1. 人生决定

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1. Life Decisions
This is the beginning of a discussion I ended up fleshing out from some comments I made at a NATS Master Class many moons ago. I wanted to talk (a little) about all the things I wished someone had told me when I was in school. And it ballooned into my Young Artists’ Corner…

I hope I don’t sound too much like a know-it-all, because I definitely don’t know it all. However, I think I’ve learned a few things so far. I think there are way too many romantic notions and a lack of sheer common sense about what you’re going to do after music schools these days, and no one ever talks to you about these sort of things – – business and life decisions. All of you are trying to get somewhere really fast, but do you even know where? Start at the beginning.

LIFE DECISIONS – “I WANT TO BE FAMOUS!”

你为什么唱歌？

I hope your answer is not “it’s the only thing I know how to do!” That’s a really lame answer, and it doesn’t have the required passion to truly do anything with a career in music. Nobody wants to listen to just another empty, badly sung Italian art song. “Pretty” is not enough, either. You must have an overwhelming need to sing or perform or make music, and SAY something with it. If you’ve ever seen Cecilia Bartoli live, you will know that it’s not just her technique that sets audiences afire – it’s her continual communication with the public through every note of music, and the joy singing gives her that one feels flowing from her. No one besides Pavarotti gets world-famous from this job. (Even Netrebko and Fleming are only well-known to operaphiles.) And it sure as heck isn’t glamourous. So if fame and glamour are your objectives, find them elsewhere – you’ll just be frustrated in this career!

I sing because I want to make people feel something bigger than their lives, to transport someone to somewhere else with my voice, to move someone with what I’ve given them, if possible. So much can (and SHOULD!) be said in every kind of art, and I’d like to say something. Singing gives me a joy and outlet that I can’t even describe. It also allows me the forum to experience new theatre, new people, and new ideas all the time.

Singers that only surround themselves with opera, singing and “careers” are probably some of the most boring and boorish people I have met. Enrich yourself and your art form by getting out to see straight theatre, reading, and trying to develop yourself as a person spiritually and emotionally, in addition to as a singer! Help people out along the way.

There is SO much work involved to “success” (whatever that is) as a professional opera singer, that if you can do anything else in your life and be happy with it – – DO IT INSTEAD!! Seriously. There is no easy road to great singing. Even great “natural” singers had to figure out some day what it was they were doing so naturally, study music really seriously, work on their acting, etc. etc…

There are some singers I know who knew they wanted to make music, but started out on an instrument before discovering that the instrument that was their calling was already inside them! I don’t see why it could not go the other way, too. If you are making NO headway whatsoever with singing, and feel the need to make music, why not explore other ways to make music? There are so many other ways to make music!! Some people get fixated on “having a singing career,” when actually that’s not what they really want nor what will eventually make them happy.

歌剧职业的哪些方面最吸引您？

  • 是*性能*让您兴奋吗？
  • 在观众面前？
  • 是唱歌的感觉吗？
  • 是恭维吗？
  • 是不是需要用音乐来表达自己？
  • 它是剧院的一部分吗？
  • 这是歌剧的壮观场面吗？
  • 这是旋风式生活方式的想法吗？
  • 是旅行吗？
  • 这是势利的吸引力吗？
  • 它是关注的焦点吗？

你认为唱歌是你唯一的天赋吗？

Most of us start singing because we like to sing.  Let that sink in a bit.  作为一名真正的歌剧演员所涉及的其他事情可能真的不适合你！！  It is not enough just to SING beautifully. “Being an opera singer” is a multi-faceted talent, and you have to have ALL those facets to make it work.  If you suck at one of the major things involved or you can’t put up with one major part of the business, don’t imagine that you can make this career.  (And be happy…)

Most singers I know (you may be the exception) don’t start singing because we want to be an opera singer.  We start singing for more banal reasons, like: our mom put us in choir, it was the only time we felt like we belonged in a group, or we wanted to get in the high school musical with the false hope that it would make us one of the popular kids.  Ok, all those banal reasons were 我的 reasons for starting to sing!  And none of them had to do with being an opera star.  I didn’t even like to act!!  I thought the opera I went to see in 4th grade sung in English was unintelligible and super stupid. I enrolled myself in the Thespians Club in high school because I hoped doing so would help my chances at getting a lead in the high school musical.  Fat luck.  But people liked it when I sang and I won competitions and this helped my self-esteem.  So I studied all the things you needed to do to get ahead in singing to show my choir teacher he’d made a big mistake in not casting me, and one thing led to the next, all my interests (languages, travel) melted together, and here I am an opera singer.   I withstood the study and torture (for a shy girl) of years of acting lessons in order to have the opportunity to sing on stage; only later did I learn to enjoy acting.

OTHER WAYS TO “SING”

Maybe if you make no headway in opera, you could better fill your own personal needs in another venue. Ask yourself these questions, and see why you want to do this career, and if there’s any other way to make you happy.

I know singers who are fixated on an operatic career, when they could be the greatest sensation on Broadway if they’d only put their mind to it. Others are great actors, not singers, but won’t allow themselves to realize their potential on the stage if they’re not singing. I know at least three great performers who travel the world’s greatest stages, doing small, highlighted comprimario roles. They realized early on that either their acting talents were great and the competition in their voice category was too huge to surmount, or that they would rather shine in small roles and be highly respected by great conductors and directors alike than struggle and end up working with mediocrity for the rest of their lives in lead roles. They travel the world doing spotlighted small roles, and are very much needed in the opera world.

我在纽约的两个经纪人曾经是专业歌手，但决定他们永远无法达到顶级职业歌唱的高度，而这正是他们唱歌时想要的。相反，他们决定参与管理。两人都管理过业内顶级歌手；他们作为歌手的洞察力知道如何与人打交道，以及对选角和曲目的了解使他们在业务中占据优势。

合唱！

I have received some wonderful thoughts from a chorister I got to know while he was in Houston Grand Opera’s Chorus. He is now singing at Chicago Lyric Opera – in the chorus. Singing in the Chorus is an actual career, not a job you do until you “make it big!” It is a shame that voice teachers don’t let their students know that this is a viable and satisfying career. It is not only musically satisfying, it is a great career with many benefits. The majority of AGMA members are professional choristers.  Why do you need to be the soloist just because you have studied voice?  This is a ridiculous assumption. You may be better suited to sing in a chorus. Its lifestyle and requirements may suit you better. WHY BE A CHORISTER? CHECK OUT MY CHORUS PAGE TO HEAR A CHICAGO LYRIC OPERA CHORISTER’S INPUT.  It is not a cop-out nor should it be a let-down.  It is a viable, worthy and artistically satisfying job – if you let go of your preconceived ideas of what you think you have to be!

 目标对比你的现实可能性

我相信，如果您足够努力、足够出色并且足够想要它，您几乎可以完成任何事情（请参阅我关于刻意练习的页面！）。然而，您必须首先意识到自己的局限性、性格和个人需求，并对自己的可能性和目标诚实。他们匹配吗？

Some of the greatest singers of yesteryear (Birgitt Nilson, etc..) were told they were not made out to be singers. Nevertheless, some voices require so much work that I doubt if the singer could get his/her act together in time for even retirement, so why bother? Unless, of course, it’s just a personal goal to sing well… I’d never want to be the one to tell someone he/she should quit; but the many singers who are pouring their energy and money and lives into what is a difficult instrument, with insurmountable technical, interpretive and musical difficulties, hoping to have an operatic career make my heart hurt. Schools and teachers only encourage them unjustly, in their own interests. Horrible feedback from everyone *JUST MIGHT* mean that you should consider doing something else with your life!! 🙂

LET ME REPEAT FOR THOSE IN THE BACK:  Just because you studied voice in college does not mean you have to have a career as an international opera star!! If you are getting negative or just ho-hum feedback from everyone who doesn’t have a vested interest in you continuing to pay them to study, perhaps your voice is not the caliber to do the kind of career of which you’re dreaming. See where you stand with your peers (competitions, etc…), and judge from there. Just because singing gives YOU a rush doesn’t mean that YOUR SINGING gives THE AUDIENCE a rush! Your talents and energies may be better spent elsewhere. It takes at least 7500-10,000 hours of DELIBERATE practice to become an expert in your field. Are you patient enough to put in the hours (and find the creative resilience) to work on the PROBLEMATIC parts of your art and iron out the problems, or do you just like to sing through things?

你愿意为了唱歌而牺牲吗？

IS IT THAT IMPORTANT TO YOU? AND WHAT CONSTITUTES “MAKING IT” TO YOU?

Fame should NEVER be a goal, because it ain’t gonna happen unless you decide to sing pop music. Even Madonna has busted her behind to get where she is!  You’re probably reading this because you want to be a big famous opera star. However…

The majority of professional musicians hold down more than one job: they perform in a few ensembles or groups and supplement that with a studio of students they teach. Only a tiny sliver of aspiring opera singers will go on to have international careers. The other lucky ones (another tiny sliver of aspirants) may do less gigs, but have a teaching job on the side that supplements their income. The other GRAND MAJORITY of aspiring opera singers will not be able to make much headway at all in the grand operatic scheme of things. There are three scenarios: either be disillusioned and forever pouring money into more lessons, coachings and auditions; forever grumbling that nobody appreciates their great talent; or find other ways to fulfill their lives either using their musical talents or not.  Plan C sounds really great to me!   My blog here is concerned with the grand operatic career and seeing if it’s for you.  But what I do not go into in detail are the THOUSANDS of other things you can do with your music and make money from it.  Just because you studied singing doesn’t mean you need to be a full-time opera singer. How many times do I need to stress this?

这份工作的品格要求

你必须具备某种性格才能从事这一职业。您必须随和，能够应付自如，灵活且不易慌乱。这份工作总是会带来很多新情况，同时也会带来很大的压力，所以如果您不愿意改变，那么这份工作不适合您。

WORK ETHIC – LOVE THE PRACTICE

You must be willing to work like a dog. You must LIKE to work like a dog on your singing. I’m the laziest person when it comes to most things, but when I get into the thick of my work, I could work for hours. I LIKE the minutiae of trying to iron out something in my technique. I like the challenge of learning something new; I make a game out of getting a phrase right and repeating it a million times in a row. You have to be willing to put in the hours required and do the research required and LIKE it. Otherwise, this is not the job for you.

语言

You MUST be good with languages, because you will not only be singing in different languages, you will be dealing with foreigners and most likely, foreign countries as well. Side-note: even my Dad, who has problems pronouncing “Buongiorno” or “Buenos dias” could pick out the singers in competitions that had bad diction! Even to the inexpert ear, your language skills (or lack thereof) come across to an audience in one way or another. If you really have no ear for languages and are not willing to spend a good 7500 hours on that one aspect of your singing, you have no business being in this business.

孤独

You must enjoy being on your own. You must know, like or learn to like being by yourself. When you are on the road, you are ALONE. No matter how wonderful your colleagues are, how wonderful your boyfriend/girlfriend/wife/husband is, you will most likely be on your own every night. Is this ok with you? Are you good at communicating long distance? Do you need daily physical contact with your family and friends? If you can’t hack being far away from loved ones MOST of the time, this is not the career for you.

幸福

You do not owe it to your talent to make this career. You only owe it to yourself to be happy with your life. Know yourself and pick the best career path to make you HAPPY. And that can mean you study music and voice for 6-8 years in college and then you DO NOT USE IT to make an international career as an opera star. This is perfectly ok. It was not a waste of your time. You have every right to go on to be a real estate agent, a car salesman, a housewife, a pre-school music teacher, a piano and voice teacher of high school students out of your home, etc… It is your life, and your musical studies will have only enriched your life experience. If, after all your studies, you don’t have the drive and passion nor talent to make a career, do something else! It is not failure, it is great insight to realize that your energies are better spent elsewhere.

期望

  • 你想用你的生活做什么？
  • 唱歌，你说？
  • First, what do you envision as your “ideal” life?
  • 想象一下；它意味着什么？
  • 婚姻？
  • 孩子们？
  • 固定日常生活的常态？
  • 每个假期都和家人在一起？
  • 亲密的朋友圈？
  • 与您的朋友共进晚餐、举办歌剧/戏剧订阅、教一些人、兼职上课，或做慈善工作？

Really get a good idea of what is most important to you. Of these things, which is absolutely essential for you, and which is something that you’d like, but that you’d be able to feel fulfilled without? Be HONEST with yourself. There is nothing more tragic than someone who has talent, and feels that he/she wants to do this career, only to discover that he/she really doesn’t like the lifestyle years down the road. Just because you CAN sing and have the talent does not mean you HAVE to sing. You do not “owe it to your gift” to have a crazy opera career. You owe it to yourself to be happy and fulfill yourself however you can.

警告

I don’t believe it’s impossible to have a free-lance operatic career and have some of these things; but to expect to have all of them, and when you want them, is unrealistic and downright delusional. The reality of the lifestyle is much different than what you may expect, and it’s better to be forwarned than spend all your schooling learning to do something that you’ll either burn out on quickly, become disillusioned about, or both. There are compromises, and there are endless ways to deal with the difficulties. Or there are different ways to structure a career – you can concentrate on whatever period or style of music really lights your fire, and do concerts. Whatever your passion, study and do intensive research with experts in the field; really specialize – don’t just say “that you like it.” Remember that there ARE other things than singing the same old Puccini onstage! Baroque music tends to provide more concerts than operas, for example. Or modern music!! There is a nice niche in singing contemporary music.

找到你的激情

What are YOU passionate about? Discover your passion in music, and follow your artistic nose! Quit looking for a “vehicle” for your fabulous voice, and see what YOU can bring to the world of music instead. We all need to quit worshipping the same old so-called masterpieces and discover the other 90% of written music and *new* repertoire. Just a few generations ago, singers were still doing more than 50% contemporary music. We need to come back to this “tradition!” The “golden age of singing” is now – we have the knowledge, passion, training, and only lack the courage to have some personality and some ideas.