So you want to be a professional singer… Advice to Students and Parents of High School Students
When I was a young singer I was pursuing my career in singing while teaching voice at the National Cathedral School in Washington D.C. Like any group of High School Students, my young singers had varied interests: some wanted to be doctors, lawyers and famous scientists, and others wished to pursue a career in singing.
This particular group of young adults had rather high achieving parents. They were the sons and daughters of doctors, lawyers and famous people, politicians, diplomats and CEOs. When their kids told them they wanted to go into music or drama they were often horrified. I would receive frantic phone calls from parents who perceived singers, actors, artists and other riff raff as people who are poor bottom dwellers, starving artists, waiting tables at a shabby diner in Greenwich Village and waiting for a break that might never happen. They wanted me to talk their child out of pursuing this dead end, this road to poverty, this socially unacceptable career path. Apparently this is what they thought of me, though I am sure that it really didn’t occur to them that they were also talking about MY career path.
Into the guidance counselor’s office we all would go, to meet and discuss this horrifying revelation. Guidance counselors generally have no information whatever to give to parents about a career in the arts. They all know about the right liberal arts schools that students should aim for, but that is about it. So I began by telling the parents and their child what their student’s life would look like from college till about age 30. The look on their faces was priceless. So here it is--What to expect from 18 till 30 in your career as a professional singer.
First, a High School Student has to prepare him or herself by taking private voice lessons with a good teacher. This should happen by tenth or eleventh grade at the latest. Finding an excellent teacher is harder than it sounds, as not every teacher is good for every student. The local NATS Chapter is a good place to start looking. NATS is the National Association of Teachers of Singing. A teacher who is accepted into the membership of this organization must have a college degree and some teaching experience. Word of mouth is a good way to find a teacher too. Do you know a good singer? Find out who their teacher is.
An audition is necessary for admission to a college vocal program, so students must find out the particular requirements for the Universities or Conservatories they hope to enter, and learn and memorize the required pieces of repertoire. There are many, many applicants for admission to vocal programs, so the schools usually prescreen students by requiring them to submit a video recording of the memorized pieces. Some schools still accept an audio recording, but most would like both. If the video recording is accepted, the student is then invited for a live audition.
Students need to apply to a number of institutions. For example, one of my students recently applied to Eastman, Julliard, Boston Conservatory, Mannes, Manhattan School of Music and Boston University. The student was not accepted for a live audition at Eastman, Boston University and Julliard. The others all accepted this student for a live audition. The student was accepted at all the remaining schools, but some offered large scholarships, and others did not. All of the schools are in the top echelon of voice programs, so a school that offered a good scholarship meant that the student’s singing impressed the audition panel, and the school wished very much that the student would choose to go there.
At College
Once you’ve gotten into school and now for the next four years you just do what you are supposed to do: You learn diction, stagecraft, vocal pedagogy, music theory, some piano, sight singing, French, German, Italian and of course, you have voice lessons with your teacher.
College is a time when singers have the opportunity to grow as artists without (hopefully) having to worry about rent, credit card bills, health insurance and all the plethora of adult noise that hits after graduation. Everything is exciting! New songs or arias are exciting! Hearing a great singer at the Symphony or the Opera is exciting. You eat, sleep and breathe singing. College age singers learn to look like singers, to dress like singers. to carry themselves like singers, to care for their throats like singers. It might be the most singerish time of your life.
And then you graduate. Congratulations! You have a degree in vocal performance! On to the high paying desk job as a professional singer? Nope. There is no safety net for graduated singers. Parents know this day of reckoning coming, and that is what they are concerned about while we are in the Guidance Counselor’s office, back in High School.
If a student has taken out student loans, once graduated, they need to begin to pay them back, but how? At this junction there is usually a lot of soul searching, and confusion. And this is the part that the parents have no experience with, and neither has the Guidance Counselor. There are options though, a lot of them. They just aren’t what those high- powered parents did.
When I was just out of college all those issues hit me in the face too. I don’t know what I expected exactly, but I didn’t really think about it when I was in the halcyon days of Conservatory. I had a church job, and a little gig playing the piano for a retirement home on Wednesdays at lunchtime, but the total income from those jobs was about $60 a week. I planned to stay in Boston, so I had to find a job. The idea of a “job”, as in a 9 to 5, depressed me. After one depressing and failed interview for a receptionist position at a law firm I started looking in the newspaper for more artistic kinds of jobs. I was lucky—I found a teaching position at a little Music School outside of Boston, Cincotta’s Music Box, and I started my career as a teacher.
I was lucky that I owned a car, and that I was also a pianist. I taught piano, voice and organ. I did not know how to play the organ, so I confess that I invented my own foot pedal technique. I drove to people’s houses and gave them lessons. I taught about three days a week, and I would come home with over a hundred dollars every day I taught. That doesn’t sound like much now, but it was in 1983, and the monthly rent for my apartment was $155. I kept my other gigs, and added a part time job at Pier 1 imports, and Sunday afternoons after Church at Saks. I was not wealthy, but I had more than enough money for what I needed, and I was only working about 30 hours a week. I could afford weekly voice lessons with my teacher.
Once settled with an income I could explore the possibility of getting singing work and auditions. I was asked to join the Opera Chorus of Boston for two shows, Turandot and Der Freischutz based on an audition I had done for them the previous spring. I was so excited I could hardly believe it! I was part of a professional organization, and I was getting paid to sing! After that I was asked to do a Brahm’s Requiem with my college chorus director, Allen Lannom, and his Choral Society. I auditioned for anything and everything—nothing was too small.
I was extremely lucky that I played the piano, because I stumbled upon another gig that fit into my schedule beautifully, and paid better than any of them. I played three nights a week at a restaurant just off of Boyleston Street, and with that my life was pretty much perfect. All of my little jobs added up to what was still a flexible work schedule that I could move around if I had a singing engagement, and I was making about 7 or 8 times more than my monthly rent. I wish I could say now that I was making 7 or 8 times more than my Bay Area mortgage!
To many, if not most people, that kind of life sounds scary. There isn’t the stability of a single, dependable paycheck, and my income did fluctuate each week, but when you have many sources of income if you lose one, or don’t work a week at one of the jobs---you still have all the other ones.
That is what one singer’s life just out of college looked like. I was extremely happy with my new life. It was varied, creative and flexible. I met many new people, had my freedom, got to sleep late in the morning and stay out late at night. It was perfect for me, someone who could never see herself behind a desk. And I have never had a “day job”, as we in the business call it.
But for some newly minted singers, the “day job” is the way to go. Temping is popular, as it gives the flexibility that singers need to pick up and go when an engagement happens.
Several years ago I taught at San Francisco State. I have kept in touch with most of my students from there either because we have become friends, or they still study with me, or through Facebook. They all have taken different paths post graduation.
One of my former students from SF State found an excellent job as a receptionist at a Venture Capitol firm. She has amazing benefits, paid vacations, possibility for advancement in her career, and weekends free to do as she pleases. She has a church job and some gigs, but her job does not offer the flexibility that allows her to go away and do programs and young artist programs. She has been doing this for a few years, and it seems to suit her. It is a more conventional employment path, and one that does not lead to the competitive International striving that most of us think of when we are considering our careers in singing. Which does she really want? I am not sure, but once you have tasted the security and stability of the “day job” it is difficult to give it up.
Several of my students from SF State have gone into rewarding jobs teaching music. Some are teaching in the public school system, and some are teaching privately. All of them are also singing whenever they can, some more than others depending on their drive or their intrinsic talent. I don’t think that most of them aspire to huge singing careers, or ever did. But I believe that they are all happily, usefully working in the music industry, and that probably is the entire point of going into music.
Of course, there is always waiting tables at a diner in Greenwich Village, and many singers find themselves doing that and studying, biding their time till their voices are ready to be marketable. A singer has to somehow support herself, and different singers like different jobs.
The Twenties
Now, hopefully, you have figured out how to make some money in order to support yourself. You are not rich, but you have the flexibility and the means to take your lessons and get down to the business of pursuing your dreams. What comes next?
Auditions, auditions, auditions come next. By your mid twenties your voice should have settled and you should have your repertoire pretty well down pat. You need to have 5 trusty arias that you can sing in your sleep ready to go at a moment’s notice. And you need to be learning more all the time, honing and replacing repertoire as something more solid I your voice comes along. Then there are Young Artist Programs.
Young Artist Program (YAP)
In a nutshell, a Young Artist Program in opera is where a young but really excellent singer gets paid very little money to sing at an opera company in order to get experience. Young Artists are expected to do everything from singing in the chorus to doing supporting roles on the main stage, and occasionally, step in for a principal who is indisposed.
30 years ago there were only a few: Sarasota Opera in Florida (who use the YAPs as the Chorus), The Merola and Adler Programs at San Francisco Opera (Who do not use the YAPS as chorus), Central City in Colorado, Texas Opera Theater, Wolftrap Opera, The Lindeman program at The Met, and Santa Fe Opera were some of the biggest ones. They used to be called “apprentice programs”.
Now they are Young Artist Programs, and almost every company of any size has one. Opera companies found out that not only do they hardly have to pay the singers, but that they can get educational grants and funding for the YAPS. It is a huge win-win for an opera company--Excellent young singers that they hardly have to pay.
Unfortunately, they are so popular and lucrative, that Young Artists Programs have basically made it impossible for singers to make a living. As soon as one finishes being a young artist, all of the roles that you would have been working your way up with will be given to the next generation of YAPS. Young Artists fill the roles of comprimario roles (Those are small, usually character roles which some singers would specialize in) and supporting cast like Zerlina and Masetto from Don Giovanni. Hardly anyone goes from being a YAP to being Madame Butterfly.
There are a great many singers out there who have graduated from college or conservatory, diligently done some YAPs and then wondered what they were going to do next.
You could go back to a Masters Program, and continue to study until you are ready to audition for paying companies. This has some advantages, because it keeps you moving forward in your career, and gives you a couple of extra years to work on your skills.
There are artist’s diplomas at some institutions, and some schools give outstanding students a free ride, like Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, and the American Vocal Academy, also in Philadelphia.
If your parents will spring for further education in voice, wonderful. If you will have to take out student loans to do this… You really need to think very carefully about it because no matter how good you may be, there is no guarantee that you will be able to make a living as a professional singer. There is no guarantee that you will be paying back your student loans from your singing income. In fact, I would say that perhaps most graduates of a Masters Program in Singing do not pay back their student loans from singing. This may be a big stumbling block to parents with talented, enthusiastic young musicians.
Indicators of Success
All through college and the years following college there are ways to measure your chance of success with your career. Your teachers and vocal coaches should give you honest feedback about your singing and qualifications for the career. They should, but it is a delicate subject, and if you aren’t they may be reluctant to impart that bad news. However, there are other ways to assess your chances.
There are vocal competitions all over the country at every level. There are local NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) chapters all over the United States, and those and the National Chapter all produce competitions. There is the annual Metropolitan Opera Competition, a National Competition that auditions in many regions in the US. The winner of the regional competition goes to the finals in New York, and competes for further prizes. There are competitions all over the place—Just look on the Internet.
If you have auditioned and won some competitions, that is an indication that you are an excellent singer. If you have gotten into one or more of the Young Artist Programs, it is a good indication. If you have some good professional work in your local area, (assuming you have some stiff competition from other excellent singers) it is a good indication. If you have auditioned for managers and they gave you encouraging feedback, it may be a good indication that you are on the right track.
But even all this is no guarantee that you will achieve the kind of career that you are dreaming about, or planning for.
While there are many famous singers coming out of the larger Young Artist Studio programs, there are more that are not famous, and are not singing. I’ve got a lot of singer friends on Facebook . Some were terrific singers from college or my early years of singing professionally and my YAP programs. Some of them are happily singing at whatever level they have achieved, be it local, national or International.
Unfortunately, most have not. One former Adler Fellow now is a makeup artist. A talented tenor from College is a hair designer. One of my amazing students from National Cathedral School graduated from Indiana University with a degree in voice, went to Eastman for her Masters, and then did her career for a while with her baritone husband. Then they both decided to change careers: He went to Harvard Law School and is now a lawyer, and she went into arts administration before becoming a mom of their three boys. They both still sing for fun, and I am sure their church is delighted to have two professional singers in the choir. Many singers have other jobs and sing on the side.
Any parents who have gotten this far are probably discouraged. It does not sound like a good idea to go into singing as a career. It does not sound like there is anything to “fall back on” if it doesn’t work out. Their children are probably undaunted.
Back in the Guidance Counselor’s office, while the parents despair, my student’s faces are usually glowing. They are looking forward to going to a conservatory or college and studying their favorite thing in the world, singing. They don’t care that they will be living on a budget, packing everything in their car to go off to a two or three month young artist program, having a tiny apartment, pinching pennies.
If parents have enough money for a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s Degree and are hopefully willing to support their student in the attempt to follow their dream, that is excellent. Remember that no education is ever wasted, and while it may not seem like the most practical thing in the world to do, it isn’t true that education in music leaves you with “nothing to fall back on”. Besides, I’m of the mind that if you are always thinking that you must “have something to fall back on” if you fail, that you might not work as hard trying to succeed.
A degree in music or vocal performance can lead many places beyond the dream you originally pursued. With a degree in singing you can teach voice, find work in music administration, arts management and other industry related organizations. Most people in the music business started with a performance degree, and then branched out from there. If you want to be the director of an opera company you might want to also get an MBA or some business experience, but not all opera directors have those credentials. Many just have performance degrees. The Arts can be difficult to navigate, but creating your own career path and inventing your own life there is perhaps easier than in most other fields. There is never a pot of gold waiting for us as artists, but it is possible for us to live creative, useful lives, doing what we love most, and earning enough money to live comfortably. We just need to be very creative, but that is what we are best at anyhow.
Time is up at the Guidance Counselor’s office. The parents are a bit numb and the student’s face is radiant because the scales have tipped favorably. The parents understand that their child’s passion will win over any reservations they may have. There are no guarantees, but there are many variables and many excellent options.
When I was a young singer I was pursuing my career in singing while teaching voice at the National Cathedral School in Washington D.C. Like any group of High School Students, my young singers had varied interests: some wanted to be doctors, lawyers and famous scientists, and others wished to pursue a career in singing.
This particular group of young adults had rather high achieving parents. They were the sons and daughters of doctors, lawyers and famous people, politicians, diplomats and CEOs. When their kids told them they wanted to go into music or drama they were often horrified. I would receive frantic phone calls from parents who perceived singers, actors, artists and other riff raff as people who are poor bottom dwellers, starving artists, waiting tables at a shabby diner in Greenwich Village and waiting for a break that might never happen. They wanted me to talk their child out of pursuing this dead end, this road to poverty, this socially unacceptable career path. Apparently this is what they thought of me, though I am sure that it really didn’t occur to them that they were also talking about MY career path.
Into the guidance counselor’s office we all would go, to meet and discuss this horrifying revelation. Guidance counselors generally have no information whatever to give to parents about a career in the arts. They all know about the right liberal arts schools that students should aim for, but that is about it. So I began by telling the parents and their child what their student’s life would look like from college till about age 30. The look on their faces was priceless. So here it is--What to expect from 18 till 30 in your career as a professional singer.
First, a High School Student has to prepare him or herself by taking private voice lessons with a good teacher. This should happen by tenth or eleventh grade at the latest. Finding an excellent teacher is harder than it sounds, as not every teacher is good for every student. The local NATS Chapter is a good place to start looking. NATS is the National Association of Teachers of Singing. A teacher who is accepted into the membership of this organization must have a college degree and some teaching experience. Word of mouth is a good way to find a teacher too. Do you know a good singer? Find out who their teacher is.
An audition is necessary for admission to a college vocal program, so students must find out the particular requirements for the Universities or Conservatories they hope to enter, and learn and memorize the required pieces of repertoire. There are many, many applicants for admission to vocal programs, so the schools usually prescreen students by requiring them to submit a video recording of the memorized pieces. Some schools still accept an audio recording, but most would like both. If the video recording is accepted, the student is then invited for a live audition.
Students need to apply to a number of institutions. For example, one of my students recently applied to Eastman, Julliard, Boston Conservatory, Mannes, Manhattan School of Music and Boston University. The student was not accepted for a live audition at Eastman, Boston University and Julliard. The others all accepted this student for a live audition. The student was accepted at all the remaining schools, but some offered large scholarships, and others did not. All of the schools are in the top echelon of voice programs, so a school that offered a good scholarship meant that the student’s singing impressed the audition panel, and the school wished very much that the student would choose to go there.
At College
Once you’ve gotten into school and now for the next four years you just do what you are supposed to do: You learn diction, stagecraft, vocal pedagogy, music theory, some piano, sight singing, French, German, Italian and of course, you have voice lessons with your teacher.
College is a time when singers have the opportunity to grow as artists without (hopefully) having to worry about rent, credit card bills, health insurance and all the plethora of adult noise that hits after graduation. Everything is exciting! New songs or arias are exciting! Hearing a great singer at the Symphony or the Opera is exciting. You eat, sleep and breathe singing. College age singers learn to look like singers, to dress like singers. to carry themselves like singers, to care for their throats like singers. It might be the most singerish time of your life.
And then you graduate. Congratulations! You have a degree in vocal performance! On to the high paying desk job as a professional singer? Nope. There is no safety net for graduated singers. Parents know this day of reckoning coming, and that is what they are concerned about while we are in the Guidance Counselor’s office, back in High School.
If a student has taken out student loans, once graduated, they need to begin to pay them back, but how? At this junction there is usually a lot of soul searching, and confusion. And this is the part that the parents have no experience with, and neither has the Guidance Counselor. There are options though, a lot of them. They just aren’t what those high- powered parents did.
When I was just out of college all those issues hit me in the face too. I don’t know what I expected exactly, but I didn’t really think about it when I was in the halcyon days of Conservatory. I had a church job, and a little gig playing the piano for a retirement home on Wednesdays at lunchtime, but the total income from those jobs was about $60 a week. I planned to stay in Boston, so I had to find a job. The idea of a “job”, as in a 9 to 5, depressed me. After one depressing and failed interview for a receptionist position at a law firm I started looking in the newspaper for more artistic kinds of jobs. I was lucky—I found a teaching position at a little Music School outside of Boston, Cincotta’s Music Box, and I started my career as a teacher.
I was lucky that I owned a car, and that I was also a pianist. I taught piano, voice and organ. I did not know how to play the organ, so I confess that I invented my own foot pedal technique. I drove to people’s houses and gave them lessons. I taught about three days a week, and I would come home with over a hundred dollars every day I taught. That doesn’t sound like much now, but it was in 1983, and the monthly rent for my apartment was $155. I kept my other gigs, and added a part time job at Pier 1 imports, and Sunday afternoons after Church at Saks. I was not wealthy, but I had more than enough money for what I needed, and I was only working about 30 hours a week. I could afford weekly voice lessons with my teacher.
Once settled with an income I could explore the possibility of getting singing work and auditions. I was asked to join the Opera Chorus of Boston for two shows, Turandot and Der Freischutz based on an audition I had done for them the previous spring. I was so excited I could hardly believe it! I was part of a professional organization, and I was getting paid to sing! After that I was asked to do a Brahm’s Requiem with my college chorus director, Allen Lannom, and his Choral Society. I auditioned for anything and everything—nothing was too small.
I was extremely lucky that I played the piano, because I stumbled upon another gig that fit into my schedule beautifully, and paid better than any of them. I played three nights a week at a restaurant just off of Boyleston Street, and with that my life was pretty much perfect. All of my little jobs added up to what was still a flexible work schedule that I could move around if I had a singing engagement, and I was making about 7 or 8 times more than my monthly rent. I wish I could say now that I was making 7 or 8 times more than my Bay Area mortgage!
To many, if not most people, that kind of life sounds scary. There isn’t the stability of a single, dependable paycheck, and my income did fluctuate each week, but when you have many sources of income if you lose one, or don’t work a week at one of the jobs---you still have all the other ones.
That is what one singer’s life just out of college looked like. I was extremely happy with my new life. It was varied, creative and flexible. I met many new people, had my freedom, got to sleep late in the morning and stay out late at night. It was perfect for me, someone who could never see herself behind a desk. And I have never had a “day job”, as we in the business call it.
But for some newly minted singers, the “day job” is the way to go. Temping is popular, as it gives the flexibility that singers need to pick up and go when an engagement happens.
Several years ago I taught at San Francisco State. I have kept in touch with most of my students from there either because we have become friends, or they still study with me, or through Facebook. They all have taken different paths post graduation.
One of my former students from SF State found an excellent job as a receptionist at a Venture Capitol firm. She has amazing benefits, paid vacations, possibility for advancement in her career, and weekends free to do as she pleases. She has a church job and some gigs, but her job does not offer the flexibility that allows her to go away and do programs and young artist programs. She has been doing this for a few years, and it seems to suit her. It is a more conventional employment path, and one that does not lead to the competitive International striving that most of us think of when we are considering our careers in singing. Which does she really want? I am not sure, but once you have tasted the security and stability of the “day job” it is difficult to give it up.
Several of my students from SF State have gone into rewarding jobs teaching music. Some are teaching in the public school system, and some are teaching privately. All of them are also singing whenever they can, some more than others depending on their drive or their intrinsic talent. I don’t think that most of them aspire to huge singing careers, or ever did. But I believe that they are all happily, usefully working in the music industry, and that probably is the entire point of going into music.
Of course, there is always waiting tables at a diner in Greenwich Village, and many singers find themselves doing that and studying, biding their time till their voices are ready to be marketable. A singer has to somehow support herself, and different singers like different jobs.
The Twenties
Now, hopefully, you have figured out how to make some money in order to support yourself. You are not rich, but you have the flexibility and the means to take your lessons and get down to the business of pursuing your dreams. What comes next?
Auditions, auditions, auditions come next. By your mid twenties your voice should have settled and you should have your repertoire pretty well down pat. You need to have 5 trusty arias that you can sing in your sleep ready to go at a moment’s notice. And you need to be learning more all the time, honing and replacing repertoire as something more solid I your voice comes along. Then there are Young Artist Programs.
Young Artist Program (YAP)
In a nutshell, a Young Artist Program in opera is where a young but really excellent singer gets paid very little money to sing at an opera company in order to get experience. Young Artists are expected to do everything from singing in the chorus to doing supporting roles on the main stage, and occasionally, step in for a principal who is indisposed.
30 years ago there were only a few: Sarasota Opera in Florida (who use the YAPs as the Chorus), The Merola and Adler Programs at San Francisco Opera (Who do not use the YAPS as chorus), Central City in Colorado, Texas Opera Theater, Wolftrap Opera, The Lindeman program at The Met, and Santa Fe Opera were some of the biggest ones. They used to be called “apprentice programs”.
Now they are Young Artist Programs, and almost every company of any size has one. Opera companies found out that not only do they hardly have to pay the singers, but that they can get educational grants and funding for the YAPS. It is a huge win-win for an opera company--Excellent young singers that they hardly have to pay.
Unfortunately, they are so popular and lucrative, that Young Artists Programs have basically made it impossible for singers to make a living. As soon as one finishes being a young artist, all of the roles that you would have been working your way up with will be given to the next generation of YAPS. Young Artists fill the roles of comprimario roles (Those are small, usually character roles which some singers would specialize in) and supporting cast like Zerlina and Masetto from Don Giovanni. Hardly anyone goes from being a YAP to being Madame Butterfly.
There are a great many singers out there who have graduated from college or conservatory, diligently done some YAPs and then wondered what they were going to do next.
You could go back to a Masters Program, and continue to study until you are ready to audition for paying companies. This has some advantages, because it keeps you moving forward in your career, and gives you a couple of extra years to work on your skills.
There are artist’s diplomas at some institutions, and some schools give outstanding students a free ride, like Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, and the American Vocal Academy, also in Philadelphia.
If your parents will spring for further education in voice, wonderful. If you will have to take out student loans to do this… You really need to think very carefully about it because no matter how good you may be, there is no guarantee that you will be able to make a living as a professional singer. There is no guarantee that you will be paying back your student loans from your singing income. In fact, I would say that perhaps most graduates of a Masters Program in Singing do not pay back their student loans from singing. This may be a big stumbling block to parents with talented, enthusiastic young musicians.
Indicators of Success
All through college and the years following college there are ways to measure your chance of success with your career. Your teachers and vocal coaches should give you honest feedback about your singing and qualifications for the career. They should, but it is a delicate subject, and if you aren’t they may be reluctant to impart that bad news. However, there are other ways to assess your chances.
There are vocal competitions all over the country at every level. There are local NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) chapters all over the United States, and those and the National Chapter all produce competitions. There is the annual Metropolitan Opera Competition, a National Competition that auditions in many regions in the US. The winner of the regional competition goes to the finals in New York, and competes for further prizes. There are competitions all over the place—Just look on the Internet.
If you have auditioned and won some competitions, that is an indication that you are an excellent singer. If you have gotten into one or more of the Young Artist Programs, it is a good indication. If you have some good professional work in your local area, (assuming you have some stiff competition from other excellent singers) it is a good indication. If you have auditioned for managers and they gave you encouraging feedback, it may be a good indication that you are on the right track.
But even all this is no guarantee that you will achieve the kind of career that you are dreaming about, or planning for.
While there are many famous singers coming out of the larger Young Artist Studio programs, there are more that are not famous, and are not singing. I’ve got a lot of singer friends on Facebook . Some were terrific singers from college or my early years of singing professionally and my YAP programs. Some of them are happily singing at whatever level they have achieved, be it local, national or International.
Unfortunately, most have not. One former Adler Fellow now is a makeup artist. A talented tenor from College is a hair designer. One of my amazing students from National Cathedral School graduated from Indiana University with a degree in voice, went to Eastman for her Masters, and then did her career for a while with her baritone husband. Then they both decided to change careers: He went to Harvard Law School and is now a lawyer, and she went into arts administration before becoming a mom of their three boys. They both still sing for fun, and I am sure their church is delighted to have two professional singers in the choir. Many singers have other jobs and sing on the side.
Any parents who have gotten this far are probably discouraged. It does not sound like a good idea to go into singing as a career. It does not sound like there is anything to “fall back on” if it doesn’t work out. Their children are probably undaunted.
Back in the Guidance Counselor’s office, while the parents despair, my student’s faces are usually glowing. They are looking forward to going to a conservatory or college and studying their favorite thing in the world, singing. They don’t care that they will be living on a budget, packing everything in their car to go off to a two or three month young artist program, having a tiny apartment, pinching pennies.
If parents have enough money for a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s Degree and are hopefully willing to support their student in the attempt to follow their dream, that is excellent. Remember that no education is ever wasted, and while it may not seem like the most practical thing in the world to do, it isn’t true that education in music leaves you with “nothing to fall back on”. Besides, I’m of the mind that if you are always thinking that you must “have something to fall back on” if you fail, that you might not work as hard trying to succeed.
A degree in music or vocal performance can lead many places beyond the dream you originally pursued. With a degree in singing you can teach voice, find work in music administration, arts management and other industry related organizations. Most people in the music business started with a performance degree, and then branched out from there. If you want to be the director of an opera company you might want to also get an MBA or some business experience, but not all opera directors have those credentials. Many just have performance degrees. The Arts can be difficult to navigate, but creating your own career path and inventing your own life there is perhaps easier than in most other fields. There is never a pot of gold waiting for us as artists, but it is possible for us to live creative, useful lives, doing what we love most, and earning enough money to live comfortably. We just need to be very creative, but that is what we are best at anyhow.
Time is up at the Guidance Counselor’s office. The parents are a bit numb and the student’s face is radiant because the scales have tipped favorably. The parents understand that their child’s passion will win over any reservations they may have. There are no guarantees, but there are many variables and many excellent options.