{"id":131,"date":"2023-07-28T12:11:41","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T12:11:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opera.education\/?p=131"},"modified":"2023-07-28T13:26:28","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T13:26:28","slug":"being-a-chorister-martin-l-pook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/opera.education\/ko\/2023\/07\/28\/\ud569\ucc3d\ub2e8\uc6d0\uc774-\ub418\ub2e4-\ub9c8\ud2f4-l-\ud478\ud06c\/","title":{"rendered":"\ud569\ucc3d\ub2e8 \ub418\uae30 (Martin L Pook)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Being a chorister is a viable and great option if you love to sing but don\u2019t necessarily want all the rest of the crap that comes with being a soloist! \u00a0Read below from my friend Martin Poock. \u00a0Don\u2019t discount other options for a vocal career!! \u00a0<\/i><\/address>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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\uc791\uc131\uc790: Martin L. Poock, \ubca0\uc774\uc2a4<\/p>\n

No one ever really noted that this could be a legitimate career (and I think my undergrad teacher is still a little peeved I haven\u2019t tried onward for more solo success) but I just really like the fact that I can stay in one place in MY apartment, with MY cats and go out with MY friends whenever I want. And if I get tired of an opera?? \u2013 \u2013 I may not do it again for a long, long time! I love that \u2013 especially since I admit I have a short attention span\u2026<\/p>\n

I do love being a chorister (and I still do smaller solo stuff here and there, but only locally.) I am presently in the chorus at Chicago Lyric Opera, but spent four years in the chorus at Houston Grand Opera. I remember when I did a show and the tenor was I guy a knew from a summer program in high school. We hadn\u2019t seen each other in years \u2013 it was fun to catch up after all his success. But quite honestly, the things he was experiencing in NO way made me jealous! I mean, it\u2019s really exciting that he\u2019s going all over the world and singing so well etc. etc. etc. But while there, he was away from his new wife for something like 8 weeks, relatively poor yet (his young artist program didn\u2019t pay much in the beginning, I guess), had NO cover and felt he was getting ill, and was stressed about just about everything. I did NOT envy that! As you know, there is a lot to sacrifice \u2013 but also a lot to gain. Some day, he\u2019s going to be able to do just about anything he wants \u2013 but that day is not today, and I guess I\u2019m not terribly thrilled to give up what I\u2019m enjoying so much right now!<\/p>\n

But initially, I didn\u2019t really want to admit it to myself that I was liking the chorus. I started at Houston Grand Opera chorus right after I finished my Master\u2019s. I was super young (just 24) and was interested in programs. But no one would touch me! I would get auditions, but got comments that amounted to, \u201cThat\u2019s really cute, but let\u2019s hear you in 10 years or something.\u201d Nobody seems to like baby basses. Anyway, HGO was just going to be a place where I could spend some time and at least make some money until the next better thing came along.<\/p>\n

But about midway through my second year at HGO, it hit me \u2013 I LIKE this! And that started the whole \u201cbut I\u2019m not supposed to like this\u201d struggle, which finally lost out to \u201cbut I\u2019m happy doing what I\u2019m doing\u201d realization and voil\u00e1- here I am\u2026<\/p>\n

Little could I have known I would learn so much in my four seasons at HGO and get into something that I really wanted to continue at an even higher level. Hence the move to Chicago. HGO really helped me in my career; I owe A LOT to Richard Bado and all the staff at HGO. My audition and work here in Chicago never would have been taken seriously if it weren\u2019t for the opportunities I had in Houston. But I reached the limit of things I could do at HGO. I was cast in each chorus, did some small parts and solos \u2013 but that is all I could do there, as they just don\u2019t have the length of season to hire full time choristers. Chicago does, and while I\u2019m not in the full time group, at least I can audition to try and move a bit further up the ladder, plus enjoy all the other paid opportunities that exist here in the Chicago area.<\/p>\n

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\uc694\uc57d\ud558\uc790\uba74:\u00a0<\/i>
\n1) I get to live in one place, sleep in a familiar bed, hang out with my regular friends and family (and girlfriend \u2013 haven\u2019t got one yet, but gee whiz, living in one place has to make THAT easier too), do more things on a whim, and of course spend time with my cats.<\/p>\n

2) I get to sing EVERYTHING \u2013 often all at the same time. Only in opera chorus can you sing Handel one night and Tannhauser the other. If I were to do a solo career, I\u2019ve figured out I\u2019d do a lot of the same repertoire. Sure \u2013 perhaps I\u2019d make a lot of money too, but with my short attention span, I\u2019m enjoying the fact I can dabble in everything.<\/p>\n

4) The Union. I\u2019m not a big fan of this sort of thing, but in this case, it\u2019s very very useful. Hello?! Great pay, carefully monitored hours? Benefits? They\u2019re all there \u2013 and I know I wouldn\u2019t find that in many other places.<\/p>\n

5) The team aspect. This is something I only figured out recently. Even in college, I didn\u2019t realize that I approached our solo operas as a team. I\u2019d get really upset if someone else didn\u2019t learn his role on time!!! As if it even made any difference to MY performance! I have a hard time separating myself from this \u2013 so being in an ensemble is perfect for me.<\/p>\n

6) I don\u2019t crave the spotlight. I used to \u2013 or at least, I thought I had to. Singing is the only thing I do half way decently, so it was my calling card growing up. In high school etc. \u2013 I just had to have every solo, every opportunity to shine etc. and was really embarrassed when things didn\u2019t go my way. But I realize I just like to have fun with a bunch of like-minded people; so again, being in a group is just the right fit.<\/p>\n

7) Even if you just want to \u2018travel through\u2019 the chorus to other things, where else are you going to learn great diction, language skills, musicality, work alongside talented international directors, conductors, singers, dancers, divas and psycho Hungarians who could chew up the scenery and spit it back out at you magnum force \u2013 AND get PAID for it?<\/p>\n

8) I\u2019m not a teacher \u2013 I feel like I could judge and critique for days, but to go into a classroom or studio and do the daily grind? No way, not for me. I have NO idea of how they do it. There are too many miserable teachers out there only in it to make money; I don\u2019t want to be another one. \u2026Make that, I will NEVER be another one \u2013 \u2013 I\u2019ll sweep floors first!<\/p>\n

I really would appreciate it if you could spread the word. My second voice teacher sort of mentioned the choice to be a chorister to me, but he seemed to approach it much more in that \u2018failed soloist\u2019 sort of way, which is so wrong!!! How I wish he could have identified some of the things about my personality and matched them up to the life of a chorister! I wouldn\u2019t have even bothered with auditions etc.<\/p>\n

If anyone wants to talk to me personally about being a professional chorister, I\u2019d be glad to tell you what I know. I have nothing to hide and am also willing to share. No secrets here! Unless they\u2019re a bass of course, and interested in the same work here I am (just kidding!!!) My email is:\u00a0mpoock at juno.com<\/p>\n

Life is short\u2026 Opera is long\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Being a chorister is a viable and great option if you love to sing but don\u2019t necessarily want all the rest of the crap that comes with being a soloist! \u00a0Read below from my friend Martin Poock. \u00a0Don\u2019t discount other …<\/p>\n

\ud569\ucc3d\ub2e8 \ub418\uae30 (Martin L Pook)<\/span> Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":132,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exterior-articles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/opera.education\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/R.c1e56ca63a7d41994c6c7f8a77787352.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/opera.education\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/opera.education\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/opera.education\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opera.education\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opera.education\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/opera.education\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133,"href":"https:\/\/opera.education\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131\/revisions\/133"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opera.education\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/opera.education\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opera.education\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opera.education\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}