Gutsy CS
Dear CS: I want to especially commend you and your staff for the gutsy directions you have taken CS in the last year. It is stunning to see all of these incredibly relevant (to singers) topics actually discussed openly and honestly. We all need it, and it is really stunning to see you all have the guts to do so. Other publications are not intended for singers and performers, but rather for the opera audience, who would prefer to keep opera stars on the distant romantic pedestal. —Roy Stevens
Caroling Jobs
Dear CS: I just wanted to drop you a line to congratulate you on the December issue of CS. It’s packed with very interesting and useful information. I particularly enjoyed the article about caroling groups—definitely a project for 1999! —Name Withheld
Dear CS: Speaking of caroling jobs, I sang with the Denver-based Dickens Carolers in gorgeous Estes Park in the mountains. It was a Christmas Festival with free carriage rides, hot cider, carolers, old village shops…the works! There is nothing like watching ‘em weep as you sing “Silent Night” or “O Holy Night” in four-part harmony! I talked my family into coming up and spending the night Saturday night. Kids went swimming at the motel and horseback riding nearby when they weren’t downtown at the Festival (pretending they didn’t know that strange lady in the Victorian costume!). Fun family time…and I made a few hundred bucks singing. —Name Withheld
In December there was a wonderful thread on the forum about a group who was to carol at Wall Street. At the last minute, they were told they could not sing any carols with the words “Jesus,” “angels,” “heaven,” etc. included. Their solution and a lively debate follow. If interested, go to www.classicalsinger.com, hit the Forum button and do a search on the word “caroling.” —Editor
Issue on Mental Health/Ed Russell White
Dear CS: Ed White’s plight is very sad and shocking. However, I’d like to tell all the disheartened and depressed singers out there that suicide is NOT the answer. It doesn’t solve your problems, and it creates tremendous grief and a huge load of negative karma on your soul, which I believe lives on. —Name Withheld
Thank you for all the responses to this tragedy. We have received many letters, which we are holding until next month’s issue on mental health. —Editor
More Companies in the Northeast
Dear CS: I was delighted to see some of the more accessible opera companies in New England mentioned by Michael O’Keefe in the September 1998 issue. I’ve had the opportunity to sing [leading roles] with Longwood and Janus. I agree with Mr. O’Keefe’s contention that these two companies, though presenting productions of modest proportion, ARE accessible to local, “emerging” singers.
I was surprised to see that Commonwealth Opera of Northampton, MA, wasn’t mentioned. That company presents two major productions each year. All productions are fully staged, with large orchestra—wonderful, custom-made costumes, and really excellent scenery. The audience typically numbers 700–1,000. That company has drawn vocal artists, in recent years, from New York City and Washington, DC, as well as Connecticut, the Boston area, western Mass. and upstate NY. For special productions, such as the 20th-anniversary Aida, the company does “import” singers of some repute.
Other companies with which I haven’t sung, but about which I’ve heard, include Ocean State Lyric Opera (Providence, RI), Portland Opera (ME), and Opera North, (Lebanon, NH), ALL of which “import” artists for principal roles. There is also Raylynmor Opera in Peterborough, NH. —Tomasso d’Alvann
Thanks for the updates. I checked with Suzanne Martiny, Auditions Coordinator, and she told me we list auditions for all these groups except Janus. Let us know how to reach them and she’ll contact them as well. —Editor
Paying the Conductor?
Dear CS: I am a lyric soprano whose background is mostly musical theater, but I have been studying operatic repertoire and singing with an Equity-Waiver-level opera group. Here’s the problem: Whenever I’ve done a show with a musical theater company, be it under Equity contract with pay or Waiver (gas money), and I’ve needed extra time with the musical director/conductor, I have been given the time or scheduled it into my contract’s weekly hour allotment. Yesterday, I went to work with the conductor at his home studio, and he charged me! Doesn’t opera, even at the highest levels, work the same as musical theater? When you need extra rehearsal with the production people involved, isn’t it available at no charge?
—Teressa Ann McKillop
Care to comment? Go to the Classical Singer Community Forum at http://www.classical singer.com. Some of the best commentary on being a singer is found on that Forum. As we go to press there is a discussion on teachers’ fees, sexual harrassment, depression and the business, the best temp jobs, auditioning, applications, and comparing notes on nearly every facet of the business. If you have a question, or a comment, this is the best place to go. —Editor
