While working to complete this special convention issue of the magazine, my body has also been hard at work completing something it’s been working at for the last 39 weeks—making a baby. At the time of this writing, my due date is still just over a week away, but the thing about babies is they come when they want. And so, while a pregnant woman is considered “full term” three weeks before her official “due date,” some babies don’t make their appearance until a week later. And so, with swollen ankles, aching backs, and an ever-increasing girth of bellies, pregnant women often sit and wait.
Finding myself in just this position—well, my literal position is feet propped up and pillows supporting my back—I have been contemplating the difficult, challenging, and sometimes miserable act of waiting.
Back in my full-time singer days, when I was in the throes of auditioning, I also knew about waiting. Sometimes it involved applications, and after sending them in, I would wait to hear if the company granted me an audition. Once I had an audition booked, there was waiting for the actual audition day. And, of course, on the day of the audition I would arrive early only to further wait in those infamous waiting rooms. Surrounded by other singers, I’d wait while doing my best not to silently compare my own looks, repertoire, and experience to theirs.
Sometimes I would sing three, four, or even five auditions in a week. Then I would sit and wait—for a phone call or an e-mail—some news to give closure to those high notes I had left floating in the audition room. Since you rarely get a “no” after an audition and a “yes” comes maybe once every eight auditions, that closure is most often a fantasy.
I designed my own coping mechanism for the open-ended audition routine. I chose to focus on the things I could control: what I auditioned for, how well I prepared both musically and dramatically, what I wore—and then giving my all in the audition room. Once the music ended and I left the room, that was the end of the audition for me. As best I could, I counted that audition done and gave it no more thought. Instead, I forced myself to look ahead to the next auditions.
The hundreds of singers gathering in Chicago this month for the annual Classical Singer Convention are also no strangers to waiting. Many of them have competed in the First Round of the Classical Singer Competition and are now waiting to sing in the Semifinal and, hopefully, Final Rounds Memorial Day weekend. Of the other high school and university students, young artists, and emerging professionals, some are new to waiting and some have years of experience.
If you find yourself sitting and waiting this Memorial Day weekend for your next audition time, your next class, or your results from the last round, peruse the pages of this issue for inspiration. Several singers share their career and life-changing experiences at the prestigious Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Young Artist Program in this month’s cover story (p. 24). Audition experts from both sides of the table lay out their sage advice for opera auditions (p. 44) and musical theatre auditions (p. 38). Or get a different kind of inspiration by mapping out what you plan to do in Chicago with Chantal Panozzo’s singer’s guide to the Windy City (p. 62). And find so much more in the monthly columns and additional articles in this issue.
For those of you now waiting in anticipation for the Classical Singer Convention and Competition, know that just like the highly anticipated arrival of my baby girl, it will be well worth the wait.
