It’s a hard truth, but one every singer must know: Even if you’re convinced you’re the next great success around the corner, life may have other plans for you. Sometimes you will hear about a graduate degree being something “good to fall back on,” or that you can always teach if your singing career doesn’t take off. This is a regrettable turn of phrase, since it implies that teaching music is less worthwhile or fulfilling than performing music.
Graduate school involves a commitment of time, money, and energy, and may or may not help you to achieve your performance goals. Recently, one performer criticized the trend of keeping singers in the classroom during years in which they might be learning roles and performing them. However, the amount of classroom time depends on the grad school and what it offers.
Singers often perform and then use their degrees to teach later. If you are an internationally acclaimed singer, you may be approached for teaching jobs without any necessity for academic credentials. This can be a rewarding second career when your professional performing winds down. But glance through the job listings in the Chronicle of Higher Education, and you’ll see that most positions require not just a master’s degree, but a doctorate. Teaching jobs don’t fall from trees, any more than performing contracts do. Graduate school may open up ideas or pathways you haven’t yet considered, or make you more determined to make your livelihood solely from performing. Either way, it’s better to think of a graduate education as a means to continue your training and develop complementary skills than as anything to fall back on. The world does not need more teachers who feel no passion for teaching, but it always needs teachers who are dedicated to sharing in the classroom and studio what they’ve been privileged to learn.
At what point is graduate school a good idea?
I recommend graduate school when a singer’s voice needs time to develop, or their technique is not established enough to serve them on less-than-perfect days. When a singer has even the slightest inclination toward teaching, a master’s degree with a pedagogy emphasis is well worth pursuing. If the singer is more suited to art song than opera, or wishes to combine a performing career with teaching, graduate school is also a good choice. Lastly, it can be a good use of time while deciding what to do next with your life. Many singers begin graduate school for less than noble reasons, but later find their interests expanding alongside their skills.
Tips for selecting and attending graduate schools.
If your technique isn’t developed to a competitive level, finding an outstanding technical teacher should be a higher priority than attending a school with constant performance opportunities. If you want conservatory-style training within a university setting, look for a graduate program that emphasizes practical training and plenty of performances. Don’t rule out smaller schools or those closer to home in favor of “name” schools, especially if funding is a concern. A prestigious program can add luster to your credentials, but rarely does an auditioner ask where you went to school. Ultimately what you learn is more important than where you learn it. You’ll also learn and live better if you’re not preoccupied with tuition you cannot afford, no matter how fine the school is.
What would I learn there?
Graduate school is far more focused on your primary area than undergraduate work, whether your major field is performance, pedagogy, music therapy or education, or some combination of these. Good graduate schools make singers feel like they are living, eating and breathing music. It won’t be all vocal music at most grad schools–classes are also devoted to musicianship, theory and history. The idea is to help each singer learn critical thinking and an awareness of the history of the art form, in addition to increasing performance skills. There are also some required courses outside of music, typically within the fields of language, art, dance or drama; many times these so-called electives are as formative to the singer’s growth as any music class.
Someone once told me that the mark of having an undergraduate education was knowing things, while the purpose of graduate education is learning to know what you don’t know. You won’t learn everything there is to know in graduate school, but you should leave with a strong concept of what remains for you to learn.
How long does it take?
Most master’s programs take two to three years, although some can be completed faster. Specific requirements and options vary by school, but in addition to classes, there is usually studio training and coaching, a variety of performances, and a research or performance-based project to culminate your studies. A doctorate in voice performance, most often pursued by those who intend to integrate teaching into their performing career, generally takes two to five additional years, and features a large-scale research or performance project designed to give you an area of expertise.
Is it just more time away from reality?
This depends on what you consider reality. Graduate school can become a microcosm, a little environment that temporarily blocks out the pressures of supporting a professional career and withstanding constant competition. Unfortunately, it can create its own financial strains and internal competition. The singers I know who have become the most professionally successful were the ones who balanced this smaller collegiate world with the larger. They took advantage of the classes, coaching and performances offered in graduate school, but they also pursued off-campus roles and performances whenever possible. Their summers were spent working to fund their education, taking classes to speed their graduation, or singing in everything from workshops and young artist programs to recitals and shows. Clearly they used graduate school as a steppingstone toward their long-term goals.
Enjoy the opportunity to meet other singers and instrumentalists, to expand your mental and musical horizons, and to perform classic repertoire alongside works you may never perform again.
As artists we bring our life experiences and knowledge to the stage. Graduate school can be an excellent place to increase these experiences, or add depth to current knowledge. But how much of your performer’s “package” will be based on college, graduate school, conservatory training, young artist programs or workshops and performances is up to you.
