Dear Editor:
I attended Barnes’ West Coast Auditions in 2004. I had a hard time getting into them, even though I was managed at the time, and my agent commented that she (Corbett-Barnes) could be difficult to deal with. I thought the auditions were well run and organized, [with] many companies in attendance, and I got a job offer out of them that I had to decline for scheduling reasons.
There was a different scenario for the Indianapolis auditions, which I did in September 2005. When I got to the audition, she told me upfront that two of the companies that said they were going to be there were not, leaving only a handful of people to sing for. (Granted, I would be thrilled to work for any of the companies in attendance.) I asked her then if I could also do the Atlanta auditions, and she told me to send her an e-mail to remind her to put me on the list, followed by the fee and the resumes that were needed.
I e-mailed her several times to ask who the companies were going to be at the Atlanta auditions, before I sent my money, but got no response. I finally got a curt e-mail saying that the information would be posted shortly on the website, which it never was. I decided that the expense far outweighed the [possible gain], and passed.
—Name on File
Dear Editor:
I was scheduled to sing in Atlanta on Nov. 17, 2005. I drove the 400 miles to Atlanta on Tuesday, Nov. 15, and got word from my agent about the cancellation after I had already arrived. Luckily, I sang for OTSL [Opera Theater of Saint Louis] while I was in Atlanta, but I wouldn’t have traveled all of that way if I had known it was only for one YAP audition. Including gas, hotel, cancellation of voice students, I estimate this fiasco cost me about $300. This does not include the $90 audition fee—hopefully my “stop payment” request went through in time to avoid this loss.
—Nicolle Alexandre Sherwood
Dear Editor:
I had difficulties with Joanne Barnes in getting some sort of audition scheduled with her regional audition program. After I signed up (and paid my $90 fee), Ms. Barnes cancelled the Southwest Regional Auditions in Austin [Texas], at a bit of the last minute. At that point, she offered a spot to me at her Southeast Regionals in Atlanta, Ga. in mid-November. It sounded like a good deal, so I agreed, and got my nonrefundable airline ticket and hotel reservations. Less than 24 hours before I was to get on a plane to go to Atlanta, Ms. Barnes called me and left a message that the auditions had been postponed to Dec. 12 and 13, because of an inability to secure an accompanist for the audition. Why it was not possible to find a capable accompanist in all of the Atlanta metro area, I do not know. I scrambled to change my ticket, because I figured it was better to pay a little more money and still get an audition, than write it all off at that point. So, $120 later, I was rescheduled to be in Atlanta in December.
I never heard from Ms. Barnes. I could not reach her after repeated attempts through e-mail and phone. It is looking to me as though Ms. Barnes is not everything she says. I think I called her a total of three times, and e-mailed her twice. The last e-mail was to cancel my Atlanta audition. I do not intend on doing any further business with Ms. Barnes or Arts Management Services in the future.
—Name on File
[Editors Note: As of April 10, 2006 this singer had not yet received a refund of the $90 application fee.]
Dear Editor:
I did Ms. Barnes’ West Coast auditions in May 2005, and they were well run and successful for me. I got three job offers. Encouraged, I sent in my check and materials for the Indianapolis auditions in September 2005 and the Atlanta auditions in December. These [Indianapolis auditions] were not quite as well organized, and it turned out at the last minute that a couple of the companies I was really interested in singing for weren’t there. Ms. Barnes told me that they just didn’t show. Still, it wasn’t a bad experience.
In the interim, Ms. Barnes indicated that she was interested in having a set of auditions in Texas. I volunteered to help her set them up, and used a number of personal contacts to help her arrange a venue and find a pianist. I even e-mailed a number of colleagues who I thought would be interested in participating, and some of them signed up. Ms. Barnes and I kept in touch by phone and e-mail, and she indicated that she was having a hard time finding an accompanist for all three days of the auditions. I sent her more names and solicited names from colleagues. She phoned a few days before the auditions were scheduled to say that they were cancelled. I later spoke to one singer who told me he and his fiancée had lost $700 in plane fare due to her last-minute cancellation. Another singer also told me he had lost money.
Ms. Barnes stated on her website that Austin Lyric Opera was sponsoring the auditions. She listed companies that would be there, including Austin, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and others. I later spoke to Susan Threadgill, production manager at Austin Lyric Opera. She told me that not only was Austin Lyric Opera not sponsoring these auditions, but they were not planning to hear auditions. Darren Keith Woods, general director of Fort Worth Opera, also posted on the New Forum for Classical Singers, stating that he had asked to have his company’s name removed from her site, as they had no plans to come to Austin for the auditions.
It leaves one wondering exactly who, if anyone, actually was scheduled to hear auditions.
I was scheduled for a time slot on the Southeast Opera Auditions in Atlanta. I planned to go to these principally for the opportunity to sing for Atlanta Opera, which was listed on Barnes’ website as the host of the auditions. I bought a plane ticket and reserved a hotel. I later had to change my ticket due to another audition, which came up the day before in New York. At this point, including Barnes’ fee, I had probably spent about $700.
Ms. Barnes called my agent at approximately 3 p.m. two days before the audition was to take place. She said that she could not find an accompanist and was postponing the auditions. I asked my agent to call Atlanta Opera and ask if they would go ahead and hear me, since they had been planning to hear people that day anyway. He reported back to me that the Atlanta Opera administration denied having any involvement with Joanne Corbett-Barnes, other than renting her a room; they were getting ready to open Porgy and Bess and had no plans to hear any auditions during this time. I received e-mail from other singers who had heard the same from their agents.
At this point, due to the lateness in the cancellation and the structure of my trip, I had no choice but to continue on to Atlanta, wasting time and money. Ms. Barnes, who was so communicative before when she needed my help to set up the auditions in Austin, did not reply to any of my e-mails regarding a refund of my $90 fee. Nor did she, to my knowledge, contact my agent regarding rescheduling the audition.
On Feb. 3, 2006 I received a certified letter from Ms. Barnes, stating that she was including a copy of a letter that had been sent to agents and unmanaged artists (this letter was not, in fact, included) and that she had refunded my fee via my agent on Jan. 13. I am awaiting confirmation from my agent at the time of this writing (Feb. 4, 2006). The fact remains that even if my $90 audition fee is refunded, I still lost over $700 in travel due to Ms. Barnes’ last minute cancellation, and I find her stated excuse for the cancellation lacking in credibility.
—Cindy Sadler
[Editors Note: Cindy Sadler did receive a full refund of her $90 audition fee.]
Dear Editor:
I originally corresponded with Ms. Barnes in order to participate in the Midwest auditions this past fall ‘05. She was very polite and professional in her e-mails. Unfortunately, I got sick and had to cancel my audition (I had to eat the cost of my flight, though this situation was obviously my doing, not hers). From lurking on NFCS [New Forum for Classical Singers], I understood that these auditions went well.
I then contacted her about applying my $90 fee towards my participation in the Southeast auditions in November, which she agreed to do. As the date approached I kept checking her website for more information regarding the auditions, exact companies attending, and proposed repertoire. I never booked a flight or made any travel plans because there was never any specific information about the content of those auditions. Of course, those auditions never happened.
Since that time I have contacted her via e-mail twice, very politely requesting that she return my $90 application fee (never mentioning … the scandal regarding those auditions) just the fact that I did not attend. And, of course, I have not heard anything from her.
I guess I feel fortunate that I only technically lost the cost of the application fee, considering what many other singers lost on expenses.
Just for the record, I am a managed singer, but contacted Ms. Barnes directly, so my manager was never involved.
—Queenie (via the Classical Singer Forum)
• Memorandum –
Date: January 2006
To: Artist Managers and Singers
Subject: Southeast Auditions/November 2005
To all of you, please accept my apology for the delay in refunding the audition fees for the auditions that were supposed to take place in mid-November 2005 in Atlanta. Every effort was made to try and find a resolution to reschedule these auditions. The best solution at this time is to issue refunds. What has slowed me down even more has had to do with tearing the ligaments in my right knee shortly after I returned to San Francisco, keeping me primarily on bed rest through the end of 2005.
Now to some background to the November auditions so that you understand what went wrong. The major reason for the last-minute cancellation had to do with a competent accompanist. The host company had informed me, from the beginning of planning the auditions, that they would not be able to provide an accompanist at all. This necessitated engaging someone from outside the company. The person who was originally engaged cancelled 10 days before the auditions were to take place.
Finding a replacement immediately became my top priority. After numerous phone calls to all of the “best” people, who had been recommended to me, someone was found. The person who agreed to play then decided that she would not be able to play all of the repertoire. She informed me only three days before the auditions were to take place. At that point, I was already in North Carolina on other business, planning on going directly on to Atlanta. The better part of an afternoon was spent in making every effort to engage an adequate accompanist. The situation simply became untenable and all of you needed to be informed regarding the cancellations. This was not a decision that was made lightly.
The idea of doing multi-company auditions started in California eight years ago when Timm Rolek, then the new artistic director of Sacramento Opera, and Joanne Barnes had a conversation about inviting companies from the region to come together to hear singers all at the same time. Out of those talks, the West Coast Opera Auditions began. They again will be held, for the 8th time, this coming May 2006. The hire rate for artists has been very high from this process, the companies are appreciative of hearing singers in this way, and look forward to seeing each other, sharing ideas and hearing artists from year to year. As you all know, it often takes more than one hearing to evaluate and decide on a particular artist.
This past year, the same model was started in Indianapolis and will again be held in that same city this coming September 2006. They were very successful for the companies who participated. Already more companies are committed for this next time.
The same model was created for Atlanta, but it did not work because of the situation regarding the accompanist. As with both San Francisco and now Indianapolis, one accompanist from each locale has been engaged to play for all of the singers. For me, the most critical part of the auditioning process is that the singer be adequately supported at the piano by an accompanist who not only can play the notes, but knows the repertoire stylistically as well as artistically. In fact, if the accompanist is not good, the singer simply does not do the best audition.
It has always been my intention to provide the very best support possible for the singer to make the audition process go as smoothly as any audition can go. It became impossible for the auditions to move forward in Atlanta because of the lack of a good accompanist. I could not, in good conscience, put singers “at risk” with inadequate support from the piano. I hope that you fully understand the choice that needed to be made. It was a costly one for all of us and not an easy one to be made by me.
—Joanne Barnes
Arts Management Services, LLC
