One of the most common questions I am asked is, " What company do you work for?"
Well....my own, sort of. All singers in a way are their own bosses. Many singers start their professional careers by working for a company in that company's young artist or ensemble program. This can last anywhere between 1-3 years. During that time you are an employee of the opera company. After 'graduating' you are typically on your own. Opera companies hire you on a contract basis. That means that you are hired for x amount of time to do y number shows. For example, a singer can be hired for a 5 week contract consisting of 3.5 weeks of rehearsals and 4 shows. The singer is paid per show and is technically not paid for the rehearsal period. This means that if he/she is too ill to perform, then they do not get paid for that performance.
The goal is to string together a number of contracts during a season and hopefully space them out in such a way that there is enough time to learn new roles, practice and be vocally rested/healthy.
As a side note, there are singers that work as company employees. They are mainly in Europe and work under fest contracts. More on that at a later point.
Basically I (along with my colleagues) am self-employed.
Revenue Canada agrees.
Now time to do my taxes...oops.
Enjoy the summer festival season!
What would you say is the ideal number of contracts to have during any given year? so as not to over work your voice? and to maximize profit?
ReplyDeleteHave you thought about putting up some sound clips on your website?
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous:
ReplyDeleteI'll do my best to answer this question in a few sentences.
The ideal number of contracts varies by voice type, repertoire and the size of the role. If you have a lighter repertoire (Handel, Mozart and earlier) and small roles, then you can probably get away with singing 6-8 operas a year (if not more). Each opera contract is different as it may involve 2 shows or up to 15.
When you start to sing the heavy repertoire(if at all), then the voice needs more recuperation time. Many Wagnerians only sing a 3-4 operas a year. The pay is typically much higher for the heavy(in terms of orchestral size and musical texture) operas.
I will talk about repertoire and voice types at a later point.
Hopefully this helps!
@KuriousKat:
ReplyDeleteYes, I will be putting up sound clips! I plan to announce my 2010-2011 season in the coming month or so and hopefully I will have a couple of short clips up.
Thanks for your interest.
Hi Stephen,
ReplyDeleteWhat are the major challenges of being an opera/classical singer?
Do you have to do any other work on the side in addition to your singing or can you really make a living as a singer only?
What would you say to someone considering a career in this field?
@JC:
ReplyDeleteOne of the major challenges in my opinion is dealing with the super busy and super slow periods of opera. Basically when it rains, it pours. My schedule can go from really busy to really slow with very little in between.
I am lucky/busy enough not to have to work on the side at this point .
As for advice..that's a tough one. I'm still a relative newbie to the scene, but I would have to say that you need really thick skin to be in this business. You are always auditioning and being critiqued. It is a constant job interview.
But, it can be super rewarding!
Hi Stephen,
ReplyDeleteOnce you have "graduated" and the voice is ready to launch a career. How do you go about getting started? How do you get an agent and start getting work?
@JC
ReplyDeleteWell I can only really speak from my experience. As a young artist I was lucky enough to be introduced to many talented conductors, directors and other musicians. Some of them began to hire me (thank you!). I also began doing more and more auditioning and was hired as a result.
Generally you 'need' a manager (or agent) when there is something to manage. Start getting gigs and eventually management will follow..that is generally how it is done.
And audition until you have no voice left (not literally). The more people hear you the more of a chance you have of getting hired.
Hello Stephen,
ReplyDeleteWhat does the agent job entail?
@JC
ReplyDeleteThe agent's job is basically to be a manager of sorts. The agent generally sets up auditions, negotiates contracts (and signs on your behalf), facilitates the visa process (for work outside of the country).
There are two type of agencies, small (boutique agency) and big (dealing mainly with volume).
Boutique agencies generally have smaller artist rosters and may have more time to treat each artists in a more one on one manner. The bigger agencies tend to have more artists and may have more connections to companies as a result (and tend to try to book as many artists as possible for gigs). These are generalizations, there are many good and bad agencies that vary in size. The trick is trying to find the right fit for you and for the agency. You need to have confidence that they can sell you and vice versa.