Some people may think of Boston as America’s largest college town, or as the hub of our nation’s history, or as a slice of Europe in America. It is certainly a city chock full of classical singers. Six Bostonians fill us in on life in this charming city of champions where “chowder” ends in a vowel.
“I once read an estimate that there are over 300 singing groups (professional, semi-professional, community, church, and opera) in the Greater Boston area, alone,” says Lynn Shane, founder and director of the Boston Singers’ Resource. “The Greater Boston Chorale Consortium lists 90 of them on their website, http://bostonsings.org/chorus.htm. We list approximately 300 New England opera, theater, and chorus groups on our website, http://bostonsingersresource.org.”
Andrew Ryker, artistic director of Boston Opera Collaborative and stage director at the New England Conservatory, reinforces Shane’s statistics. “In addition to the two major companies, Boston Lyric Opera and Opera Boston, there are literally dozens of different companies that produce opera in the Boston Metro area. I’m not sure that there is any other U.S. city that produces as much opera as we do here in Boston.” Ryker runs down a list of 18 Boston-area opera companies, adding, “not to mention about half a dozen Gilbert and Sullivan companies, three conservatories, and [Boston University] Opera Institute.”
“Boston has an amazing variety of opportunities for singers, if you are really prepared to bend and stretch,” confirms Karyl Ryczek, chair of Voice at the Longy School of Music. “You will be surprised at the ‘small world’ that we all move and groove in. There is classical music, early music, concert/oratorio, chamber music, chamber opera, fully staged opera, recital opportunities in solo and chamber form, new music, world and local premieres with composers, and world-class conductors. Exhilarating!”
But wait—one thing we need to address up front. Doesn’t Boston specialize in early music?
Baritone John Whittlesey intercedes. “Boston does have the label of being an ‘early music town,’ and there certainly is a very strong element of that here (Emmanuel Music, H&H [Handel and Hayden Society], Boston Early Music Festival, etc.), but there’s far more out there if you want.”
Ryker says the city’s baroquial reputation is undeserved. “[A] misconception about Boston is that everyone here sings early music. While there is a vibrant early music scene in Boston, it does not take away from a ‘standard repertoire’ scene. The great majority of opera produced in Boston is what is being produced all over the United States. You are much more likely to hear the operas of Puccini, Mozart, Verdi, Strauss, and Britten in Boston than those of Monteverdi, Cavalli, and Lully. The same thing goes for Boston singers. While there are some really nice early music voices in town, a majority of our singers are not interested in early music and are not influenced by an early music sound.”
Soprano Amanda Forsythe, however, looks at the bright side. “Boston is really known as an early music town, which is great news for many young singers, who are more likely to be cast in a lighter Baroque role at age 23 than in an opera that requires more mature voices.” She later adds, however, “Although Boston is known as an early music town, I probably sing an equal amount of contemporary music and recital work.”
All of our Boston correspondents praised the multitude and variety of local performance opportunities. Sally Stunkel, director of opera at the Boston Conservatory, also points out the abundance of singers. “Because of NEC [the New England Conservatory], ‘BoCo,’ [the Boston Conservatory], and BU [Boston University], not to mention all the other colleges here, there is a plethora of young singers. There are certainly a core of professionals as well. There seems to be something for all of them to do all the time.” She also warns, “The city is used to having many young singers and often takes advantage of them (in both good and bad ways).”
Ryczek also brings up the singer saturation as an obstacle. “Boston is challenging. There is a glut of talent in the area and it takes time for a young singer to develop and of course to really get their ‘vocal product’ out there. The performing organizations are inclined to re-hire the well known and reliable soloists.”
My group of Bostonian interviewees hails from all parts of the nation. So how does Boston stack up against other American cities?
Shane reflects, “When I was a student in Boulder, Colo., outside of school there [were] two opera companies, two symphonies, a handful of professional music theatre companies, no professional choruses, and a few community theaters and choruses within driving distance. That was it. If you didn’t get a job singing in one of those places, you just didn’t sing or you learned to make your own opportunities. Syracuse, where I grew up, was the same. There are so many opportunities for singers of all levels in Boston—and no single group of directors is in charge (as it is with some smaller communities around the country).”
Forsythe is from New York, and took a two-year hiatus there from Boston after graduating from New England Conservatory. “Perhaps I wasn’t [in New York] for long enough, but I didn’t find very many paid opportunities outside of church jobs. There’s the Met and City Opera at a high level and then there’s the Bronx Opera and Regina, which provide role opportunities and exposure, but can’t pay more than an honorarium. I didn’t find much in the middle, whereas Boston has B and C level opera companies and plenty of well-paid concert work. Plus the cost of living is much more reasonable than New York. That being said, I still go to New York for lessons, coachings, and auditions, and I miss the convenience of being ‘on the spot’ for those.”
Ryker shares still other geographical experiences. “I’ve worked in both Chicago and Atlanta. Atlanta has some really great singers but really doesn’t compare to Boston in the number of opportunities available to singers or the quality of repertoire being produced. For my experience, Chicago had lots of opportunities but lacked many of the resources that Boston has for finding the jobs and making the connections.”
Any other things a potential Bostonian should know before making the move?
Whittlesey brings us down to earth. “You can’t really make a living here by just being a freelance singer in Boston. You need to either have a good teaching position, management, connections that allow you access to gigs across the country, another unrelated career, or have a ‘sugar daddy.’ The cost of living here is much higher than other cities, so there are a lot of singers that need to temp, wait tables, or take everything that comes their way, just to make ends meet.
“I also think it’s very hard for bigger voices to find work here . . . Boston groups typically don’t mount a lot of Wagner, Strauss, and heavy Verdi. And when they do, they bring in names from New York or through management companies.”
Stunkel runs down her checklist of advice: “Bring long johns, be prepared for lots of competition (not quite like New York City though), be prepared to get lost in the city a lot, get a sugar daddy or momma (‘cause it’s expensive here) or a scholarship if you can.”
Ryczek counsels, “Find a good teacher before you get here. The Boston NATS website and Boston Singers Resource website have an enormous amount of information for new singer ‘residents,’ and the wealth of instructor talent runs deep.
“A new singer should research the performing scene and look into the Boston Choral Consortium. There they can find out what solo opportunities might be available in an upcoming year and . . . the type of repertoire that a singer needs to be prepared for in an audition or to learn. There are numerous community orchestras that hire soloists and chamber organizations that are often looking for that ‘specialized’ singer. There are also a number of chamber opera groups that are thriving in a variety of environments. They should research the colleges that provide a Career Service job listing and of course we now have Bridge [a subscription Web service].”
Shane is also full of tangible advice. “My suggestion for singers moving to any community is to join as many singing organizations as you can—NATS, AGO (American Guild of Organists), ACDA (American Choral Directors Association), Opera America, Classical Singer, etc. Go to their workshops and conferences. Meet people. Pass out your cards. Go to concerts. Read the calendar listings (Boston Singers’ Resource publishes a free “Calendar of Singing” events bi-weekly. You can sign up for this on the website.) By reading the calendar section, you can keep track of who the major singers and directors are in the area—meet them, sing for them, take lessons with them.
“Know where you fit in (in terms of level and Fach) in your community. Get a teacher’s help with this if you don’t know. Keep a notebook for your research. Word of mouth will always be your most effective marketing technique, so it is important to meet as many people in the classical singing community as you can. And finally, if you’re in the Boston area, join Boston Singers’ Resource.”
The general consensus is that the wealth of opportunities and the vibrant music community in Boston is worth the cold and the competition.
“Boston as a whole loves classical music, and the classical vocal scene is definitely complemented by that,” Ryker says. “There are concert series, orchestras, early music societies, modern music ensembles, musical theatre companies, dozens of opera companies, and large number of really wonderful church jobs. It’s a really exciting scene with a fairly close-knit community.”
Whittlesey agrees. “On any weekend, you can find a couple of recitals, an orchestral concert or two, several choral groups, early music, contemporary programs, chamber music, big venues, small venues, programs at the conservatories, lots of free concerts. I just wish I could go to more performances.”
