Even the most talented classical singer needs to be surrounded by a great team in order to make the most of his or her natural abilities. One of the key players on a singer’s team is the coach. Singers are generally aware of the importance of finding a good match in this area and they hold clear opinions about what traits they find desirable in a coach. But how do coaches view themselves, their profession, and the singers they work with?
The coaches listed in the online Classical Singer Coach and Accompanist Directory recently answered these and other questions in an email survey. Here are some of the more interesting and illuminating responses.
What Makes a Successful Coach?
“Good listening skills, patience (this is crucial), empathy, knowledge of what it means to coach, a sense of humor, knowledge of the repertoire, and the willingness to engage in deep explorations of the meaning (and partnership) of text and music with one’s students. Also knowing that singing is about much more than having a beautiful voice.”
“Actually loving singers and their literature. Being excited about learning things on your own—nothing else matters. Once people see that in you, they will hire you again and again.”
“Ability to transmit a large body of information in a detailed way to different levels of singers, from student to young artist to young and older professional. Ability to shape and enhance a singer’s knowledge of a role in terms of tradition and historical and modern performance practice.”
“The best coaches I have encountered are well-read people in many languages, with sharp ears and a sense of musical style. Knowledge of the languages themselves, rather than just diction rules, is essential to help singers sound natural in many tongues.”
“The desire to help others be successful, complete musicianship, the desire and ability to be part of a team, calm under pressure, the desire and ability to inspire others to reach their full potential, the ability to make ‘the old’ become ‘fresh’ again.”
“Compassion, compassion, compassion.”
“To be direct, an opera coach has to have as much or more knowledge than a doctor or lawyer. The raw breadth of useful (crucial) information and skills is mind numbing.”
The Rewarding Moments . . .
“I have them all the time. I call them ‘light bulb moments.’ It’s when a singer comes in thinking they ‘can’t’ do something . . . and all of a sudden they figure out how [to do it] right there in front of me. It’s just the best.”
“When someone leaves my studio sounding better than when they came in, or leaves feeling better about themselves, or feeling more motivated, or with more useful information . . . that is a reward.”
“In general, my most satisfying moments are when the singer has connected emotionally to their role and music and feel it all release in all the best ways. Goose bump material! It happens often!”
“Watching [singers] become passionate about a poem, about a musical phrase, about how they are interpreting the repertoire and creating an individual, unique performance is always exciting. . . . I love that every client/student is different, and that I’m able to use every one of my skills in a given day.”
“A coaching is deemed successful in my eyes when my singer leaves the session feeling refreshed, inspired, and excited about his/her repertoire.”
“I have had a number of experiences where a singer was too locked into technical struggles to realize the music properly. I’ve had a fair amount of success pulling students out of their ‘technique’ and getting them to be more honest, more present with the dramatic/emotional elements of the piece/character they were working on.”
“Getting beginning singers to understand double consonants in Italian is always rewarding.”
“Epiphanal moments when the singer discovers how to do something important and gives me chills or brings tears to my eyes with the beauty of sound and presentation.”
“The best thing is to feel part of a great team full of talented and hard working people.”
“I find coaching to be the most rewarding when I am making new discoveries about the music myself through working with the singer.”
“Every time I am inspired with a creative way to explain a musical concept or approach to a phrase or the shape of a vowel and I communicate it in a way that the singer ‘gets it’—that is the reward.”
“Every time a person at an audition turns around and says a sincere ‘thank you.’ Every note I get from cast members on opening night saying ‘thank you.’ Every time at a staging rehearsal break that a singer comes over and says—‘Hey, sounds great!’”
The Frustrations
“We sometimes get blamed for interfering with vocal technique—it’s important to find ways to express yourself musically instead of technically and still get your point across.”
“Coaches should be hard nosed in their approach to musical accuracy in all aspects and immediately address any rhythmic or pitch issues.”
“It’s a very stressful profession. Large workloads, very low pay, and little personal recognition from the general public.”
“Exhaustion and repetitive stress injuries from playing too much.”
“Coaching is an area where opera company directors feel a great need to economize.”
“There is a lack of importance on coaching. Many singers complain that they don’t have money for coachings, but they spend two and three times that on a voice lesson every week. Everything needs consistent—not constant—monitoring. . . . Many feel under-appreciated, particularly when singers are fickle and hop from one coach to another.”
“Specific to the U.S., it’s hard to make this job work with a family, because there is only a very limited amount of salaried, year-round, full-time jobs. Things are a little different in Europe, specifically Germany where all opera houses have full-time coaches.”
“The ‘divas’ and ‘divos’ are difficult to work with.”
“Students that arrive unprepared and expect you to teach them rhythms, pitches, etc.”
“Long hours. Stress. As a répétiteur, the room is reliant on you.”
“Ego, ego, and ego. Everyone is looking for the next Cecilia Bartoli or Audra McDonald. Stardom is as much a result of luck and timing as it is knowing the right people or being in the right place at the right time. In the meantime, singers should be working to sing well (and healthily) and coaches should be working to help them achieve that. The material demands no less than hard work, not divas looking for a spotlight.”
A Job to Love
“Opera coaching is an intensely challenging profession because the skill set of a successful coach is so vast. It is also highly individualized and mostly conducted behind closed doors. No wonder it is so difficult to learn!”
“I consider my career the result of much hard work, but also many fortunate ‘accidents.’ I love what I do and never tire of the interesting profession [that] it is!”
“I just love coaching! I don’t think there’s anything else in the world I’d rather do. . . . It is a gift to be able to make so many varied types of music with so many different people.”
“I think coaching is one of the most varied professions there is. The rep is vast, and with the languages, the world really opens up. Singers are everywhere and they are all different—the relationship is personal and infinitely rewarding. There is no end to the growing, and that is what makes this profession so interesting.”
“It is immensely rewarding and a privilege to be able to play such great music and be of assistance to an art form that is greater than my own ego.”
“I absolutely love what I do for a living!”
