By Cindy Sadler.
It’s no secret any more that singers must be both business and artistically minded. But figuring out the business part of your singing career can be overwhelming. It’s almost like being dropped off in the jungle, a-la Survivor, with nothing but your audition outfit and a copy of Musical America. You need help. You need a map.
It’s time to gather information that will help you advance your mission. You must be proactive in seeking out opportunities. If you’re not looking further than the bulletin board outside your voice teacher’s studio door, you’re missing out on a great deal! It’s time to figure out where you want to go.
Where Do You Want to Go?
Start by figuring out what’s available in your own community. If you are at a university or conservatory, take advantage of what’s right under your nose. My colleagues who teach repeatedly mention how shocked and frustrated they are at how rarely students attend concerts and masterclasses on their own campuses. Chances are there are some amazing musicians in your midst already, and you can not only learn from them, but can also make connections that will serve you throughout your career. Make it a priority to check your school’s arts calendar as well as those of other schools in the vicinity. And while you’re at it, take advantage of cross-discipline offerings as well! A good artist must be a well-rounded, curious person hungry for knowledge on a variety of subjects.
There are a lot of great arts organizations that don’t have much of a budget for advertising, so do some investigating. Check arts listings in your local mainstream and alternative newspapers and online resources. Sign up for mailings (you might want to create an e-mail address just for this) so you can keep on top of their offerings.
Look for organizations such as the following:
- Choruses which may do larger works and use soloists from within the group or hire locally
- Large church music programs which may present concerts and oratorio
- Community orchestras which may do vocal works
- Gilbert & Sullivan societies and community theater groups which may also do musical theatre
- Chamber groups and early music ensembles
- Ethnic ensembles that specialize in the music of particular regions
- Community opera companies and training programs
- Professional companies which may use students in choruses, small roles, and covers
- Educational institutions that produce masterclasses, workshops, recitals, concerts, and operas
These are places that may offer performance opportunities for you to grow your résumé (and your wallet), classes or workshops, scholarships and, perhaps most importantly, valuable connections. They are stepping stones to the larger musical community you hope to become a part of.
Other stepping stones include the many various training programs and workshops available—often in the summer, but also year-round. In my last article, I asked, “Is the experience and training you’re getting, or that you got, at school enough?” The answer to that, in my experience, is almost always “no”—and this is not necessarily an indictment of your institution. Any organization has its limitations, including a finite number of available performance experiences. And, sometimes, institutions have explicit teaching philosophies which guide curricula and the overall experience. These may be excellent, but make no mistake: you need exposure to a wide range of information and ideas. By all means, take advantage of all your school has to offer, but don’t expect it to be able to offer you everything.
Summer programs are one of the very best resources for capitalizing on your study during the school year, and they are also of great value to post-grads who need to gain experience or simply want to learn and perform a role in a safe environment before they have to do it professionally. I strongly encourage preprofessional singers and emerging artists to participate in carefully researched programs as much as is feasible. You get an intensive experience without the distractions of your everyday schedule, specialized training, performance experience, and connections.
These programs, however, must be researched well to make sure they suit your current needs. If you have little stage experience, for example, you might want to start with a program where you’ll be doing opera excerpts. If you’ve done opera roles with piano ad nauseum, maybe it’s time to seek an opportunity that allows you to perform with orchestra. If your languages need work, a foreign program offering cultural and language immersion may be just the ticket. Visit program websites, read reports in Classical Singer and, above all, try to communicate directly with alumni of the programs to get an insider perspective.
Pick a Direction
So, you’re all organized and armed with research and your mission statement, but deciding among a myriad of promising opportunities can still be overwhelming. How do you decide which will yield the best return of your investment of time and money? Here are some questions to help you decide.
- Am I available for this opportunity? If not, what would it take to become available? For example, would I have to rearrange my work or teaching schedule, cancel a previous engagement, etc.? How much trouble would it be, and is it worth it?
- Can I afford this opportunity? If not, how far below goal are you? What would it take to meet that fundraising goal?
- Do I have the time to adequately prepare for this opportunity? Can you budget the time to fundraise, apply, prepare an audition, travel to and do the audition, and/or prepare repertoire for the opportunity itself? If not, it might be better to reserve your resources for another time.
- Does this opportunity support my mission? Refer to your list of skills and experiences that you need to build. Does this opportunity offer you the chance to develop or refine? Does it offer you a connection you need to make? Money? A résumé credit? If it doesn’t fit your stated goals exactly, does it offer enough of interest and value to make it worthwhile?
- Will I enjoy this opportunity? Hopefully, you’ll get something besides experience, education, or a paycheck—and just as hopefully, you’ll have fun and make new friends! If, for whatever reason, you dread an aspect of the opportunity so much that it will hinder your enjoyment of it, you should carefully assess whether its benefits outweigh its detriments.
A final note: keep track of how often you consider career-building activities and how often you take or decline them, and for what reason. If you find yourself constantly declining important experiences, your current mission may not be what you think it is—or, at least, it may not be the priority you think it is. It’s important to be honest with yourself about this, lest you spend years of your life and thousands of your dollars in pursuit of what turns out to be the wrong dream.
Don’t be afraid to dream big, but ground that dream in practicality and realism. That way, you’ve paved the way for a smoother, more enjoyable and rewarding journey—even if it ends up taking you someplace you didn’t plan to go.
Cindy Sadler is a professional singer, teacher, writer, director, and consultant. She is the founder and director of Spotlight on Opera, a community opera troupe and training program in Austin, Texas. Upcoming engagements include Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro with the Jacksonville Symphony, alto soloist in Messiah with the Boise Philharmonic, and Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance with Portland Opera. For more information, please visit www.CindySadler.com and www.SpotlightOnOpera.com.
