Wouldn’t it be great if all singers had to worry about was singing? As singers, much of our attention has to be focused on finding places to sing, and hopefully (but not always) places where someone will pay us to sing.
Career strategy is something all of us have to think about, though everyone’s career path will be different. One career strategy is specialization. Cecilia Bartoli, who specializes in bel canto singing, is an example of a singer who has used this strategy. You don’t see Cecilia singing musical theater; she stays—beautifully—within a very narrow range. (Although in a 1998 concert, she performed an incredible excerpt from Carmen!) This is a singer who is known for one type of music. This is a risky type of career, however, because you are gambling that you will be known as “the best” at one thing. The chance for failure is extremely high, because a very specialized singer will have to say “no” more often than “yes” at the beginning of the career, and the chances for a stellar career are small. On the other hand, specializing gives you time to focus, and you can become an expert in your specific area. When someone thinks, “Vivaldi,” your name should come to mind.
A second career strategy is to be a singer who can “do it all.” This type of singer will likely perform constantly. He or she will make opportunities and will likely have a lot more fun, because this singer will be using more of him or herself. Most singers’ talents fit better into this category, and with the way the music world is moving towards crossover, it seems to be the wave of the future. Unless they are truly expert or famous in one thing, singers are expected to be very versatile now.
With this issue, Classical Singer begins a series of articles highlighting singers who made their own lucky breaks. We’re kicking the series off with a cover story to give it the emphasis it is due. I met Alison England, a singer who personifies the second type of career strategy, when she first came to New York. I’ve watched as her career progressed from starry-eyed newcomer to a singer on the national circuit, to TV and stage. She has made sure that she has consistently found work. Never one to rest on her laurels or to allow herself to be pigeonholed, she has used all the talents she has been given.
I think there are many singers reading this who have more talents than they use, more talents than they market professionally. Is there a way to put a show together that uses ALL of you? Do you play the piano, have a gift for comedy, play castanets, dance, do gymnastics—do you write fiction, have a gift with children, etc.? How could you use all your gifts in one show? I hope you will take note of how Alison put ALL her gifts together in a single package, refined it and took it on the road for 10 months, complete with a website and recordings. Her learning curve personally and professionally was high over the years, and she has been gracious enough to share her triumphs, and thankfully her mistakes, with the entire Classical Singer community.
So the question is this: why sit around and wait for your lucky break? Do you believe in the power of music or not? Let’s stop giving all the power to a few opera companies when there are so many other opportunities to sing. Alison lists several job opportunities in her article; I’d love to hear from many of you about more places you’ve found to sing both for pay and simply for the good of the community.
The world needs what you’ve got. You’ve got the power to make it happen. Go out and do it! In the next few months, we’ll be bringing you more stories of how singers have taken their careers into their own hands. We hope you’ll be inspired to find your unique gifts, put them together into a package and find the audience that will most appreciate them.
I’d love to hear from you. Write to me at cjw@classicalsinger.com.
