“In my view,” says David Wood after a sigh and a long reflective pause, “music has the ability to move people in a way that no other media can do. It has a way of moving a person’s soul.”
It’s late on a Thursday evening and I’m talking with Wood to better understand the history of Classical Singer magazine. Wood is the publisher and cofounder of the publication, along with his wife, CJ, under its former name, The New York Opera Newsletter. At the moment, he and I have steered away from the nitty-gritty details of the interview and he’s reflecting on the power classical music has to heal and encourage.
While I listen, it strikes me that the heart and soul of telling the story of Classical Singer lies in revealing the passion David and CJ have had for creating a community in which classical singers can find camaraderie, information, and, most fundamentally, more opportunities. “Information for your career . . . Support for your life . . . Enlightenment for your art” was the motto, printed on the front of the magazine for several years, that served as the focus of the publication.
It all started when David, CJ, and their children moved to New York City and CJ, who was a singer, found herself regularly feeling “out of the loop” when it came to finding audition information, vocal coaches, diction coaches, and other needed services.
Wood remembers the “numerous times when, at the end of the day, [CJ] would tell me of her frustrations trying to find this person, or that phone number, or someone who could coach some language. ‘Someone ought to put out a publication for singers that tells this stuff,’ she would exclaim. ‘I can’t be the only one looking for information.’”
And she was right.
David and CJ published the first New York Opera Newsletter in December of 1987. They printed the issue’s master copy on a dot matrix printer in their living room. They made 1,000 copies of that first issue (featuring a total of three audition listings), distributing them by hand to those they thought might be interested. Within the first month of publication, the magazine had six subscribers. By the end of the first year, it had subscribers in 22 states. Letters regularly arrived thanking them for this new and useful resource.
In his editorial column in the December 1991 issue, Wood acknowledged how important these letters were in the early years.
“For three years, there were many all-nighters as the small staff finished the final printing just in time for the printer’s 7 a.m. pickup. It was a grueling schedule. Singers had no idea how their letters kept the ‘Newsletter’ alive during some very bleak moments. When someone would write that they got a job, or won a competition, or knew how to handle a sticky situation due to something they read in the ‘Newsletter,’ it gave us the energy we needed to keep going (and it still does!).”
The early editions focused solely on auditions, performances, training, and other pertinent events within New York City. Shortly thereafter, it expanded to include listings within the New York tri-state area, but still maintained its focus as a local and regional publication.
“In those early years,” says Wood, “it was just a little family affair. We’d get the thing printed off and we’d actually staple it at our kitchen table. We printed off the labels on our printer and put stamps on each individual issue. . . . I took classes at NYU at night on magazine publishing. I was a banker in New York City, so I’d get off work, take the subway up to NYU in midtown and attend classes until 9 or so, then catch the train home and get home really late. But it was interesting to do because . . . I had a place to apply what I was learning.”
Cynthia Vaughn, who was later the “Newsletter’s” assistant editor, describes her experience as a charter subscriber.
“I was a bit out of the NYC audition networking loop, living 90 minutes outside Manhattan in Middletown, N. Y., and commuting to the city for lessons a few times a month,” she remembers. “The ‘Newsletter’ audition listings led to many solo gigs in New York state, places like Poughkeepsie, Libertyville, Westpoint—jobs I wouldn’t have known existed. The New York Opera Newsletter was just what I needed to stay on top of the regional New York audition scene. . . . After I left New York for Colorado and eventually Cincinnati, I continued to subscribe, even though most of the auditions were geographically out of reach. The ‘Newsletter’ kept me connected.”
“The New York Opera Newsletter emerged at a time when a singing career was a great enigma,” says Sara Thomas, current editor of Classical Singer. “There was no source of information for those looking for jobs, auditions, competitions, or even basic career advice. The ‘Newsletter’ started a dialogue, a dialogue that allowed not only communication between singers, but also with managers, general directors, teachers, coaches, and others in the business.”
The first several issues consisted largely of live performance listings and a few audition notices. After only six months, however, the first article appeared. It featured an interview with Connie Barnett, a manager with Columbia Artists Management. Readers greeted the article with such enthusiasm that articles and interviews began to appear regularly. Wood points out that it was at that point that the “Newsletter’s” direction began to be shaped by what they gathered from singers’ phone calls and letters.
“The original idea of the ‘Newsletter’ was simply an ‘information clearinghouse’ that would print information about performances, competitions, training programs, etc.,” said Wood, “but it soon became clear that singers wanted much more. There was a lot of intense feeling out there and no place to vent it. When the ‘Newsletter’ came along, with its rather spunky, open style, letters began to pour in with questions about sexual harassment, complaints about age discrimination, unfair practices, management, etc.”
“Singers had things to say and finally somewhere to say it,” Thomas adds. “This was pre-Internet. You couldn’t blog your ideas, or consult or commiserate with other singers on a forum.”
Wood adds, “CJ was determined to get this information out . . . and so we dove into some really key, important issues. We had age discrimination, mental health in singers, . . . teacher abuse, discrimination against black singers in the market, and training programs that were rip-offs. I’m really proud of the role that the magazine has taken to bring out tough issues. It was somewhat risky to do that, but it seemed to be really well received because a lot of people were having these issues, yet they were feeling like they were facing them all alone, when in fact, they were not.”
As the popularity of the magazine grew, and as singers continued to write in with questions, regular columns began to appear. When CS interviewed Dr. Anthony Jahn in the March 1991 issue as a special feature, singers responded so positively that he has written a regular column about vocal health ever since. Cindy Sadler had been involved behind the scenes for several years before she pitched the idea for her “Ask Erda” business advice column to CJ. And within the last few years, Alan Gordon, the national executive director of the American Guild of Musical Artists, has become the “go-to guy” for legal issues affecting singers and contributes regular articles responding to readers’ questions.
In addition to regular columns, the number of articles continued to expand and the magazine began to feature interviews with notable singers, conductors, and coaches in nearly every issue.
Logistically, the magazine changed considerably as well. As the magazine grew, it moved from being a newsletter assembled at the kitchen table to setting up an office in the house with a couple of staff members, to moving into its own office with a full-time staff. The original “Newsletter” was 7 x 8.5 inches and printed in black-and-white. Just after its fifth anniversary, the publication moved to a standard 8.5 x 11-inch layout and added two-color printing. In May 1997, it showcased its first true magazine layout, with nothing on the cover but headlines.
In September 1998 the name and logo changed, and so did the cover layout, creating the white-bordered cover that became standard for several years. Finally, in March 2001, the journal moved to four-color printing and then to glossy, lighter-weight paper. All these changes came about as part of an on-going effort to be as financially efficient as possible, to make the publication appear ever more professional in the public eye, and to create more efficient layouts.
In addition to the monthly print magazine, The New York Opera Newsletter entered the Cyber Age early, including articles such as “Singers on the Internet” as early as 1997, urging singers to have personal e-mail addresses and personal websites.
“We originally called the website ‘The Classical Singer Community,’” says Wood. “It was intended to be a place where singers could come and have a sense of community if they’re on the road. They could go there and find their friends and they could find information they needed . . . and we have pushed the importance of having a website for a long time. I’m particularly proud of the fact that we have a singer website product that singers can get for a cheap price, and have a good, functional, efficient website that they can put up, and change, and adapt easily. They can put their clips up, they can put their photos up, they can point people to it, and it doesn’t cost them an arm and a leg.”
By the middle of 1998, 10 years and 121 issues after its inception, The New York Opera Newsletter acknowledged that it had grown outside its original demographic and announced its name change. The July/August 1998 issue included the teaser on the front cover: “Is this the last issue of The New York Opera Newsletter?” Inside the announcement read:
“THE NEW YORK?? . . . We now reach over 4,000 singers all over the world and we are expanding to include information from all over the world.
“ . . . OPERA?? . . . Yes. But we also cover concert, oratorio, recitals, professional and amateur chorus, crossover, church jobs, other related jobs . . . and the challenges and rewards of a singer’s life.
“ . . . NEWSLETTER?? We have become a magazine, a service, a bookstore, a resource, an online community—with more growth ahead.”
With that, The New York Opera Newsletter became Classical Singer magazine.
Through all the changes the magazine has weathered as it has grown, the role it has played within the classical singing community is indisputable.
AGMA’s Alan Gordon remarks, “I know for a fact that many of our members are Classical Singer readers and use Classical Singer magazine regularly as a source of information, and we encourage our members to become subscribers. Singers who are not members of ours, or of other unions, have few places available to them to find practical advice about their lives as singers and their lives as workers. Classical Singer has provided, and continues to provide, just such a place.”
“Classical Singer has occupied, and continues to occupy, a vital and uncontested position in the classical singing industry,” adds Sadler. “It is the only publication written by and for singers, putting the interests of singers first and foremost. Two of its most valuable services are providing a starting point for the beginners in the business, and acknowledgment and encouragement for late bloomers and ‘alternate’ singers, people who aren’t primarily employed in opera.”
Vaughn certainly agrees with this.
“Classical Singer has empowered and validated our career choice and offered solutions to the challenges of being a classical singer. . . . I used to buy it for the auditions and save it for the articles. Now I buy it for the articles and tell my students about the auditions. . . . Even though I disappeared into academia after my last published article in 2002, I still subscribe to Classical Singer magazine and love to attend the CS conventions and the College Expo.”
As a highlight drawing Classical Singer’s second decade to a close, Classical Singer received a 2006 APEX Award for Publication Excellence, based on excellence in graphic design, editorial content, and overall communications effectiveness and excellence.
Staying alive and staying relevant in a niche market hasn’t always been easy, however. At times, the magazine has been criticized for “losing its edge” as it has grown. The challenge of having content that is relevant and meaningful to singers outside of the major cultural centers, as well as printing a spectrum of material that appeals to new singers, emerging singers, and established singers alike, is one that Classical Singer has increasingly faced through the years. Likewise, staying at the forefront of the singing business with the ability to push the envelope and to “ask the questions no one else is asking” remains a challenge.
Lindsey Dickson, a staff member who has worked in nearly every department of the magazine, credits the magazine’s willingness to expand beyond the printed word as the thing that keeps the magazine relevant.
“The magazine is so much a one-way street of our information going out to singers,” she says. “The convention, as an example, has been invaluable for being able to meet the people we’re sending the issues to and turning that one-way street into a two-way street. . . . For me, the conventions are the biggest highlights. After spending so many years on the phone, and communication via e-mail with subscribers, to be able to put faces with names was so wonderful!”
Mark Stoddard, the former general manager of the magazine and current marketing consultant, also gives credit to the creation of networking opportunities outside of the magazine’s pages. He cites the annual CS Convention, the Classical Singer workshops offered in cities around the United States, and the College Expo as the most prominent opportunities that have helped the Classical Singer “brand” flourish. He also credits David and CJ’s flexibility and vision for creative concepts that allow the magazine to try new advertising strategies so that advertising income can buoy the publication.
“This is a really small, niche market,” adds Wood, “so we don’t enjoy the benefit that the magazines that address a larger market have, which is developing the economy of scale that they have. We can’t do that, financially, as easily as they can. We’re also sensitive to the fact that a lot of singers don’t have a lot of money, so we want to keep this thing in an affordable range . . . balancing those two things has always been a challenge.
“ . . .CJ really wanted to have a quality product that singers could afford, and so we’ve always tried to keep it in the range of less than a voice lesson per year to receive.” (Note: Renew your subscription now at the 1987 price of $40 per year!)
Of course, there is no denying the influence of CJ Williamson, a.k.a. Carla Wood, the woman who co-founded the magazine, who was its constant inspiration, and who poured her creativity and passion into every aspect of its life.
CJ succumbed to cancer in the summer of 2005 and the classical singing community mourned her loss.
Thomas wrote a fitting memoir in the “Editor’s Note” in the October 2005 issue:
“We dedicate this issue to the unforgettable life of CJ Williamson, cut short after a brave battle with cancer. Carla had known other battles in her life, from battling abuse, to battling other health problems, to battling charlatans trying to take advantage of singers. She fought her brain tumor with the same characteristic tenacity she brought to those other battles: asking questions, gathering information, preparing well for what was to come—and most of all, making everyone who came to see
her laugh.
“I first met CJ the same way so many others did, via e-mail. I had applied for a job with the magazine as assistant editor, and we corresponded via e-mail, discussing the position and eventually setting up an interview. CJ asked if I could come in for the interview on a Friday afternoon, and I responded that the morning would work better, as I was tied up in the afternoon. She wrote back: ‘I don’t know what kind of person goes around tying you up, but if you want to come in around 11, that would be good for me. I won’t tie you up.’
“There I was, trying to be very professional in my efforts to get the job, and she was already cracking jokes and putting me at ease. I soon learned that this was vintage CJ, and the very thing that made people feel like they knew her, even if they’d never met her.”
“Everything in CJ’s life was centered around whatever would inspire the next issue theme or article,” remembers Dickson. “Something she’d see at the grocery store, the cartoon section of the New York Times, a billboard we passed on a road trip. Anything and everything would then turn into a brainstorm discussion.
“‘Oh, Lindsey,’ she’d say. ‘Did you see that billboard? Don’t you think we could do a great article on unique advertising ideas for singers?’ Some of them panned out and some of them didn’t, but CJ never left her work at work. I think that was what made the magazine what it is today, that sheer dedication.”
“CJ wanted to create a community for singers,” adds Thomas. “She wanted to create something that would provide support in a really, really tough business. She wanted to help singers find success and happiness in every part of their careers and lives. She knew there were a lot of ways to define success, and wanted to help singers understand that and choose the path right for themselves.”
In the October 2005 issue, several staff members and others in the classical music community wrote tributes to her. Excerpts from three letters in particular deserve repeating here:
“Singers are each other’s best resource and best support. Carla provided us with the means to share those things, through the magazine, through the forum, and now through the Convention. I am grateful for her life, her work, and most of all, her dear friendship.”
— Cindy Sadler
“Carla was one of those people who are not afraid to say what they think. I tend to gravitate towards those kinds of people because one always knows where one stands. It’s honest and welcoming and you feel secure. I knew right off that this was a woman of substance and someone I would like. I admired her for being so fearless, and for having a vision to make a magazine where young artists could find the answers they need for their careers and lives. She made it so that Classical Singer went that ‘extra mile.’ It isn’t just a ‘handbook’ for young singers; it’s also a guide: informative, controversial at times, and just plain fun to read!”
— Jennifer Larmore
“As CJ, she revolutionized the world of classical singing. Even when it meant making enemies, she fought for the rights of the singer and spoke out when they were being mistreated. She was truly an advocate . . .”
— Maria Zouves Milnes
As Classical Singer now enters its third decade of publication, with a readership of more than 6,000 subscribers, the mission to be a relevant and insightful resource, to provide networking opportunities, and to foster a sense of community within the classical singing industry continues to inspire the Classical Singer staff and advisors.
“I love seeing the magazine grow in its acceptance in the classical singing community as well as its name growing in meaning,” Dickson exclaims. “Those things can only serve to help singers even more. The more clout the magazine has, the more services it can provide, the more audition notices it has, the more competition notices it has, the more our competitions mean . . . We always hope for more response from readers about what they like and what they don’t like, what they need.”
Gordon echoes the need for singers to make their wants, needs, thoughts, and critiques known to the magazine so it can remain relevant and meaningful.
“All too often classical singers need to pay as much attention to the management of their careers as they do to the management of their voices. Classical Singer provides an exceptional forum in which readers can ask questions, confidentially or not, and readers should be encouraged to write more extensively about the legal and workplace problems they encounter so that I, and other contributors, can share our thoughts about the ways in which such problems can be effectively managed.”
Thomas wholeheartedly agrees.
“As we enter our third decade of publication, I look forward to continuing the dialogue with singers and industry professionals, finding out what needs we aren’t meeting, and then working to meet those needs. I look forward to bigger conventions with more and more singers every year. I look forward to seeing how industry trends continue to change, and how technological advances continue to impact a singer’s life and career. I look forward to seeing how cultural changes in an ever-changing world will affect the industry. I look forward to seeing Classical Singer evolve right along with those things.”
“The reality of this business,” Wood adds, “is that not everyone is going to be a marquis singer, but if a singer is meant to sing, they’re going to make a contribution—and it’s important that singers do make that contribution. . . . Those who want to sing classically, who have the training to do so, who have the gift and the desire, it’s so important that you develop your gift and use it, and bless lives with it, because it is such a great gift to have. I hope the magazine will always encourage singers to do that.”
For more information about Classical Singer’s history, to get your own personal website, or to access the myriad of networking tools available to you from Classical Singer, visit www.classicalsinger.com.
