The reality of life is that your operatic career is a business like any other, and some aspects of it must be treated as such. Work breeds work. If you\u2019re not in the \u201cmarket,\u201d you will most likely not get many other offers. If you\u2019re working a lot, most likely, you will get more and more offers and even have to turn down things. In order to have a \u201cbig career,\u201d you have to work!<\/p>\n
So forget the idea in the beginning of \u201cI\u2019ll just do two gigs a year and teach and have babies on the side.\u201d It sounds like a perfect compromise, but A) performing usually takes you away from your great teaching job just when the students need you and B)if you\u2019re only doing two things a year, everyone\u2019s going to forget who you are, (unless you established a great name for yourself first) and the performing work will dry up.<\/p>\n
I know this from experience. \u00a0I have been in the business for over 30 years; I started when I was 20. \u00a0When I was 48, I had my first child and at 50, my second. \u00a0In that period, I was not performing much already and then the pandemic hit. \u00a0When things started up again, and all my friends were getting gigs left and right, I found that the operatic gigs just did not come in… \u00a0Some of this is my age and repertoire (I play young women onstage!), but a lot of it was that I was out of the circuit for a while and people thought I was no longer singing or didn’t think of me when they were casting. \u00a0Even I, after a long and productive career and a phone full of wonderful contacts, had to admit that I was not an exception to the rule.<\/p>\n
Let me be very simplistic and OVERLY pessimistic. Everyone thinks he\/she is the exception to the rule. There are few exceptions to the rule, and one has to work really hard in order to earn the distinction of breaking the rule! Usually the “exceptions” busted their hineys for at least ten years, establishing themselves, and then decided to stay more in one place. More power to whomever is managing both careers, but I have yet to see someone who juggles both jobs of international performer and teacher perfectly.<\/p>\n
In this business, you are either 100% IN, or you can get thrown out.\u00a0High-level institutions hire people who are working and who are very visible in other high-level institutions. \u00a0If you are not working 3\/4 of the year in\u00a0places with a lot of visibility (i.e. reviews, publicity, etc\u2026), I guarantee you that offers from other high-level institutions will taper off and people will begin the dreaded \u201cI wonder what happened to her..\u201d \u00a0They don\u2019t think, \u201cOh, maybe she wants to have a LIFE, too\u2026\u201d , that casting people can be fickle or stupid, or that perhaps your agent isn’t calling on your behalf. \u00a0\ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
I have been singing full-time freelance since 1994 now and I was ALWAYS traveling until I had kids a few years ago. Just doing concerts has not been an option for me. My career just didn\u2019t develop that way.<\/p>\n
So, I was performing in operas in new places all the time. I spent an average of a month and a half in each place. In some years, I was away from home 8 months total by December 31. And that\u00a0is not an especially busy year. And we\u2019re talking about after 20 years of building up a career.<\/p>\n
Travel is not at all luxurious or glamourous. You have to figure out your travel by yourself most of the time if you want more options. \u00a0Your agent or the opera house do not have time to figure out what is the best deal on your frequent flier airline, which flight is upgradeable, nor an airbnb that suits you perfectly. You need to be your own travel agent. \u00a0In the States, there are often volunteers from the opera who can come pick you up at the airport and help you settle in. \u00a0In Europe, you’re left to your own devices to make it to your new abode and get to the opera house. \u00a0Good luck!<\/p>\n
Living out of a suitcase is not easy; dragging the suitcases around these days, with the scarcity of porters, is not to be taken lightly. I don\u2019t know one opera singer who has not had back problems, and I\u2019m sure lugging luggage and sleeping in bad or new beds must be a few reasons why. Jetlag also takes a pretty large toll on voice and brain when you\u2019ve flown trans-Atlantically. Since almost all airports are well outside of the destination city, it\u2019s usually another hour from the airport to your rented apartment. Then there\u2019s no one to help you carry all your stuff up the inevitable stairs.<\/p>\n
The first few days are usually spent getting lost and having no groceries (besides going to rehearsals, of course.) Restocking a kitchen with salt, pepper, oil, rice, pasta, tea, sugar, the ever-missing can opener, spices, etc\u2026 every two months is not a joy. There\u2019s usually something not quite right with the accomodations, that the host or landlord says \u201coh, you\u2019re only there a month and a half, you can just put up with it, can\u2019t you? (droning fridge, major roadwork first thing in the morning just below, saggy bed, real estate agents \u201cpopping in\u201d to show the place to other prospective renters when you\u2019re in the bathtub, bad smells, no oven \u2013 this is a favorite, drafts and\/or heating problems, only two spoons and one glass,etc.. etc..) Things that you would have fixed in your own home don\u2019t get fixed, and you just have to \u201cput up with it\u201d because A) it\u2019s not your place B) you can\u2019t meet the repairmen, anyhow, because you\u2019re at the theater working.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re expecting glamour and fabulous parties after the show, I have big news. There are sometimes some great dinners afterwards with your colleagues, sometimes lots of fans wanting\u00a0your autograph or a picture, and sometimes you will walk into a restaurant near the opera house and everyone applauds… but many times, you just take off your makeup and go home. No big deal; it\u2019s a job. Get your pleasure from your work, your musicianship, your public\u2019s applause at the end of the show\u2026 but don\u2019t expect the jubilant adulation and celebration that people will lead you to believe follows performances!<\/p>\n
At school, did they say \u201cIn the REAL world, you can\u2019t pull this kind of stuff\u2026\u201d? Well, the REAL world is even worse than school \u2013 \u2013 be prepared. Do you have nerves of steel? Can you put up with bad\/destructive colleagues and reviews without breaking down? Both exist in the real world, too. Colleagues may suggest things to undermine your performance, or might even upstage you. \u00a0In a world where there has been rampant sexual harassment, I have actually only had problems in this vein with COLLEAGUES, not people in power. \u00a0And so I just dealt with it myself. \u00a0I have had bad reviews, dismissive reviews and reviews where they even mistook me for the other cast, etc… \u00a0You can’t do anything about it.<\/p>\n
Directors can be bad, mean, mind-*%#!ers, or even worse \u2013 \u2013 nice, but incapable. It takes tactics and a cool head to handle. And the skin of a rhino. Remember that it\u2019s most likely their own insecurity that\u2019s the problem. Or their own stupidity. But instead of getting upset or throwing a fit or feeling hurt, you must first try their suggestion (it might just be a great idea!) and if it doesn\u2019t work, figure out a way to get your own way while either A) making it sound like THEIR idea or B) making them THINK they got their own way or C) not letting them realize that you\u2019re doing it your way.<\/p>\n
After saying all this macho stuff, I actually tend to be very open to what the director wants me to do and try to throw myself into the show as he\/she sees it. \u00a0You never know how you come off until you see the show in its entirety. \u00a0Funnily enough, some of the shows that I have thought were the stupidest, most static things I have ever done were huge successes. \u00a0So you just don’t know…<\/p>\n
\u201cTraditional\u201d these days usually means some overblown, meaningless tradition of empty gestures and things you\u2019re \u201csupposed\u201d to do. Most people don\u2019t question who created these traditions and whether they\u2019re still valid or effective today. Push the envelop; question things and TRY things out.<\/p>\n
Major acting training is a must (Read on to the next page\u2026) But in the long run, it is YOU who is judged by the performance, not the director. You need to feel comfortable in your role at the end of the rehearsal period. Bad reviews are the worst, especially if they criticize you for something the director or conductor expressly told you to do. A critic can\u2019t know you were following directions. (Or at least, usually doesn\u2019t.) \u2013 \u2013 No, you don\u2019t write a letter to the editor; you just bear it in mind the next time you get a GOOD writeup for something you did that you know was dog poopoo. If you\u2019re fragile as a spring flower, either get over it or don\u2019t pursue this career.<\/p>\n
\u2013 need I say more?The main reason people have nerves in my estimation is lack of preparation. So if even after you are super-prepared, you still suffer from stage fright, figure it out! \u00a0 Either get therapy for it, psyche yourself somehow out of it, or don\u2019t do this job. There are enough neurotic people in this business already. I think I\u2019ve worked with the majority of them, too!! \u00a0My dear colleague and friend, mezzo-soprano Beth Clayton has become a mental wellness performance coach to help performers with all aspects of their performances. \u00a0If you need help, \u5f7c\u5973\u3092\u30c1\u30a7\u30c3\u30af\u3057\u3066\u307f\u3066\u304f\u3060\u3055\u3044\uff01<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The reality of life is that your operatic career is a business like any other, and some aspects of it must be treated as such. Work breeds work. If you\u2019re not in the \u201cmarket,\u201d you will most likely not get …<\/p>\n