And here it is, the fascinating, scintillating and titillating audition season post you’ve been waiting for… Paperwork! It’s important. Don’t resist or resent it. Look at it this way. If you were pounding the pavement looking for a “real” job* right now, you’d be writing dozens and dozens of customized cover letters and tweaking multiple
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We spent some of our spare time at the Met scouring the lower level headshot wall for photos of singers who spent a summer or two with Wolf Trap Opera. See the composite above for some of the results! L-R, row by row: Ailyn Perez, Nathan Gunn, Lawrence Brownlee, Michelle DeYoung, Denyce Graves, Eric Cutler, Kate
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We spent last evening digging through the repertoire treasure trove in preparation for the end of the audition tour (which is in sight… less than 2 weeks!) For your amusement (and your betting pleasure, if it pleases you), here’s the list of titles we discussed. Alphabetized so as to not show inadvertent favoritism. Don’t get
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It’s New York Audition Week, which means my brain is just a little too full for writing… Instead, I offer these lovely photographic souvenirs of the Anna Bolena we saw last night at the Met, featuring a jaw-dropping performance by our own Jamie Barton as Jane Seymour. (WTO fans will remember her beautiful performance of Penelope in Monteverdi’s Il ritorno
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First installment of rare* arias offered during the fall 2015 audition tour. Here we go: (*Rare is relative. Aria fads come and go.) Baritones “And this will be my epitaph” from Barber’s A Hand of Bridge Nice English aria option. Shows more dramatic range than Bob or Horace Tabor. Not quite as thorny as something like Doctor
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Today, we talk about the printed music that comes in the audition room with you. No huge revelations, but you’d be surprised how many folks create stumbling blocks for themselves by ignoring this basic advice. Our Cincinnati auditions (at CCM) are typically played by Donna Loewy, who is not only a fabulous pianist and collaborator, she’s
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Auditions in the Patricia Corbett Theater at CCM
We’ve talked a bit about what happens outside the audition room. Now let’s turn our attention toward what happens between the door and the first note… Greetings Don’t spend a lot of time obsessing about how to relate to the audition panel. Auditions aren’t cocktail parties, and other than avoiding the appearance of being extraordinarily
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Yesterday afternoon’s opera performances in the windy city included Lawrence Brownlee’s Lyric Opera of Chicago debut in La cenerentola. We are proud to call Larry a Trapper, and I’m beside myself with excitement about sharing the recital stage with him in a few months. A few weeks ago, he was featured on the Fatherly website. If you’ve ever wondered
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You are right to be primarily concerned with what happens inside the audition room. But I encourage you to extend your professionalism to the people and situations outside the door. Trash Talk Singers don’t overtly try to get inside each others’ heads the way professional athletes do, but there are mind games outside the room. Most artists
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We find that singers worry endlessly about the extent to which they can move in an audition situation. A few thoughts from the other side of the table: Should You “Block” Your Aria? Well strictly speaking, no. You shouldn’t perform your audition in the same way you would approach a staged performance. But the exercise
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