As I write this article, the college football season has just ended. Bowl games have been completed, and some of my favorite teams won. The results of some games turned out exactly as the sports experts predicted, and others proved to be thrilling (or horrifying, depending on your perspective) upsets, and Alabama is yet again National Champion. So what’s next for those teams? Do they take a break until September and then start back up just before their first game? Certainly not!
I’m not a collegiate athlete, but I feel certain the work to prepare for the 2013 season is already in full swing. Coaches and other staff members are analyzing the results of each game from last fall and are making lists of plays that need polishing or altering, positions that need changes or filling, and technical skills that returning players need to improve. National signing day—February 6, 2013—will have passed by the time you read this, so top high school recruits are now fully committed to a college squad and are probably already learning that team’s playbook. Returning and new players are continuing to train physically, building their endurance, strength, and technique, as well as expanding their knowledge of the game. If these participants waited until July or, worse, August to start all this planning and preparing just before their season opener, is there any real chance that they could be a contender?
For most opera professionals and aspirants, the fall audition season is essentially our version of NCAA football season. Just as NCAA participants train year-round, we as artists—and as athletes in our own respect—cannot afford to train only just before the big season begins. As actively auditioning singers, especially at the university and YAP level, we need to create our own version of off-season training, so that when fall rolls around, we are already performing at a high level.
Where should you start this off-season process? I’d suggest a very no-nonsense, in-depth assessment of your previous audition season. You may have received feedback from some of the panelists you sang for, so definitely keep that information under consideration. If you keep an audition journal or use an online resource for audition record keeping, study your notes carefully. Review whom you sang for and how each audition proceeded. When you performed well in an audition, what factors were present? If there were auditions that didn’t go so well, what were some circumstances that could have contributed, such as illness, poor sleep, or delayed arrival times. Can you identify any trends? I would even go so far as to rate your audition outfits (enlist the help of friends) for both comfort and presentation.
If you don’t keep an audition journal, whether an actual handwritten record or something you have created on your computer, now is the time to start. Take notes about every audition or application you schedule, from your first contact with the company to receipt of a response (whether an offer or rejection). Include the location, panel members and their reactions as you see them, pianist’s name and success of your collaboration, what you wore, what you sang, etc. This type of meticulous record keeping can be an invaluable tool in assessing your progress as an auditioner.
After reviewing your recent experience, it’s time to make big changes to your audition repertoire, or your “playbook.” After a thorough debriefing of your audition season, you should have a good idea of which arias worked well (whether as a starter or just a component of your list) and showed you at your very best. You’ll also know which arias no one ever asked for, and hopefully you will have a good sense of why they were not requested. Of course, just because an aria wasn’t requested doesn’t mean it’s not a strong offering. You should then decide where you will make changes and begin to research replacement options, consulting all members of your “coaching staff”—including voice teachers, opera director contacts, and your private coaches.
“Spring/summer is [the time] to try new rep, start to work in new arias for the fall auditions,” says Laurie Rogers, director of Young Artist Programs at Opera Saratoga. “By September I really think you should have the bulk of your list solidly together.” She plans “virgin aria” classes during the summer at Opera Saratoga, during which singers try out new repertoire in a friendly environment. If you don’t have such a class organized for you, gather a group of colleagues and a pianist, rent a room or set up in someone’s living room, and host your own performance class. Even if you decide to keep your “five” the same, that’s certainly no reason for stagnancy. You will always benefit from learning new repertoire. What a luxury to have both Cherubino arias ready to go at a moment’s notice, just in case you wake up the morning of an audition and “Parto, parto” just isn’t going to happen that day!
It’s certainly common to want to learn a new aria to present a selection from a specific work that is being cast, and these additions can sometimes come at the last minute. Learning last-minute aria choices is risky at best. This is not to say one can never “debut” a new aria in an audition, but it should be an aria that has been thoroughly studied, technically polished, and well coached.
“I think singers see that a company is programming certain rep,” says Rogers, “and try and learn things quickly on the fly from that particular production.” She suggests that singers substitute an aria they already know that may be similar in style or exhibit some of the qualities or skills demanded by an available role. “In the end, I tell [young artists] that we want to see the best representation of who they are and what they are capable of doing. I don’t want them trying to second-guess what we may or may not want to hear.” If you do choose to learn an aria for a specific audition, that’s all the more reason to have used your off-season time well. With your core list ready to go, you have time available for those situation-specific projects.
The off-season is also a good time to focus on those aria projects you may have started and abandoned for lack of time, or arias that challenge you to develop stronger skills through the learning process. The day after Labor Day is not the time to begin working on Ann Trulove’s aria or any of those huge Bel Canto cavatina-cabaletta scenes. While assisting Utah Opera Resident Artists in their audition preparation, I have often advised singers to postpone work on a project aria in favor of polishing arias that are further along. But, come January, I guarantee we will turn our attention right back to that big aria, and we’ll hope to have it ready by the end of the current opera season.
Another part of the audition process you can address during spring training is your audition materials. Three days before postmark deadline is not the time to get your materials organized. It should be obvious, but every time you add a new engagement to your schedule, you should also immediately add it to your résumé and your biography. Of course, wait until that contract is in your hand to publicize a new engagement—but if you are constantly updating your materials, you will always be ready to send information out at a moment’s notice.
Sound recordings are probably the biggest sources of agony for applicants when gathering materials for an application deadline. Grant Loehnig, Artist Teacher of Opera at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, mentions those panicked phone calls that arrive on a Thursday: “I need to make a recording for a Monday deadline! Can you help?” Every coach has received these calls and they may not be able to accommodate these last-minute requests. With such easy access to quality recording devices these days, there’s truly no excuse for this situation.
We schedule our Utah Opera Resident Artists for several recording sessions over the last six weeks of the season, just to amass a store of recorded options to choose from. Not every day turns out to be a fantastic singing day. Simple mathematics dictate that your odds of having a good “take” of an aria increase with the number of times you record each selection. I was dismayed how many of the screening recordings submitted for our most recent Resident Artist auditions highlighted consistently out-of-tune singing. In addition, now that casting directors and producers can search professional singers’ websites, it’s imperative to show only your best in that venue. “When a singer is suggested for a role, the first thing I do is a Google search for that artist,” says James Lowe, conductor for opera and Broadway. “If the sound samples aren’t impressive, we may immediately move on to the next possibility.”
At this point, many of you may be thinking “How can I possibly give this kind of attention to my audition arias year-round when I am working full-time?” or “ . . . am finishing my master’s degree?” or “ . . . am a full-time parent?” Lowe’s philosophy is simple: “No one is going to get these jobs for you.” Even when you have a manager submitting you for auditions, you must be ready at a moment’s notice to show your best self.
Time management is a challenge for everyone, and ideas and suggestions have filled many a self-help book. Using your “off-season” training time efficiently is an essential component in keeping your skills sharp, your goals focused, and your arias ready. This way you’ll always be ready for the big game.
