This June issue is about “Your Visual Image,” and we are focusing on the résumé, photos and website this year—the visual package—with singers on different levels. We hope you all find something to help you, no matter what your level!
But I want to talk here about where singers get their advice. The saddest situation I see as I observe other singers is that of singers who listened to the wrong advice. It seems that many singers never get accurate feedback about where they stand in the business. They never find out who they could be. They never reach their best, because they never work with the best. They never get “the top” right, the voice connected, etc., even though they might be the next Renée Fleming, or Enrico Caruso for that matter, if they just went to the right teachers and coaches.
Do you think great singers would be where they are today if they’d studied with low-level teachers and coaches who didn’t “get it?” Do great singers somehow just have something that other people don’t have? A few, perhaps, but most great singers have at least three factors working in their favor. They have great talent, great soul AND great teachers. They have found teachers who passed on to them the keys of musical excellence. Could that be you, too? Is there undiscovered gold in your throat and in your soul?
Recently, I was at a college attending a performance and heard some young singers. Several were at varying levels of poor training. One of the poorly-trained singers told me excitedly he was on his way to New York to audition for Young Artist programs. His teacher, however, had completely mis-trained him and other singers in the studio so that the larynx was high, the tone was shrill and harsh, and the voice sounded as if it would crack at any moment. The voice was so quiet, it could hardly be heard in the performance space despite the fact that the singer was red in the face from exertion. (During the rehearsal, the teacher kept complaining that the accompaniment was too loud for his pupil; however, it wasn’t the accompaniment that was the problem.) This student had sung many leads in his four years of school, which certainly encouraged him to continue in his poor technique.
The singer had a long road ahead of him. Would he be smart enough to ask for advice somewhere? He didn’t ask me. Instead, he bragged about his teacher’s technique, told me how ready he was (his teacher had told him so), and said he thought perhaps the MET’s program would pick him up.
No one will tell him the truth unless he asks. Will the story be repeated as it has countless times? Will the singer move to New York and wait tables, do all the New York auditions, and wonder why no one will call him back and why he can’t get management? Will he travel back to his teacher at college for brush-ups and be told he’s doing great and that the economy is just bad? Will he pay for coaching in New York but make it clear to the coach that he doesn’t want to be told to switch teachers?
Could he be the next Pavarotti underneath that poor technique? Will we ever know? If he continues as he is, will someday someone suggest that he become a character tenor because they won’t know what else to make of his voice? If he doesn’t make a change soon, will it be too late for the muscles and tendons and ligaments to shape themselves to the great voice that is probably in there?
So you see why I’m sad. So much lost talent—all because singers won’t ask, won’t listen and learn. They assume they know what the outside world will think of their skills, because teachers with extreme egos, or others with very limited view of the world, have told them their skills are great.
How do singers get to be on the great stages of the world? Great teachers, great contacts, great advice. They didn’t stop; they didn’t settle. Have you stopped? Have you settled? Are you being led down a side-path by a well-meaning but low-skilled teacher?
As a young singer, the wonderful actress/mezzo Joyce Castle told me that if I wanted to have a great career I must study with the greatest coaches, teachers and conductors. She advised me to go to one of them to train for a role I was trying to land. I asked the price, and I was shocked. I told her proudly that my coach only charged $25! (As if a low price on coaching was something to be admired like a great find on shoes!) She shrugged her shoulders and walked away from me. My cheeks burned as I realized that what I’d just told her was that I was planning on a small-time career.
That experience made me reconsider. While you can’t tell the worth of a coach or a teacher by the price, singers must search out the best of the best and find a way to pay for it. There are wonderful, caring coaches who help singers out by charging reasonable fees (thank you!). Singers who are trying for a world-class career should work as often as possible with the big-name coaches and teachers. They don’t all charge top dollar, thankfully! (Some have been known to work with talented singers for reduced rates and even for free.) But you’ve got to learn from the best of the best if you want to be the best of the best. Some of the best talent has been lost to this generation simply because they have settled for mediocre training and have taken bad advice.
And not all the best teachers are in New York. There are wonderful teachers outside the New York area, as many of you know. As an example, I have spent four weeks observing in Betty Jeanne Chipman’s studio here in Utah and have literally seen miracles happen to wrecked voices. [See “The Vocal Wobble,” p.XX.] While she is not taking new students, Ms. Chipman is an example of one of the excellent teachers outside of New York.
How do you know if the advice you are getting is valid and you are moving towards your goal? You can tell because you are making consistent progress, and everyone around you is hearing that progress. You can tell because you have asked advice from top professionals in the field [not your teacher—singers must get feedback from outside their own realm] and have been told you are on a good track. You can tell because your voice feels good after your lessons and practices, never tired or sore, and your psyche is lifted from association with the members of “your team.” [see Career Steps summary, p.XX] Where do you find good advice? A good key is to look at where the advice-giver is working or has worked recently; look at where his or her students are performing. Do they know the business on a New York or world scale now? Does your teacher have singers working at a high level in the business? If not, and you are out of school, you definitely need to get opinions from someone working at this high level. Where do you find these people? Many of them work at the best summer programs. You might still be able to get into a summer program if you call quickly. Many of the high-level professionals can be found in New York. Some of them advertise in CS magazine. You can write to coaches care of the MET, if they are working there, and ask for a coaching session when you are ready. But don’t wait too long! There are teachers who will tell you “you’re not ready” until it is everlastingly too late! It is my belief that singers should start getting professional feedback while they are in college. You want to know if the direction your voice is going is right before you’ve spent four years and $100,000 going there, don’t you? Too many singers are having to un-do what they spent loads of time and money doing in the first place!
Don’t settle. Find the gold that is yours and mine it!
Do you have a comment or question? Write to CJ at cjw@classicalsinger.com or P.O. Box 95490, South Jordan, UT, 84095
