By Mark Stoddard, author of Marketing Singers, a business and marketing guidebook written specifically for singers.
While in Vienna recently I took in an abbreviated performance of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. That’s not at all notable, but some things about the performance are. Most notable was our guide on the bus to the theater. He was an American in his mid-twenties who had taken a contract to perform with the repertoire company staging this production. As part of their effort to reach out to their audience they take turns meeting the groups, helping them board the buses and then letting the group ask questions about Mozart, the opera and the company putting on the production.
He was typical of so many excellent opera singers I meet – full of love for their art, anxious to perform well and desirous to engage with their audience. One of the first questions was about his music education. He told us his name is Aidan Smerud and he’d attended a small university in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, to which I asked, “Viterbo with Dan Johnson?” He was shocked that anyone knew of it. Then when he said he’d received a scholarship from the University of Houston after performing at the Classical Singer Vocal Competition I asked, “So you know Joey (Evans)?”
He was floored.
“Yes,” he said excitedly, “he offered me the scholarship and was my voice coach!” As it turned out Aidan had also attended one of my “Marketing for Singers” lectures.
Small world in the classical singer world. Better watch out who you offend… they likely know everyone else.
Until recently he was working in a Young Artist Program when he was asked by a friend to step in for him in fulfilling a contract with the Sound of Austria troupe. They perform for river cruise lines – a rather steady, permanent musical contract. He nearly didn’t take it worrying he wasn’t ready. I told him what I say on this blog… to never waver again and grab every opportunity to perform.
He’s glad he did. Their opera productions are shortened to 90 minutes, use super titles for the arias, and have a dialog in English to help with the cuts and keeping the audience involved in the story. It’s quite effective and even the several opera aficionados in the audience of about 200 found it an entrancing evening.
Yes, one can comment on various qualities but won’t, because I’m sick to death of how opera people eat their young. The performers were talented and wooed the audience. I heard nearly all say, “That was great! I’ll have to see a full production of Figaro.” Even friends who are patrons of Chicago Opera were delighted.
I told Aidan of my crusade to breathe fresh air into the financial remuneration mystery and let singers know how much they can get paid for jobs. This way they’ll have some idea have what to expect. He shared with me his compensation: he had to pay his way over, but they cover all food, lodging and transportation costs in Vienna and they get $50 per performance. They do 25 to 27 performances every month so that is about $1,200 a month after housing, food and transport are covered. I believe they have either three or four operas in repertoire and they switch off roles every night to save their voices and to learn more roles and arias. Days are filled with lessons, coaching and practices. And ample free time to enjoy Vienna.
That’s not much money, but what a great chance to learn roles and the art of performing. And in Vienna! An excellent resume stuffer as well.
Becoming a master singer means practicing and performing constantly for more than 10,000 hours (a well documented milestone). Aidan put in the time and effort at the University, entered the CS Vocal Competition (what he calls “a fabulous career move”) and accepted work that challenged him. He is well on his way to becoming a Master Performer of classical music.
Aiden Smerud, pictured 1st person on the left.
Mark Stoddard, author of Marketings Singers, is a business leader, professor, marketer and consultant who has been helping singers get jobs for more than 20 years. On the singing front he staged more than 100 professional shows aboard cruise ships that employed classical singers, pianists and strings. He’s also coached singers on how to sell their CDs and other products, use the social media and how to negotiate contracts. Email Mark at mark@mjstoddard.com.
