Opera Singing in Germany and other adventures....

Are there such things as audition tactics for Emerging Opera Singers to use to their advantage in order to be the one chosen for an engagement?  That's exactly what I've been asking myself these past few months in order to figure out how I can improve my number of successful auditions completed, and in this case, successful means that I got chosen to sing the role.  So, I've read a LOT of industry publications, Classical Singer, for example, and every interview I could get my hands on with someone who is right beyond where I currently am (a.k.a. working consistently at reputable opera houeses and not just intermittently) and, I have come to the sad, but perhaps logical conclusion in this very fickle business of mine and yours, that there is no straight forward way to systematically improve yourself in order to get hired.  Everyone is looking for something different (in terms of things that you can change outside of having a good voice and being a believeable actress...

In January of this year, I auditioned for the Operklosterneuburg, a very important summer opera festival in a town called Klosterneuburg, which is approximately twenty minutes outside of Vienna in a northerly direction with the regional train.  They were looking for singers for the Donizetti opera, Don Pasquale and I thought that the role of Norina would be well-suited to my voice (though perhaps not quite fully yet to sing it in a large opera house- therefore I auditioned for this program which serves also as a sort of a 'final-step' for emerging opera singers). I have nothing but wonderful things to say about the entire experience actually, although in the end I was not chosen for the role.  Therefore I will bore you with details of how my own audition went since you already know the result (ha!) but instead I'll give you a brief synopsis of how it was for me to travel there, so that you too can get an idea of what might be awaiting you if you pl...

The characters of DON JUAN IN HANKEY, PA are milling around backstage in the Hankey Opera House. Vivian is dusting the green room. Oriane, who is eight months pregnant, is waddling down the hall. Leandro Vasquez is reading about himself in the Sound Bites pages of Opera News. Arnaud is trying on women’s clothes in the costume shop. Knobby (general manager of the Hankey Opera Company, via the intercom): All right. Everybody on stage. Let’s go. Characters are mumbling things like, "Now what does he want?" "Still barking out orders, is he?" "The book’s over, you numbskull." Knobby: Are we all here? Okay, pipe down people. A sprightly young soprano, Julia Katherine Walsh, who very much enjoyed the book, would like to ask you all a question—the same question. Here’s what she wants to know. What would have happened to our production of Don Giovanni if you had not been a part of putting it together? Anybody want to start? Characters grow silent...

Recently, I had the opportunity to see a YouTube video of Renee Fleming singing this great aria written by Erich Korngold found here , and I remembered that a while ago there was an often-whispered-about Masterclass given by Ms. Fleming (her first ever!) at The Juilliard School.  And, I remember hearing that only Juilliard students were invited to attend this Masterclass. That got me to wondering, why couldn't any old person attend this hugely-touted event?  Apart from the fact that there wouldn't be enough room for everyone who wanted to attend, why didn't they at least sell overpriced tickets?  And then I realized the reason: this was just another manifestation of a phenomenon I have noticed over the years of being "in the biz" of opera singing: the hushed-up mysteriousness and only-for-certain-people attitude that is encouraged among opera teachers/students/professionals, and heck, even the more staunch fans themselves!  It's as if the singe...

(This post is unrelated to opera, but it has incredible relevance for everyone, so please read!) Nowadays with all of the technology that we have at our disposal, we are used to getting results almost instantaneously. When we need to get somewhere we can hop on the highway (specifically built to avoid the delays that are caused by traffic within cities) and get there faster. We can check ourselves out at the grocery store to avoid long lines. We can order on the internet nearly anything we can imagine, and depending on how much we are willing to pay for shipping, it is delivered to our doorstep possibly within less than 24 hours. We are a world full of people (in the developed countries, at least) who are used to not having to wait for anything at all. Therefore, it is no wonder that we as a people, are also disposed to getting angry quickly when things don't go our way. Perhaps the reason that in the past 10 years terrorism and hate crimes have been steadily increasing i...

In May of 2011 I had the good fortune to meet a wonderful photographer through organizing a solo recital in Reading, PA.  Don Carrick, a Berks County Resident of 15 years and originally a native of Washington D.C., is also an experienced photographer, and explained that he'd been interested in expanding his clientele for Headshot Photography for a long time now as he enjoys working with people in the Performing Arts and he likes to take pictures that accentuate a person's individuality.  Therefore, Don and I worked out a plan where he'd take some great photos for me, and I'd show them off. So, as all artists know, a  person's work normally speaks for itself, and by this same token, I believe it's easy to see Don's ability by looking at the photos he took of me. (You should take into account that I am really NOT photogenic at all and Don was patient enough to go through at least 600 photos before I finally started not looking terrible.  So, for those of...

This past Tuesday I had my first German Opera House audition!  I was asked at the last minute by a colleague who worked there to audition for a role they're looking to cast next season and which I sing, and have sung for this colleague in an audition before.  (Sorry, I can't be any more specific with names because I don't want to jinx it.)  Honestly, I was really lucky to have been asked to audition since normally these sorts of things don't happen unless you have an agent who knows about the vacancy which the theater is looking to fill, and then sends you there, and actually, all of the other singers who were there to audition had agencies.  So, I was quite overjoyed to have been invited, to say the least. However, sticking to the point- I'd like to relate what the experience was like. I heard of the audition on a Friday and the audition itself was taking place on Tuesday of the following week, so in four days.  That really didn't give me a whole lot of tim...