Soprano Susan Razavi is the founder of Alta Classica, a Manhattan company promoting classical Spanish music and zarzuela. Alta Classica features three performances per year, along with a vocal competition, master classes and an arts education performance. With a history of performance success and grant-writing experience, Susan gives some of her tips to singers thinking about starting their own company .
• Unless you have an agent, a benefactor or Placido Domingo backing you, you should think seriously about becoming tax-exempt as a nonprofit.
• It will take years to become stable.
• Nobody gives you anything for nothing.
• Everything you want to do will be much harder and take more time and money than you think.
• Keep your day job.
• If you want to start alone, think for yourself and do not be afraid to make decisions.
• You will make mistakes; everyone does.
• Get any agreement in writing.
• If you think you can just rent a space and perform, and an audience will attend—think again. Audiences are tough to find, and everybody is competing for the same audience.
• Do you do it for money? Or because you love music? If you do it for money, become a banker. If you love music—prove it.
• Be honest, go by the book, pay your bills and remember that your reputation is often your only asset.
• Network; grow a mailing list; work on a media list; send out comp tickets.
