It has taken five long years of hard work, faith in herself and others, and a really good sense of humor, but classical singer Solange Sior’s company has finally arrived. Founded in 2001, Elgin OPERA (formerly O·P·E·R·A, the Opera Professional Entertainers Repertoire Association) makes its home in the city of Elgin, Ill., approximately one hour west of Chicago. In addition to its most recent triumph, a fully staged production of La traviata for which the company sold approximately 2,000 tickets, Elgin OPERA now has a training ensemble and an outreach program, and will be taking on Madama Butterfly next. Elgin OPERA is more than ready.
At the helm of every successful journey is a captain, and the one aboard this “ship” is Solange Josianne Sior. Hailing from Montreal, Canada, this French-speaking, 5-foot-4 dynamo came to America in 1988, with barely a word of English in her repertoire and no job lined up. By 1991, however, she was at the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists. She sang in the chorus at the Lyric for two years. Before long she was both singing and teaching, eventually forming her own studio and booking agency, in 1994. Sior hired singers and musicians to perform at dinner concerts, country clubs and hotels, and began to add to the valuable connections in the industry she forged in her time at Lyric Opera.
When Sior decided to found Elgin OPERA, she wanted to give singers the chance to perform, and to bring her beloved art both to those who enjoy it and to those who had not yet experienced it. Being the founder and artistic director has been a lot of responsibility—but it has been a joy as well, she says. It also puts Sior in the position to give others who are looking to start a company the benefit of her recent experiences. Here she shares some of her hard-earned wisdom with those who may want to form a company of their own one day.
Funding
Become a Non-Profit
Sior suggests filing for non-profit status right away. It involves a great deal of paperwork, but she believes it is an absolute necessity for a new opera company. It is time consuming, but well worth the effort, she says.
Write Grants
Grant writing may seem intimidating to the uninitiated, but it is worth exploring and not really as difficult as you might think, says Sior. Most grants come with specific instructions for completion, and can be quite lucrative for a company trying to get started.
Don’t know where to turn? You can start with the arts council in your state (for grants and more information) or even begin the search locally.
“We had more luck turning to our hometown of Elgin, Illinois,” says Sior. “We have been supported by the Elgin Cultural Arts Commission, Grand Victoria Foundation, and local foundations.”
Find Sponsors
Filing for non-profit status can help you when you begin to look for sponsors—donations made to your company are tax-deductible, which can make you more attractive to corporate donors. Look around the city and surrounding area and see what businesses, or even individuals, may be willing to sign on as sponsors for your company.
Setup
Location, Location, Location!
This famous real estate dictum is the best rule for a new company considering where to locate its home base. Sior’s company is close to a large city. This allows some “spillover” in terms of picking up talent from the area, but doesn’t put the company in direct competition with the large companies in Chicago, which “is important,” she says. She suggests avoiding trying to compete, but instead carving out your own niche in the opera world.
“We are the only opera organization within 50 miles,” she says. “Elgin is a large and artistic town with a lot of sponsors and business that support the arts.”
Find the Right People
This may be the most important thing in creating a successful company, says Sior. During the interview, she frequently praised the individuals who have been essential to achieving the success she has enjoyed, such as her pianist and music director, Stuart Leitch (“how amazing he is”), or her conductor, Francesco Milioto, for whom “she is so grateful.”
Having the right people on board has helped Sior conquer three of the most difficult obstacles to doing opera on the stage: costuming, sets, and props. “I was lucky enough to have Sandra Haggard sign on for costumes, and Dave Carmona and Paula Mrazek took care of the sets.” Between them and Frieda Schaefgen, who “always managed to come up with the right prop,” Sior says things that could have been a nightmare wound up being completely taken care of—without her ever having to check on them. This, in turn, freed her up to concentrate on other things.
Sior cautions that it is a good idea to avoid people who have control issues—it gets in the way of everyone getting along well. Everyone needs to be on the same team. Surrounding yourself with positive people is high on the list of “must haves” for a smooth ride, in Sior’s opinion. She loves the feeling and flow of a “give/give or win/win relationship” as she puts it, and truly believes that her particular group of volunteers has been one of the largest factors in her company’s success. Asked what her smartest move was, she replies without hesitation: “Creating such a good circle of volunteers.”
Sior also suggests that “when you find people you trust, put them on your board.” Especially in the beginning, you should make sure to seek out those “who are givers of their time.” In the initial stages, as you search for funding, you don’t want to overlook those who are also generous with their time—they can be just as valuable. She believes it takes about five years to “arrive,” and that it truly helps to have those dedicated people along to support you on the journey.
Building Your Core Performance Group
Sior started Elgin OPERA with her students from the Opera Training Ensemble performing in the chorus for the big shows. She gave these students opportunities to perform larger roles in some of the outreach shows—giving them, as she says, “a chance to stretch a little bit.”
The chance to perform in such a professional group is a draw for classical singers in the area, she says. So is the fact that the company actually pays all of the soloists.
The networking Sior did in those early days at Lyric and while booking dinner shows with musicians and singers, paid off for her when it came time to form a company. She was already familiar with many artists, and just as importantly, they knew her and her reputation. Getting to know as many people in the industry as you can, and keeping in touch with those you come across, can be extremely beneficial, she says.
When asked if there was a certain point when she knew that her company had “made it,” she sighs and says happily, “Being double-cast for ‘Traviata.’ We were sold out. I got to sit back and watch an entire cast sing—it was great!”
Building Audiences
Once you have a core group of singers, funding, and a place to hang your proverbial hat, how can you build audiences for your new company? Sior smiles brightly, and fires off a bunch of suggestions without batting an eye.
“Schools. Keep addresses from all of your gigs for a mailing list. Keep all of your mailing lists! Use newspaper publicity to raise your profile. Keep trying and don’t give up!”
Another thing she suggests: “Do the light stuff—then give them the real thing.” Use a bit of humor. Let your audience grow and come to appreciate the sound of opera before asking them to sit through full-length productions. Not everyone is ready for Madama Butterfly right away, and Sior sees nothing wrong with starting small and building from there.
Leading the Group
Being a “risk-taker” is the one quality Sior deems vital to success in this type of venture—but it is not the only quality she thinks is important. “People have to sense that you are doing this for the right reasons, because you love it.” She also believes you need to be very involved in the process and a role model for others.
Knowing what she knows now, would she have done something differently?
“I would have read The Four Powers of Leadership earlier,” she says firmly, describing something in this book by author David T. Kyle that really affected her. “There’s a section that talks about ‘The Sovereign,’ the power of presence. It is a most interesting section, and I like this little quote from it: ‘A leader, in essence, embodies the soul of the organization.’”
When asked where Elgin OPERA will go from here, it is no surprise that Sior is ready with her answer. “I would love [to have] a full orchestra and a full-time, paid staff.” Orion House Artists Management recently signed Sior, and her own career appears to be taking off in tandem with her company.
Above and beyond everything, Solange Sior has taken the responsibility of being founder, CEO, and artistic director for Elgin OPERA quite seriously, and embodies the very soul of classical singing for her rising star of a company. Her persistence and hard work have paid off. Now, rather than being the “new kid on the block,” she is in the wonderful position of being able to share how she did it with others who want to do the same.
For more information, visit Elgin OPERA online at www.gotopera.org.
