A professional opera singer is awake in the middle of the night. She’s thinking about starting a family but isn’t sure how pregnancy will affect her voice and career. A new daddy is on the road for the first time since his daughter was born. He’s missing his family but not sure what he can do to stay connected while he’s traveling. A single mom just got home from rehearsal and is tired of dealing with an unsympathetic colleague and just needs to blow off some steam before she helps her kids with their homework.
What do these three singers have in common? They all can find what they need through OperaMom, an unique online community created for the sole purpose of providing information, support and services to singing professionals with children.
OperaMom (www.operamom.com) was launched in June 2000 to meet the needs of women who balanced professional opera careers and motherhood. At the time, no other forum was available that primarily addressed this unique challenge. In less than two years, it has blossomed to reach an extensive audience of moms and dads, as well as singers who are simply contemplating starting families.
The wellspring of information available at the site is presented in an organized and user-friendly format, making it easy for new and old visitors alike to find the information they need. At the heart of the Web site is the OperaMom Forum, which is a message board that features threaded discussions on a diversity of topics. Singers post messages that run the gamut from postpartum singing advice and rep changes to logistical tips for pregnancy-compatible gowns and communicating child-related needs to conductors and colleagues. The users who post messages are compassionate and friendly to one another and the atmosphere of the board is refreshingly supportive and encouraging, without a hint of industry competition or rivalry.
The creator and managing director of OperaMom, known only as “Yoga,” cites the OperaMom Forum as the OperaMom element of which she is most proud: “It has become a bit of a community, and posters are very supportive of one another. They give support and validation to those who need it, and that was my initial goal when creating the site.”
Yoga’s anonymity is preserved to avoid any presumed conflict of interest or other problems, such as those associated with self-serving pursuits. Yoga received her trendy handle by another OperaMom user who noticed that she signed all of her correspondence with the initials, OMM (OperaMom Manager). The user commented that the letters looked as if she was chanting a mantra, and the name evolved.
While Yoga is thrilled with OperaMom’s success, she is determined to continually expand its offerings. One new feature is free Web-page hosting for OperaMom users. Unlike most free Web hosting services, OperaMom has the capability to allow sound clips to be included on any Web page it hosts, and it does not require the addition of annoying pop-up ads or banner ads, which are frequently associated with other hosting services. Also, OperaMom offers affordable Web design services to aid singers in marketing themselves professionally.
Currently in the works is MommySwap, which will be an exchange venue for parents who must travel to other cities for auditions or performances and are in need of childcare. Yoga is researching the legal implications that need to be resolved before MommySwap can be launched, and is enlisting the opinions of OperaMom users to assess the need for and feasibility of this offering. “There is quite a need for it and OperaMom is very much a need-based site,” she says.
In meeting such needs, the OperaMom site includes exclusive interviews with famous “opera moms,” bi-weekly real-time chats, pertinent articles written by singing and medical professionals, and an entire section—Dad’s Desk—devoted to “opera dads.”
Today, many singers realize that they don’t necessarily need to choose between career and family. When reading the archived posts from the OperaMom Forum, it’s evident that these singers are dedicated to achieving the necessary balance to thrive in both roles. Thanks to the services provided by OperaMom, being double cast as a singer and parent just got easier.
