Maestro Salesky,
Auditions for Knoxville Opera’s Education/Outreach Program performances of La Bohème posted to YAPTracker today. Under the Restrictions heading you wrote “Knoxville Opera will cast age appropriate, attractive artists in these roles.”
I feel that the objectification of singers based on age and appearance is ill-conceived and highly detrimental to opera as an art form. Opera companies prioritize these attributes over vocal excellence at their peril. The vocal and artistic maturity required for superb performances of these roles has nothing to do with the age of the singers, and the shape of their bodies ought to reflect the physical demands of singing rather than some preconceived aesthetic. Because opera is such a buyer’s market these days and there are more gifted singers than the profession can possibly employ, it might appear possible to cull singers over a certain age or weight from your applicant pool and still end up with a viable cast, but if opera is to not only survive but thrive we must be showcasing not merely viable singers but transcendent ones. We completely fail to accomplish this when audition panels select for the singers who most closely align with the concept they have already settled on for their production rather than seeking those with the most remarkable vocal and dramatic gifts. When we objectify singers, we fail to recognize and reward those qualities most essential for transcendent artistry and focus instead on qualities that are at best, secondary and at worst, encourage mediocrity.
I am not suggesting that a singer’s appearance carries no importance for their effectiveness on stage. As a voice teacher and certified fitness trainer, it is a big part of my personal mission to help singers optimize their bodies for performance. I believe that it is absolutely vital for singers to attend to their weight, alignment, flexibility and strength as it relates to their vocal and dramatic prowess. However, where singing is concerned, form follows function just as surely as it does for other athletic endeavors. A body that is perfectly primed for opera singing may or may not conform to cultural aesthetic norms. It is so special and powerful a thing to cultivate a body capable of performing opera. I find it extraordinarily ignorant whenever it is suggested that a singer pursue an aesthetic result without regard for what it might do to the integrity of their instrument.
Your stated intention to cast “attractive artists” is not only offensive but also out of step with industry inclusiveness standards. “Attractive” is an entirely subjective term, so it is left to the prospective applicant to figure out who it is exactly that you consider unattractive and wish to exclude – fatties? Non-whites? The visibly disabled? It is actually now widespread practice for companies to include non-discriminationary language in audition notices, stating a commitment to non-traditional casting and encouraging participation by performers of all races and ethnicities. I suppose that no one can prevent you from making casting decisions informed by discriminatory or aesthetic biases, but such language has no place in an audition notice.
I urge you and your company to develop a more artistically sound and inclusive approach to casting. Opera companies are too often searching for cogs to fit into their wheel. But the artist who is capable of engendering emotional transference and eliciting catharsis is not objectifiable, interchangeable or disposable, and the success of opera depends upon identifying singers capable of such artistry and encouraging their development.
Yours sincerely,
Claudia Friedlander