The College years
When you get to College, usually the first thing task you must accomplish is choosing a voice teacher. So, you think, you did it once, so it can’t be that hard. Just try out a few teachers and pick the one you want, right? Unfortunately, this time the choice is more difficult and also can have hidden repercussions if you choose wrong.
College is like a microcosm of the real world. It is not like the friendly, nurturing environment of high school. You now have to be concerned with the political aspect of singing as well as the artistic. By politics I mean, that like everywhere, there is a hierarchy of students and teachers, and at some point you will know where the teachers and you fit into that order. (Remember the high school drama club? Remember how the director always had a favorite, and that person, whether she deserved it or not, always got the lead in the musical? That’s politics. She was good at it. Maybe you weren’t.) When you first arrive at school as a freshman you will not yet know the pecking order, but you will soon.
The most obvious thing to you may be to have found out who the most famous teacher is at your school, and to try to get into that studio. The most famous teacher will have the best students, right? At least, the largest number of Met winners came out of that studio, and so that is where you want to be. Well, not necessarily.
Sometimes the most famous teacher had a great world class career, and knows absolutely nothing about vocal technique. She had a golden voice, and no matter what she did right or wrong, it came out perfectly. If you are still struggling to get your technique down, this may not be a good choice of a teacher for you, no matter how many Met winners the teacher had. But how could you know, because some of the world famous singers actually are wonderful teachers!
Sometimes when a student is lucky enough to land in the most famous teacher’s studio and then finds that the relationship is not working, it is difficult to change teachers. Students may find themselves “black-balled” within the department, and may not land the plummiest roles in the opera workshop.
One of my students went to one of the famous programs at a university on a scholarship. She tried to get into the “big” teacher’s studio and was successful. After struggling for a year with this teacher and her technique, which differed radically from mine, she sang for me. It was difficult for me to hear that what had once been a free voice was now a voice fettered with problems. Worse, the student knew that she was with the wrong teacher, but she was afraid of switching because this teacher had so much pull in the opera department. I gave her the information straight—she had to get out of that studio at any cost, because ultimately the vocal damage that was being done to her was far worse than not getting cast in an opera. Three years down the road she would be out of the school, and it would not matter what she had done in college, as long as she had advanced vocally, and not deteriorated. She tried some other teachers, found one whose technique was comfortable for her, switched, and finished her undergraduate work quietly.
The teacher my student had started with may not have been a terrible teacher. From my perspective, after hearing her year later, the teacher’s technique had had negative results. In other words, the teacher had damaged my student’s technique. I cannot say whether this is because the teacher was bad, or because my student was not catching onto what she was saying. Whatever the reason, the teacher was not the right teacher for that particular student. When a student knows that things are not working out with a teacher, the student must find another teacher, no matter what.
Once you are at school, try a conservative approach to finding a voice teacher. Don’t start by demanding the top teacher. Don’t demand anything! Quietly try the teachers out one by one, and make an educated choice based on your own judgement. If you knew with certainty that you were enjoying steady progress with the teacher you had in high school, a wise choice would be to continue along that path with another teacher who thinks and teaches in a similar vein. Even if she or he is not the so called “top” teacher, if you feel that that teacher is the best one for you, then you are probably right.
You did some soul searching, and managed to convince your parents that you had both the talent and the ambition to make singing your career. Now you are in the middle of your sophomore year at the conservatory. You like your voice teacher, your classes are great, and you feel as if you have made real progress both musically and vocally.
But there is nowhere to perform. You are a small fish in a big pond. The opera workshop takes mostly graduate students and upperclassmen, and you haven’t managed to get into it yet. You don’t get to do a recital till next year. You’re only performing outlet is your vocal performance class, which meets only twice a week. This is a downer, but everyone else in your class is in the same boat. You could mope around griping about how unfair it is, and resign yourself to wait till you get into the opera program for your life to begin. Or you could create your own performing opportunities, and start learning networking and marketing skills that will be extremely valuable to you later in your career.
In every chapter of this book I encourage singers to be creative and create their own opportunities. There are performing opportunities for singers at every level, if they are just willing to go out and look for them. Even though you are still in college, there are places where you can perform. These are generally not glamorous jobs where James Levine might show up to scout out future talent for the Met. These are church jobs, little shows in retirement homes, caroling jobs, and occasionally a solo performance with a community chorus or chamber orchestra. The good news is that these jobs even pay sometimes.
Singing in retirement homes? Caroling? But that isn’t even close to what you had visualized a real singer would do. What does that have to do with singing at the Met? Nothing and everything. Young singers frequently underestimate the amount of dues paying they will have to do before they get the kind of singing jobs that they really want. No one walks out of an undergraduate program and onto the stage at the Met to sing Mimi, no matter how good they think they are. So swallow your pride and think only about how much you want to perform.
Church jobs
Church Jobs are a great way to improve your musicianship and learn repertoire. There are different kinds of church jobs. There are jobs where you are a section leader of a choir, and you are mostly there to keep the sopranos from going flat. From time to time you might get a little solo. You could be a member of a paid quartet, or the cantor at a Catholic Mass. There are a lot of church jobs around, and they pay different amounts of money, depending upon the skill of the singers and the budget of the church. Some have mid-week rehearsals, and there are some where you just show up and sing.
You can find out about church jobs on the bulletin board at your school where the auditions and job listings are. Or you could be really savvy and call some of the choir directors and ask if you can sing for them. Tell them that you are interested in solo work and would like to be considered as a sub. If they say no, then no harm done. Call the next person on your list. Chances are you will get some auditions, and if you are good, some work too.
When you show up for your audition always bring a piece of sacred music that you know very well, and be prepared to sightread!
Retirement Homes
Retirement homes rarely have much money for entertainment, even though it is much needed. Look in the yellow pages and call a couple to find out what their policy is for hiring singers. Explain that you are a college student, and that you would like to perform a program for the denizens of the home. Find out if they have a piano. Ask if it would be possible to get paid. If so, great. If not, you could sing there anyhow. If they really like you they might ask you back, and they might even try to scrape together enough money to pay you next time.
You will need a pianist, so ask one of the piano majors if they would like to perform with you. You could even share the program—Your pianist friend could play a couple of the pieces she is working on at the moment, and can also accompany you for your pieces.
Another thing I will repeat over and over again in this book is the need for solo singers to form groups and do things together. It would be even better for a group of singers to go to the nursing home and sing a program. Better for them, and better for you, even if it doesn’t pay a bean. Better for them because they will get a real variety show and meet several bright, interesting young people. Better for you because you won’t have to carry the whole thing by yourself, and you will get to see your peers and friends perform as well. It’s also much more fun to perform with a group of singers than it is to perform by yourself.
Caroling
There are countless caroling organizations in the Bay Area. They perform from late November until Christmas at shopping malls, outdoor markets, office parties, public buildings, private parties, historic sites, car dealerships, stores, strip malls… Practically everywhere you go here during the Christmas Season you will see carolers clad in Victorian attire singing four part Christmas carols. I have never been in a place with so much Christmas Caroling!
You can earn quite a lot of money doing this, too. Most of the organizations pay a minimum of $50 for the first hour of caroling, and perhaps $75 for a two-hour gig. Some pay more than that, and sometimes you also get tips. One of my student’s makes about $2000 during the Christmas season just from caroling! Not a bad sum, and especially welcome right before Christmas.
Your area may not have quite as much caroling opportunities as this one does, but it may have some. The groups form their rosters of singers in September and October, so you need to find out about them early. You will probably have to audition, and again, sight read.
Finding out about these caroling organizations is not always easy. Check the yellow pages for “Carolers”, “Christmas Carolers”, “Victorian Carolers”, “The Dickensian Christmas Carolers”, “Merry Olde Christmas Carolers” or anything with words that sound old fashioned and British.
Weddings
Singing weddings is a great way to make extra money on the weekends. If you already have a church job, let the music director know that you are very interested in singing them. It is not a bad idea to have a tape made of you singing Schubert’s “Ave Maria” and the Malotte “Lord’s Prayer.” Look in the yellow pages for Talent Agents or entertainment agencies. Call them and ask if they ever need classical singers for weddings, and ask if you can send your resume and tape.
College can be a great learning experience, but it can also be a great excuse to goof off. While you should have fun during your college years, there are a few skills that are important to learn while you are there, whether your conservatory or college offer classes in them or not. When I was at conservatory there was a vocal performance class, but it only met twice a week, and it was only for juniors and seniors. The freshmen and sophomores had no performing opportunities at all, and had to wait. I think the common wisdom is that you need to wait until your vocal technique is solid before you perform. I agree that singers should not be out doing roles if their vocal technique is shaky, but I believe that singers should be learning to act, dance, move on stage and interpret texts dramatically during all four years of college.
If your school has no provision for these skills, then it is in your best interest to find other classes outside of school and start your performance training. Try a ballet class, and an acting class. Even if you only go once in a while, you will be improving your stagecraft, and developing skills that will be crucial to you later in your career.
During your four undergraduate years you should pay special attention to the following things: diction in foreign languages, vocal performance, acting and movement on stage and, of course, your voice lessons. If some of these needs are not addressed by your curriculum, get out there and take a class off campus!
Buisness Skills
The most neglected area of study in our nation’s colleges and conservatories vocal programs is business skills. I am not sure how much music theory anyone remembers or applies to the memorization of an opera, but every curriculum includes it. But business skills? Marketing? What is that? Why in the world would a singer have to learn that? What has it to do with art?
It is important to get your solid vocal technique, stage movement and musicality in shape, but even if you have all of those things and you are the most divine singer we have ever heard, if you have no business and marketing skills you will probably continue to entertain only your cat when you are taking a shower.
Though a solid technique and a beautiful voice are most desirable and necessary, a singer needs to also know how to promote himself/herself and market the product (the singer) in a pleasant package. In this sense there is no difference between a singer and a can of baked beans. The can of baked beans needs to look attractive to be purchased. It needs to set itself apart from the other cans of baked beans. If it looks good, someone might buy it. If it also tastes good, someone might buy another can. Likewise the singer. If the singer looks good and sounds good, a conductor may want to hire them and try them out. If the singer delivers a fine performance, he or she may be asked back. If the singer does not deliver a fine performance, the singer will not be asked back. In other words, you need substance, to be sure, but you also will have to have some form, and you must know how to exploit it to the best of your ability, and to blow your own horn, so to speak.
Ruthanne Swensen is an amazing example of someone who has always known how to sell a song and to sell herself. Many years ago, when Ruthanne was a teenager, we studied with the same teacher, Gloria Hilborn of Commack New York…
While you are in college it is likely that you will continually be reminded that you are a “baby”. College age singers are constantly told not to take this or that audition too seriously, because later, when you are “ready” you will be noticed. Competitions are won based on the “promise” of major career potential later, and “young singers” are patted on the head and told they should not be singing this or that aria until they are more mature.
I can agree with some of this popular wisdom up to a point. College age singers are, in fact, young. However, some of them are actually vocally ready to sing roles, and some of them have large enough voices and excellent enough techniques to possibly attempt to study Puccini and Verdi. Why not? Why should a 20 year old dramatic soprano have to sing O mio babbino caro anyway? The objection used against Verdi, for example, is that they would have to strain to project over the orchestra. Since no one is likely to hire them to sing Leonora or Fanciuilla anyway, why not study the arias, if they are appropriate, under the careful tutelage of their teacher?
Young Singers! These words make me a little uncomfortable. I feel that I spent a decade in my twenties being too young for this or that, and then as soon as I hit thirty I was suddenly too old! Competitions started being closed to me due to my advanced age. Apprenticeship programs were for young singers, not an old geezer like myself! What is a 40-year-old singer? A senior?
I will not go into all this here. This is just a gentle reminder not to lull yourself into believing that you are destined to be a baby for the next ten years. Don’t go into competitions and auditions thinking that at your age all they are looking for is potential, and no one will take you seriously anyhow. Go into auditions believing that you are an important singer no matter how old you are, and you want to be taken seriously. Do your best always.
College is a great time to develop study habits and business skills that will serve you throughout your career. This is not a career where you can afford to be lazy in any way (unless, perhaps, you are a dramatic tenor.)
When you get to College, usually the first thing task you must accomplish is choosing a voice teacher. So, you think, you did it once, so it can’t be that hard. Just try out a few teachers and pick the one you want, right? Unfortunately, this time the choice is more difficult and also can have hidden repercussions if you choose wrong.
College is like a microcosm of the real world. It is not like the friendly, nurturing environment of high school. You now have to be concerned with the political aspect of singing as well as the artistic. By politics I mean, that like everywhere, there is a hierarchy of students and teachers, and at some point you will know where the teachers and you fit into that order. (Remember the high school drama club? Remember how the director always had a favorite, and that person, whether she deserved it or not, always got the lead in the musical? That’s politics. She was good at it. Maybe you weren’t.) When you first arrive at school as a freshman you will not yet know the pecking order, but you will soon.
The most obvious thing to you may be to have found out who the most famous teacher is at your school, and to try to get into that studio. The most famous teacher will have the best students, right? At least, the largest number of Met winners came out of that studio, and so that is where you want to be. Well, not necessarily.
Sometimes the most famous teacher had a great world class career, and knows absolutely nothing about vocal technique. She had a golden voice, and no matter what she did right or wrong, it came out perfectly. If you are still struggling to get your technique down, this may not be a good choice of a teacher for you, no matter how many Met winners the teacher had. But how could you know, because some of the world famous singers actually are wonderful teachers!
Sometimes when a student is lucky enough to land in the most famous teacher’s studio and then finds that the relationship is not working, it is difficult to change teachers. Students may find themselves “black-balled” within the department, and may not land the plummiest roles in the opera workshop.
One of my students went to one of the famous programs at a university on a scholarship. She tried to get into the “big” teacher’s studio and was successful. After struggling for a year with this teacher and her technique, which differed radically from mine, she sang for me. It was difficult for me to hear that what had once been a free voice was now a voice fettered with problems. Worse, the student knew that she was with the wrong teacher, but she was afraid of switching because this teacher had so much pull in the opera department. I gave her the information straight—she had to get out of that studio at any cost, because ultimately the vocal damage that was being done to her was far worse than not getting cast in an opera. Three years down the road she would be out of the school, and it would not matter what she had done in college, as long as she had advanced vocally, and not deteriorated. She tried some other teachers, found one whose technique was comfortable for her, switched, and finished her undergraduate work quietly.
The teacher my student had started with may not have been a terrible teacher. From my perspective, after hearing her year later, the teacher’s technique had had negative results. In other words, the teacher had damaged my student’s technique. I cannot say whether this is because the teacher was bad, or because my student was not catching onto what she was saying. Whatever the reason, the teacher was not the right teacher for that particular student. When a student knows that things are not working out with a teacher, the student must find another teacher, no matter what.
Once you are at school, try a conservative approach to finding a voice teacher. Don’t start by demanding the top teacher. Don’t demand anything! Quietly try the teachers out one by one, and make an educated choice based on your own judgement. If you knew with certainty that you were enjoying steady progress with the teacher you had in high school, a wise choice would be to continue along that path with another teacher who thinks and teaches in a similar vein. Even if she or he is not the so called “top” teacher, if you feel that that teacher is the best one for you, then you are probably right.
You did some soul searching, and managed to convince your parents that you had both the talent and the ambition to make singing your career. Now you are in the middle of your sophomore year at the conservatory. You like your voice teacher, your classes are great, and you feel as if you have made real progress both musically and vocally.
But there is nowhere to perform. You are a small fish in a big pond. The opera workshop takes mostly graduate students and upperclassmen, and you haven’t managed to get into it yet. You don’t get to do a recital till next year. You’re only performing outlet is your vocal performance class, which meets only twice a week. This is a downer, but everyone else in your class is in the same boat. You could mope around griping about how unfair it is, and resign yourself to wait till you get into the opera program for your life to begin. Or you could create your own performing opportunities, and start learning networking and marketing skills that will be extremely valuable to you later in your career.
In every chapter of this book I encourage singers to be creative and create their own opportunities. There are performing opportunities for singers at every level, if they are just willing to go out and look for them. Even though you are still in college, there are places where you can perform. These are generally not glamorous jobs where James Levine might show up to scout out future talent for the Met. These are church jobs, little shows in retirement homes, caroling jobs, and occasionally a solo performance with a community chorus or chamber orchestra. The good news is that these jobs even pay sometimes.
Singing in retirement homes? Caroling? But that isn’t even close to what you had visualized a real singer would do. What does that have to do with singing at the Met? Nothing and everything. Young singers frequently underestimate the amount of dues paying they will have to do before they get the kind of singing jobs that they really want. No one walks out of an undergraduate program and onto the stage at the Met to sing Mimi, no matter how good they think they are. So swallow your pride and think only about how much you want to perform.
Church jobs
Church Jobs are a great way to improve your musicianship and learn repertoire. There are different kinds of church jobs. There are jobs where you are a section leader of a choir, and you are mostly there to keep the sopranos from going flat. From time to time you might get a little solo. You could be a member of a paid quartet, or the cantor at a Catholic Mass. There are a lot of church jobs around, and they pay different amounts of money, depending upon the skill of the singers and the budget of the church. Some have mid-week rehearsals, and there are some where you just show up and sing.
You can find out about church jobs on the bulletin board at your school where the auditions and job listings are. Or you could be really savvy and call some of the choir directors and ask if you can sing for them. Tell them that you are interested in solo work and would like to be considered as a sub. If they say no, then no harm done. Call the next person on your list. Chances are you will get some auditions, and if you are good, some work too.
When you show up for your audition always bring a piece of sacred music that you know very well, and be prepared to sightread!
Retirement Homes
Retirement homes rarely have much money for entertainment, even though it is much needed. Look in the yellow pages and call a couple to find out what their policy is for hiring singers. Explain that you are a college student, and that you would like to perform a program for the denizens of the home. Find out if they have a piano. Ask if it would be possible to get paid. If so, great. If not, you could sing there anyhow. If they really like you they might ask you back, and they might even try to scrape together enough money to pay you next time.
You will need a pianist, so ask one of the piano majors if they would like to perform with you. You could even share the program—Your pianist friend could play a couple of the pieces she is working on at the moment, and can also accompany you for your pieces.
Another thing I will repeat over and over again in this book is the need for solo singers to form groups and do things together. It would be even better for a group of singers to go to the nursing home and sing a program. Better for them, and better for you, even if it doesn’t pay a bean. Better for them because they will get a real variety show and meet several bright, interesting young people. Better for you because you won’t have to carry the whole thing by yourself, and you will get to see your peers and friends perform as well. It’s also much more fun to perform with a group of singers than it is to perform by yourself.
Caroling
There are countless caroling organizations in the Bay Area. They perform from late November until Christmas at shopping malls, outdoor markets, office parties, public buildings, private parties, historic sites, car dealerships, stores, strip malls… Practically everywhere you go here during the Christmas Season you will see carolers clad in Victorian attire singing four part Christmas carols. I have never been in a place with so much Christmas Caroling!
You can earn quite a lot of money doing this, too. Most of the organizations pay a minimum of $50 for the first hour of caroling, and perhaps $75 for a two-hour gig. Some pay more than that, and sometimes you also get tips. One of my student’s makes about $2000 during the Christmas season just from caroling! Not a bad sum, and especially welcome right before Christmas.
Your area may not have quite as much caroling opportunities as this one does, but it may have some. The groups form their rosters of singers in September and October, so you need to find out about them early. You will probably have to audition, and again, sight read.
Finding out about these caroling organizations is not always easy. Check the yellow pages for “Carolers”, “Christmas Carolers”, “Victorian Carolers”, “The Dickensian Christmas Carolers”, “Merry Olde Christmas Carolers” or anything with words that sound old fashioned and British.
Weddings
Singing weddings is a great way to make extra money on the weekends. If you already have a church job, let the music director know that you are very interested in singing them. It is not a bad idea to have a tape made of you singing Schubert’s “Ave Maria” and the Malotte “Lord’s Prayer.” Look in the yellow pages for Talent Agents or entertainment agencies. Call them and ask if they ever need classical singers for weddings, and ask if you can send your resume and tape.
College can be a great learning experience, but it can also be a great excuse to goof off. While you should have fun during your college years, there are a few skills that are important to learn while you are there, whether your conservatory or college offer classes in them or not. When I was at conservatory there was a vocal performance class, but it only met twice a week, and it was only for juniors and seniors. The freshmen and sophomores had no performing opportunities at all, and had to wait. I think the common wisdom is that you need to wait until your vocal technique is solid before you perform. I agree that singers should not be out doing roles if their vocal technique is shaky, but I believe that singers should be learning to act, dance, move on stage and interpret texts dramatically during all four years of college.
If your school has no provision for these skills, then it is in your best interest to find other classes outside of school and start your performance training. Try a ballet class, and an acting class. Even if you only go once in a while, you will be improving your stagecraft, and developing skills that will be crucial to you later in your career.
During your four undergraduate years you should pay special attention to the following things: diction in foreign languages, vocal performance, acting and movement on stage and, of course, your voice lessons. If some of these needs are not addressed by your curriculum, get out there and take a class off campus!
Buisness Skills
The most neglected area of study in our nation’s colleges and conservatories vocal programs is business skills. I am not sure how much music theory anyone remembers or applies to the memorization of an opera, but every curriculum includes it. But business skills? Marketing? What is that? Why in the world would a singer have to learn that? What has it to do with art?
It is important to get your solid vocal technique, stage movement and musicality in shape, but even if you have all of those things and you are the most divine singer we have ever heard, if you have no business and marketing skills you will probably continue to entertain only your cat when you are taking a shower.
Though a solid technique and a beautiful voice are most desirable and necessary, a singer needs to also know how to promote himself/herself and market the product (the singer) in a pleasant package. In this sense there is no difference between a singer and a can of baked beans. The can of baked beans needs to look attractive to be purchased. It needs to set itself apart from the other cans of baked beans. If it looks good, someone might buy it. If it also tastes good, someone might buy another can. Likewise the singer. If the singer looks good and sounds good, a conductor may want to hire them and try them out. If the singer delivers a fine performance, he or she may be asked back. If the singer does not deliver a fine performance, the singer will not be asked back. In other words, you need substance, to be sure, but you also will have to have some form, and you must know how to exploit it to the best of your ability, and to blow your own horn, so to speak.
Ruthanne Swensen is an amazing example of someone who has always known how to sell a song and to sell herself. Many years ago, when Ruthanne was a teenager, we studied with the same teacher, Gloria Hilborn of Commack New York…
While you are in college it is likely that you will continually be reminded that you are a “baby”. College age singers are constantly told not to take this or that audition too seriously, because later, when you are “ready” you will be noticed. Competitions are won based on the “promise” of major career potential later, and “young singers” are patted on the head and told they should not be singing this or that aria until they are more mature.
I can agree with some of this popular wisdom up to a point. College age singers are, in fact, young. However, some of them are actually vocally ready to sing roles, and some of them have large enough voices and excellent enough techniques to possibly attempt to study Puccini and Verdi. Why not? Why should a 20 year old dramatic soprano have to sing O mio babbino caro anyway? The objection used against Verdi, for example, is that they would have to strain to project over the orchestra. Since no one is likely to hire them to sing Leonora or Fanciuilla anyway, why not study the arias, if they are appropriate, under the careful tutelage of their teacher?
Young Singers! These words make me a little uncomfortable. I feel that I spent a decade in my twenties being too young for this or that, and then as soon as I hit thirty I was suddenly too old! Competitions started being closed to me due to my advanced age. Apprenticeship programs were for young singers, not an old geezer like myself! What is a 40-year-old singer? A senior?
I will not go into all this here. This is just a gentle reminder not to lull yourself into believing that you are destined to be a baby for the next ten years. Don’t go into competitions and auditions thinking that at your age all they are looking for is potential, and no one will take you seriously anyhow. Go into auditions believing that you are an important singer no matter how old you are, and you want to be taken seriously. Do your best always.
College is a great time to develop study habits and business skills that will serve you throughout your career. This is not a career where you can afford to be lazy in any way (unless, perhaps, you are a dramatic tenor.)