them eventually sell out, but only after major effort on our parts.
A colleague and I bemoaned this seemingly universal problem of getting students to do anything extracurricular for their education and careers, even though seeking out such opportunities is critical. No institution, no matter how wonderful, can be a one-stop shop to transform raw talent into a complete “package” prepared to step onto the professional stage.
We agreed that motivating students to look beyond school requirements is an issue, but my colleague made a thought-provoking point. “Sometimes, I think there are just so many opportunities and so much advice, they get overwhelmed by which to pursue,” she said. “They end up paralyzed and don’t choose anything. They just can’t sort through it all.”
Establishing and navigating a singing career is indeed overwhelming—especially at the beginning, when most people have been in a highly structured educational environment for most of their lives. But a 9-to-5 job in an office, construction site, or retail store still offers structure; whereas for singers (YAPs notwithstanding), there’s likely to be a lot of frustration and wheel-spinning while they try to figure out their first solo steps.
It’s almost like being dropped off in the jungle, à la Survivor, with nothing but your audition outfit and a copy of Musical America. You need help. You need a map.
And that’s what I’m going to give you. This article is the first of a series designed to provide singers with a sort of road map to help you navigate the tangled jungle trails of a beginning career and turn them into neatly manicured garden paths that take you right where you want to go—no matter where you’re starting.
Packing for the Journey
To make a good start, you must be organized and well provisioned. This means taking time to assess the following:
• Your mission
• Your current level of ability and training
• Your current commitments
• Your resources, including time and finances
• Your attitude toward singing
Wait a minute—your attitude? Would you even be reading this if you didn’t want to be a singer? Maybe . . . maybe not. It’s pretty easy to get burned out on the daily grind—struggling to perfect a technique, going through the application process, auditioning, figuring out how to pay for coachings, and balancing your work and school and rehearsal schedules.
Sometimes people get so bogged down in the pursuit of a dream that they fail to realize that what was once a pleasure has become a tedious, unhappy obligation. Singing should be a joy—and, while the business side of things can be truly awful, to have a career you must be able to embrace on some level all aspects of the work. One way to avoid burnout is to plan carefully and use your resources wisely.
Speaking of resources, it is never too early to begin treating your singing as a start-up business, whether you’re still in school or graduated and trying to decide on your next step. Singing is more than an artistic endeavor—it’s an enterprise, and you are the CEO. Auditions, travel, and continuing education all cost money. How do you intend to fund your business? Begin saving now, even if you don’t have a specific project in mind. You probably won’t be able to fund all your endeavors from your own pocket, but having a bankroll will show prospective investors in your career that you’re serious and have thought things through.
Budgeting can be scary. Start by simply recording your income and expenses. It will help you see how much money you have and where it’s going—and once you have a handle on that, you can start making decisions about what, if anything, needs to change. We’ve created a free budget template especially for singers (Download Here). Feel free to personalize it with the categories that are relevant to you!
Time is another important resource which must be budgeted just as is money. Whether you’re in school or the work force, you’re probably mobbed by stuff you have to do—assignments, class time or work hours, voice lessons, new music to learn, rehearsals, applications, and deadlines. And that doesn’t even include grocery shopping, paying your bills, doing laundry, talking to your mom on the phone, or playing Candy Crush. Before you can move forward, you have to get a handle on all these demands on your time.
Begin with a list of all your responsibilities and commitments. Start with the easy stuff—what must be done daily, weekly, and monthly? What big deadlines are coming up—finals? Audition applications? Rehearsals? Discover where your time is currently going. Include things like long commutes. That’s time out of your day.
Next, figure out how much time you’re spending on each activity. How many hours per week at work or school? Rehearsal? Shopping? Surfing the Internet or watching TV? Practicing? Household chores? Where is most of your time going?
To help budget, get a big desk calendar (you can buy one for about $5 at an office supply store) and a handful of highlighters. Write in every deadline, including those for applications; every show you’re doing; every audition; every important birthday. You can even color coordinate for at-a-glance organization (blue for gigs, pink for auditions, yellow for school or job assignments, etc.). Add every new appointment or deadline to this big ol’ calendar and then, once all your obligations are noted, add the things you’d like to do so you can see where they fit in with your existing commitments.
Keep this calendar where you can easily see it every day. It’s a great reference and visual cue, and keeping an overview of your month in sight will help you plan each day and week.
You should also use Google Calendar. This free, easy tool can be color coordinated and linked to your phone or tablet and it offers customized notifications. It will help you keep appointments and deadlines, and you can easily check it from anywhere with an Internet connection. You can also share it with others who need access, such as a significant other or a voice studio.
It’s a lot of work to set up your calendars, but maintaining them only takes minutes a day. They will help keep your priorities straight and ultimately save time you might have spent scrambling to cover forgotten deadlines.
But time and money aren’t your only resources. You also have your skill set, which requires periodic review. Assess your current abilities and experience level. What’s in good shape and what needs work? Consider things like these:
• Vocal technique
• Acting skills
• Languages and diction
• Health/fitness/image
• Experiences/roles you need to add to your résumé
• Experiences you need to make you a well-rounded person
Make a list of what you need, and—here’s a very important rule—no judgment allowed. Now is not the time to berate yourself if you think you “should” have already accomplished this or that or to compare yourself to other singers. “Should”s are crippling wastes of time. Be honest and gentle. Don’t be afraid to dream big, juicy dreams. Write down what you want as well as what you need.
This information will aid you in defining your mission and deciding which opportunities best support that. There are many rewarding ways to sing professionally, but the challenges and skill set facing a church music director, an elementary school music teacher, a professional chorister, and an opera soloist are vastly different. What kind of life do you want to have? Find out what it’s really like for someone living that life—otherwise, you may be in for some unpleasant surprises.
Do you want a family? Do you like living out of a suitcase for months on end? Do you crave stability or are you fine with not knowing exactly where you’re going to be working more than a few months in advance? Do you need a consistent salary or can you deal with budgeting on the fly? Is your partner supportive of your career aspirations? Are you willing to move to a city where you have better opportunities? What happens if that’s not the best place for your partner or family to be? These are important considerations when deciding what kind of life and career you want to establish.
Businesses write mission statements to define why they are in business and make sure they stay focused on their goals. You should do the same. Encapsulate, in a few sentences, the reasons you’re putting all this time and money and soul into training to be a singer. What, ultimately, do you hope to get out of it? Why are you in this business?
Completing these steps may seem like a lot of work—but remember, you’re building a business. You’re investing time, money, and energy now so that later you’ll be able to conserve and maximize your resources. Next time, we’ll discuss setting goals and choosing a direction.
