One of our older survey respondents wrote in with a thought-provoking account of her experience attending a particularly problematic university. CS is including her story here with editorial comments interspersed. It is critical to choose your school well! The writer brings up many points singers need to take into account when looking into school.
I attended college directly out of high school, while still living at home with my parents. I married young and had my first child soon after. It was too difficult to continue my college education, so I dropped out to help my husband finish. I planned to finish my degree directly after my husband’s graduation. Of course, “life happened.” I continued my private voice lessons and did some local oratorio roles and musical theater, as well as chorus and comprimario roles with the local opera company. I decided I needed to finish my Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance. By then, 10 years had passed. I was a very “non-traditional” student. This meant a huge sacrifice for my family, but I wanted to finish what I had started so long ago, and at the time I truly believed that it would help me advance my career opportunities.
Is a college degree in vocal performance really worth it? I think this is a very timely and pertinent issue for Classical Singer to address. There are several important issues that prospective voice students should consider carefully beforehand!
1. Quality of Education
Unless attending a private and very expensive voice academy, the majority of students will be attending schools suffering from state and federal tax cuts to education. At my university, due to lack of funds, private voice teachers were cut, leaving studios overcrowded and teachers getting serious burnout. [Editor: Prospective students: how big is the studio you’ll be in? Consider schools with smaller studios where you’ll get individual attention!]
2. Performance Opportunities
A very small number of voice students will have performed roles to put on their résumés after four or five years, and of those roles performed, how many are REALLY considered significant as they begin auditioning? Rarely do students perform their roles in the original language. Most schools do not have great resources for sets, costumes, etc. Student orchestras leave much to be desired. Some schools only provide piano accompaniment. This depends on where you go to school. Check it out before you go. In the “real world,” roles performed in a university setting are not given equal weight with roles performed in the professional setting. It would be interesting to know if they are given ANY weight. [Getting a role under your belt is extremely significant, no matter where you perform it. Singers need to get on stage over and over again until they are more at home there than they are offstage. Besides, opera companies don’t like to hire greenies. It’s best if you can perform the role in the original language, but many professional companies also perform in English. Some schools have better resources, such as orchestras and costumes, than small professional companies you’ll sing with in the beginning of your career. Get used to making do.]
3. Campus Politics
There was a definite “hierarchy” of teachers at my institution. It was apparent to students whether they were considered to be in the “right” studios or not. Highly gifted teachers received poor treatment by the elitists. In fact, I found the inner “intrigues” and power struggles at the university level disturbing. In speaking with friends who have attended other music schools, it appears that this is common practice. Hierarchy, competition between teachers, and jealousies all directly and indirectly affect the students. There are conflicts of interest when teachers are casting roles. Priority is given to their own private students, overlooking other talented students and ignoring voice Fach in their casting decisions. When anyone complained, they were told it was just preparing them for the “real world.” [In the “real world,” at least in America, singers are usually cast in their real Fach. All bets are off if you have a Fest contract in Europe. However, all the politics you are talking about, intrigues, favoritism, casting less talented singers-all of these factors are part of the business. They will continue to be the case on the outside. It never stops being painful. Learn how to work the system or be such a great singer that politics don’t affect you!]
4. Teacher Availability
Another problem students face is teachers who continue to keep an active performing schedule. This is an ongoing debate and highly controversial issue in the college setting. Teachers argue that they are better “connected” to the performance world for their students and that their activity is somehow an advantage to their students. The realities do not back these claims. Year after year I watched students’ frustration as they did not receive their lessons in a timely manner, or even receive all of the lessons they paid for. Teachers who were absent for weeks or even months at a time often missed their students’ performances and recitals. These students were at a disadvantage as their studies were placed on hold and lessons given on a disjointed schedule. There was no consistency when passed off to a substitute teacher. In addition, I watched the performing teachers struggle with their own frustration trying to juggle two careers. In the end, no one really wins. [Singers, check this out before you sign up with a teacher. Is your technique solid enough to settle for a well-connected teacher who is gone often, leaving you with a substitute or crowding lessons? Or do you need weekly lessons with one teacher? Make sure your needs are met.]
These are only a few of the concerns I take issue with in regards to my higher education experience. I found some professors to be extremely supportive and understanding of my family responsibilities. It was the performance teachers who were the most difficult to work with. It was as if I needed to continually “prove” that I was worth their time, and I was “really serious.” Some of them were holding back on me and not investing as much in me because of my age and family responsibilities. [I’m sorry to say this but my advice to older singers or singers with families both in school and in the professional arena: never mention your age or anything that puts a date on you. You’re as old as you look. Never mention your children or your spouse around faculty or general directors until your reputation is very well established. Don’t bring family to school or functions until that reputation is established. If you do, count on being treated as if you are not serious. Discrimination is rampant against older singers and against married people and parents. If someone brings it up, say, “I prefer not to discuss my private life.” I’ve found very few exceptions to the rule that this is not a family-friendly business. You seem to be able to bring a yapping dog into a professional opera setting, but not a child. CS believes that singers should have a rich, full personal life outside of singing to stay sane. You bring more depth to your art when you have hobbies and/or family but those in the business who are single-focused often seem angry at those who’ve made other choices.]
Some of the faculty seemed intimidated by me because they couldn’t manipulate me like they could the 20 year olds. Deep down, I know that all of the teachers respected me for how hard I had to work. But they could not bring themselves to compliment me. If I wasn’t their student, they felt threatened by my success. [It is rare to get compliments in school or in the professional world. If someone isn’t criticizing you, that is a compliment. Get used to it. Singers have to know their worth intrinsically. It is wonderful if a teacher or coach can give positive feedback, but in my experience, it is rare.]
Even with the competitions I was winning, comprimario roles I was getting and small success I was scratching out for myself, in addition to my studies, few of them gave any encouragement or offered assistance towards my future as a performer. Only one faculty member, other than my private teacher, attended my senior recital. [That is the norm at most student recitals I know of. Your teacher plus one other is the requirement. You already spoke of burnout at your school. I can’t imagine these same teachers going to something they didn’t absolutely have to go to.]
No teachers referred me to contacts in the business, and there was no career advice as I prepared for graduation. [Again, that is the norm at most schools. Few teachers have contacts in the business except other academics, and few schools offer business classes in the arts. CS is hoping that will change. Most schools consider it their job to give you skills and then send you out to find your own way. CS considers it our job to give you the career advice and get you launched. Some schools-the best schools-do provide networking, but you will pay for it!]
In response to your question as to what my advice will be to my own children, I have to say I feel strongly on a few points.
1. Get your degree when you are young, and in a very timely manner.
2. Attend schools that offer scholarships, and get one! SERIOUSLY think twice about attending without some sort of financial assistance.
3. Get an education in something you can actually make a living at for your ENTIRE life, or at least skills to fall back on while you are spending thousands of dollars on auditioning and lessons. A degree in business management or computers would be HIGHLY useful and practical for the performer.
The best teachers and coaches that I have relied upon all along have not been associated with the university. I continued to study with them while I attended college. (Certain members of the voice faculty were bitter, annoyed and positively rude about this!) [It is so important to find a school that has the best coaches and teachers right there at the school so you aren’t paying double. The whole idea is to get them all in one place and pay less through the university then you would have to pay privately. I’m sorry that didn’t happen for you.]
In vocal study, as in most things, it is the QUALITY of our study, not the QUANTITY that counts when learning. The QUANTITY factor should come with our personal commitment of practicing each day, which students will find a daunting challenge juggling hours of after-class homework, employment and family/personal commitments. Truly, would not performers be better served spending that $20-30,000 (or more) on master teachers and coaches, traveling Europe and expanding their horizons, making contacts in the professional world, flying to New York often for workshops and auditions, etc.? What if I had seen that vision and taken that route? [Most young singers need the discipline of excellent teachers and coaches all in one place, competition from other excellent singers helping them to rise above themselves, classes, tests, deadlines, and performance opportunities. They aren’t ready and wouldn’t know how to structure their own program until they’ve learned the basics. They don’t have the contacts when they are just out of high school. But it’s a great idea to do this as soon as you are ready!]
Obviously, after all of my personal sacrifice, I have to think and hope that college study is admirable and worthwhile. This experience DOES shape an individual in wonderful and countless personal and intellectual ways. Yes, I must say, take advantage of higher learning if you can! However, I do not feel that studying vocal performance in an institution is necessary for a successful career. How many opportunities are lost by the gifted who are digging themselves into debt for years and are usually unable to take advantage of professional experience during their studies? For example, the majority of voice students in my program did not take advantage of singing with our local opera company chorus! Often, I heard of the teachers discouraging this. Very few of those young people graduating with me this May have any viable performance experience or personal contacts. Their résumés are a blank slate after four or five years of study and thousands of dollars debt. To me, this is shameful. I was penalized for my professional connection and made to choose whether I would continue to perform professionally or to be in the student productions. There was bitterness and jealousy directed at me, instead of respect. [Cynthia Lawrence in our cover story June 2003 had this same problem. She and her husband were hired professionally, and their school gave them a lot of grief over it. Combining professional experience with school was invaluable for them!]
I am glad I finished what I started. I am grateful to all of the amazing teachers through the years who HAVE opened my mind to new ideas and knowledge. I am a wiser person because of the experience, and I am glad to have been an example of hard work and sacrifice to my children.
Honestly, as far as my career goes, I am at a disadvantage. I am even older now. I have not performed significant roles the past three years. Because of my debt, I must get a “real job” now as soon as possible. I cannot afford to fly to New York for coachings right now, go to auditions, or attend the European summer program I was accepted to. I fear that the workload of my new employment will prevent me from pursuing my dream, and it will be easy to become another “statistic” in our business. This sounds pretty negative, but actually, it’s just reality. Ironically, I was accepted to graduate school. I considered postponing my debt payment misery for another two years and being caught up in the “machine” again! I even received a scholarship, but scholarships are misleading when one weighs the true “cost” as listed in this long diatribe.
I am going to try to perform locally as much as possible. I am going to pray we can pay off this student debt while the interest rates are low! I am going to try to get a job with an airline, for the travel benefits, or start a home business. I wish all of my fellow college graduates luck in their pursuits and in repaying their debts. I am eager to read the issue of Classical Singer that will be focusing on this subject. [College launches a lot of singers on their way, but it appears you did have a less than perfect. I still don’t see you at a disadvantage at all though. You have your degree-congratulations! You were just offered a graduate degree scholarship and entrance to a European program. You are obviously a good singer, and your career is probably ready to go if you can open your eyes to all the possibilities there are and stop looking at Young Artist programs and competitions which are meant for the very young. You just need to find a good day job that helps you handle your debt payments while you pursue real singing. I can see that our next hot topic needs to be “The Best Day Jobs for Singers.” Singers need to get over this “I am even older” bit. Please see letters to the editor or the April 2003 issue with Josepha Gayer who just made her Met debut at age(she didn’t want me to tell but it’s older than 50) But the Met is only the tip of the iceberg for singers. That’s what Classical Singer magazine is all about.]
