I am writing this column from my hotel room in Mexico on a warm summer night. The room is clean but lacks air conditioning. I am teaching at an international opera festival where we begin teaching in the morning and continue working late into the night performing recitals, adjudicating competitions, and attending student productions.
Why did I come back for a second year to teach at a festival with a rigorous schedule under less than luxurious conditions? Because the singers here have taught me the true meaning of grit. They are passionate, determined, talented, prepared, and grateful—and, most importantly, they persevere.
Mexico, as a nation, does not offer many opportunities for classical and operatic training. There are extraordinarily talented singers here with little possibility to advance their careers. Many singers from Mexico and other parts of Central and South America attend this festival in order to work daily with teachers, coaches, and conductors for the opportunity to hone their skills, sing an opera role with orchestra, and compete for cash prizes. These young artists are so appreciative of whatever expertise we can offer—they remind me why I love teaching and they have increased my love for young singers more than I can describe.
Truth
This evening I attended an auditioned recital for festival participants. Most of the 12 performers chosen are singing in the chorus and do not have named roles in the festival operas. After the event, I was congratulating the young artists on their very fine performances, and off to the side there was a beautiful young woman crying. Another teacher and I checked in with her to see what was wrong. She had auditioned for the concert but was told her voice did not suit her aria and she was not invited to perform.
She was devastated. I empathized with her situation, as would most singers—rejection is part of the job of auditioning. My colleague held the young soprano’s hand and we assured her that we had both felt the pain of rejection, and learning to let go is one of the ways we grow as artists. My colleague told her how proud she was of her improvements and reminded her that only she could know her own “truth” as a singer. I appreciate this sentiment in a world where excuses are more common than preparation and falsehoods are offered far more often than apologies or simple truths.
What does knowing your “truth” have to do with beautiful singing? As a mentor, I want to help singers find the truth in their vocal technique so they can choose repertoire that highlights their abilities. I want them to find truth in their characters so they perform with sensitivity to their text. I want them to understand the history of their music and the traditional style so they will perform with authenticity and musicality. These truths add up to the self-confidence needed for performing at our best.
Reactions
Classical singing is completely subjective, and in any given moment a singer can be “on” or “off.” If an aria is improving with practice, one teacher might encourage while another teacher may dismiss the effort. While consoling the disappointed young soprano, I told her, “If classical singing was easy, everyone would do it.” Not only is the technique for singing opera incredibly difficult to develop, there are languages to learn, styles to master, arias to characterize, and performances to demonstrate all of the above.
Rejection ought to be relabeled “reaction.” Someone is simply reacting to your music in a given moment and, although it feels personal, rejection in singing is often business as usual. If we can characterize a rejection as a nonreceptive reaction, then we can ease the pain in the process of auditioning. (True story: I once received a rejection letter from a Young Artist Program for which I had not even auditioned!)
Growth
Another way to relabel rejection is as “not yet” rather than “no” or “fail.” In the book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol S. Dweck describes “not yet” as a growth mindset. When presenting difficult problems to children, she suggests praising their process rather than the result. This type of praise motivates progress, particularly problem solving. When I read about this, I immediately recognized an analogy to practice.
When auditioning for any type of award or gig, it is difficult to imagine being praised for your hours of practice—that is not how our business works. Prizes are awarded for the performance itself, not the preparation. In a competition, for example, there will be first, second, and third place . . . perhaps an honorable mention. Someone will win. I hope you experience the win. But if you haven’t won yet, I hope you can internalize a growth mindset and remember the word “yet.”
“[True grit] is making a decision and standing by it, doing what must be done. No moral man can have peace of mind if he leaves undone what he knows he should have done.” -John Wayne
Grit
Majoring in music is tough. There is always more to learn, and you might feel as though the challenges never stop. You will never be done learning in this career. When you begin auditioning for performance opportunities, there is even more pressure to seek opportunities and audition again and again and again. What is it that motivates so many singers to keep practicing, keep auditioning, and keep believing in their vocal abilities? The thing that singers have is grit.
Angela Lee Duckworth gave a TED Talk titled “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance.” She has researched success in many fields and has identified that IQ, talent, and financial security are not important indicators for success; rather, the determination to persevere carries human beings through periods of challenge and growth. Singers with grit will find success because they will do whatever it takes for as long as it takes. Grit will get you to graduation. Grit will make you better tomorrow than you are today. Talent is great, but grit will make you reliable and hirable.
Three Keys to Being Reliable
1. Be prepared—i.e., know your music and understand your character’s part in the story
2. Be open to new ideas
3. Be grateful for your opportunity
Actual Excuses Used by Unreliable Singers
1. I didn’t have time to translate the other character’s parts.
2. I’ve got about 70 percent of my part learned.
3. My teacher doesn’t think I will ever sing this role in a “real” house.
4. I knew it this morning.
5. I am not wearing that costume.
Many aspects of a singing career are beyond our control. But you can control your own preparation and you can continue to show up. Show up to your lessons, show up to the practice room, and show up to auditions. Do your best to receive rejection as “not yet” rather than “no,” because if you continue showing up, eventually someone is going to want to give you an opportunity.
There is a wonderful notion that opportunity knocks when a bit of luck meets a great deal of preparation. As a young artist, I believed in the power of a good audition. Now that I spend more time on the other side of the audition table, I truly want to be wowed by every singer that walks in front of the piano. Please—go ahead and make my day.
Renée Fleming writes in her memoir, The Inner Voice: The Making of a Singer, that she never won first place in a competition. She describes her gratitude for some second place prizes. Without the responsibility of being “the best,” she continued working on her craft and created one of the greatest operatic careers of all time. Not bad for second place.
Gratitude
Remember how lucky you are to be studying music. Someone along the way has heard beauty in your voice and encouraged you and accepted you. When an audition does not go well or someone in a position of authority reacts negatively to your vocal performance, it is imperative to remember the encouragement that has gotten you this far. If you choose to sing, then your job is to sing. And you sometimes might not get paid for your job.
Auditions are performances that occasionally lead to paid work, but they are part of the job. Studying a score and carefully learning notes and rhythms are part of the job. Coaching your diction and working with your teacher to apply your best technique to every aria you sing is part of the job. Performances are like the picture of an iceberg where you see the little ice above the water and a mountain of ice underneath. The ice we see (your performance) will be better if the mountain of ice we don’t see (your preparation) is enormous.
Epilogue
I began this column at the beginning of the festival in Mexico and I am finishing it on the flight home. Now I can share more about the young woman mentioned earlier. She sang in the chorus of one of the operas produced during the festival and she was fantastic onstage. She showed up every single day at 7:00 a.m. to sign up for lessons and coachings with the festival faculty and she made steady progress day by day.
The last night, she hugged me and with a huge smile told me that she planned to work hard all year in order to return to the festival next summer. This soprano initially inspired me to write about grit because she experienced personal rejection to her singing, and I hoped that she would bounce back. After two weeks, she taught me something important. She came to an opera festival to learn—but, as is often the case, the students teach the instructors as much as we teach them. She taught me that gratitude drives her determination, and her receptive attitude allows her to improve her own technique.
Many students want to learn but are unwilling to change. Some singers persevere but do not improve. True grit—the grit that makes you better each day, the grit that will propel your success—comes from your true self. Gratitude, an open mind, and a willingness to try will bring you the joy of mastering your artistry as a singer.
