In my last post I proposed that you formulate a career plan based on the idea that what you're selling is your own creative vision. Here are some suggestions to ensure the success of your start-up.
Everyone gets so preoccupied with technique, virtuosity and marketing that it's easy to forget how crucial it is to let your singing be fueled by what you have to say. Take this to an extreme, and the result will look something like Christina Aguilera's performance of The Star Spangled Banner at the Super Bowl last month. John Eshkow describes the way some pop musicians lose the message in the midst of vocal display in the "Hideous Cult of Oversouling". I'm also a fan of Aguilera's instrument and potential, but this is not my idea of transcendent artistry.
It's just as easy for classical musicians to lose their vision in the face of their own hype and become professionally successful in the eyes of the world without also being successful, deeply fulfilled artists. I want you to be fabulously successful in both senses, so let's agree on a definition of success that's based on fulfilling your own creative vision, not just being able to keep up with the bills.
My first recommendation to my two sopranos who were seeking career advice was to come up with as clear a vision as they could of what they wanted, without any concern for how realistic it might be. It's surprisingly difficult to do, because during their training so many singers develop a habit of considering only what others will permit them to do as well as what is realistic for them right now. Allowing yourself to envision what may now seem like an unrealistic future makes it possible to formulate a concrete plan for moving towards it, and once you do that it begins to seem much more realistic.
Focus first on the music that you most love to sing, without regard for who might want to hear you sing it. If you love opera, great! But don't focus on opera just because it appears to offer a more structured career path and a more lucrative payday than other genres of vocal music. Appearances can be misleading, especially considering all the changes the musical marketplace is enduring while our economy struggles to recover. If you love art song, oratorio, early music, new music, let that steer the way your career evolves.
Familiarize yourself with the organizations that produce the music that you love and do whatever you can to establish relationships with them, but don't wait for them to provide you with performance opportunities. You're a small business, whether you're working for them or creating your own opportunities, anyway. Form partnerships and ensembles with like-minded musicians and produce your own events and programs. It keeps you in daily contact with your passion for the music and in frequent dialogue with colleagues and audiences. You'll continue to build skill and experience and raise your currency in the community - all of which make you more valuable and interesting to these producing organizations.
Seth Godin made a good point along these lines this morning, Reject the tyranny of being picked: pick yourself. Technology is making it increasingly easy to promote your own work and contact your target audiences directly. Many of you will eventually need to collaborate with established concert- and opera-producing institutions in order to perform the music you love on the highest possible level, but I cannot overstate the importance of staying as active and visible as possible while you cultivate relationships with them.
I read Seth Godin's blog daily, but it was his little book The Dip that first brought him to my attention. Pick up a copy - it will only take you an hour or so to read it, and it's guaranteed to sharpen your focus. One of Godin's main assertions is that you shouldn't bother to do anything unless you're committed to being The Best In The World at whatever it is.
And if you want to be The Best In The World, it also means getting people who are at the very top of their areas of expertise on your team. Hire the best teacher, the best coaches, the best head shot photographer, and cut your demo at the best recording studio. If you had all understood from the beginning that becoming a professional singer meant running a small business, you would have a different relationship to the kind of investment you need to make to get your business on its feet. Susan Eichhorn Young does a great job of explaining why singers, too, have to spend money to make money in a terrific blog post from last April. Get your head shot taken by the same photographer who shoots the most successful singers out there, and you'll look like you're at home in that league. Hunt for a discount, and you'll risk looking like a discount item yourself!
Finally, few specific considerations:
If you have your heart set on an opera career but were not fortunate enough to get into prestigious training programs or win major competitions at an early age, it is true that you will have to be more creative and work harder to get the attention of major producing organizations. You can still do this if you go about it intelligently. One good strategy is to form alliances with people who are already plugged into this world and can make introductions for you. Make sure you're ready for prime time before you approach them.
If you're interested in concert and oratorio work, make a fabulous demo and submit it directly to the music directors of choral societies, orchestras, and recital series that interest you. Orchestras and choral societies will often hire soloists on the strength of a demo because they do not have the time and infrastructure to hold live auditions and they are not as concerned as opera companies must be about your appearance (it doesn't matter if you'll look good standing next to the tenor etc).
Remember that "opera chorus" and "opera soloist" are two totally distinct career tracks. You can have a fabulous life doing either, but do not pursue choral work hoping to be promoted to a principle artist.
This last is primarily directed at singers in New York and some other major metropolitan areas: There are an increasing number of small opera organizations that present concert performances with piano, offer little rehearsal and coaching, and either do not pay the singers or charge a fee to participate. If it presents an opportunity to perform a role that you want to learn, it really can be worth doing. Just make sure you compare the fee they're charging with what it would cost to coach the entire role with someone who is The Best In The World - and who might be in a position to recommend you for performing it with an established opera company later.
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