Aria Frequency Lists
During the annual audition tour, WTO gathers data on the frequency with which individual arias are offered by the singers applying and auditioning for the program. Links below lead to data for each voice type in each respective audition season since 2012.
You can find data from the 2022 audition tour here:
| 2022 | Sopranos (FA) | Mezzo and Countertenors (FA) | Tenors (FA) | Low Voices (FA) |
Data through 2018 represents the Filene Young Artist (emerging professional) demographic only. 2019 season data also includes the Studio Artist (typically grad school) demographic.
The 2019 data download link takes you to a Google Sheet with a tab for each voice type and tier.
Audition Advice
The WTO blog has been a repository of audition advice for over 10 years! A few collections of different types of audition wisdom:
THE PRACTICAL EDITION
Figuring Out the Playing Field
Are You Ready?
How do you know? After all, “ready” doesn’t mean “finished.” It’s all relative.
Young Artist Programs: Where to Start
Resources to find your way in the wonderfully abundant yet confusing landscape of YAP opportunities.
The Forest before the Trees
What do we listen and look for? A highly subjective list, but it’s ours and we’re sticking to it. Concentration. Focus. Authenticity. Spontaneity. Specificity. Energy. Humor. Courage. Skill.
S = (R + T) x LF
The equation. S [Success] = (R [Raw Materials] + T [Tools]) x LF [Life Force]
You Never Really Enjoy It; You Just Get Better at It
Coming to terms with this necessary evil.
Getting Ready
Get Your Left Brain Ready
I know. You’re a singer, not a writer. I don’t care. Fix the résumé.
“There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.”
High subjective, random headshot advice from folks who see over a thousand of them every fall.
The Notebook
Music that stays splayed on the stand. Organized with tabs. Easy page turns and beautiful cut markings. Aahhh.
Cutting Corners
Practicality vs. aesthetics.
Something Old, Something New
The aria list: standard rep vs. adventurous fare.
The Day of the Event
Audition Room Protocol
Don’t obsess about this; just keep these common-sense guidelines in mind. Be efficient and pleasant, then sing. Well.
Could We Hear the [Insert Name of Aria Here], Please?
Don’t try to second-guess the panel. Stay loose. Look forward to singing anything you brought along with you on this amazing day.
Audition Room Acoustics
Stairwell? Inside of a sock? It’s not always like you think.
Your Audition Partner at the Piano
What makes a fabulous audition pianist? What responsibility can you take for the outcome of this collaboration?
Technology in the Audition Room
Laptops, databases, mp3 recorders and more: Why they are your friends and ours.
Outside the Room
No game playing or posturing allowed. It’s neither professional nor considerate, and you never know who’s watching.
Hot Topics
Audition Props?
No.
Don’t Pace & Don’t Land the Plane
Blocking, pacing, gesticulating, and communicating. It’s your body: it should work for you, not against.
Three Soapboxes
Intonation (not negotiable), coloratura (not boring, please), and text (don’t throw it away!)
Just How Versatile Can You Be?
Versatility meets mastery.
Audition Season: Forms & Fees
Playing the game and not letting the procedures get you down. And my final word on the great annual application fee debate.
Putting Yourself in the Fach Box
What are you anyway? Lyric? Dramatic? Coloratura? Mezzo or soprano? Fach talk is right up there with sex and money in its untouchability.
THE RIGHT BRAIN VERSION
If you’re looking here for some sort of clarity as you claw your way through this peculiar thing that is auditioning, these links are for you. No easy answers, no prescriptions, no guarantees; but perhaps you’ll find something that helps lift you out of the machine enough to remember why you’re doing this in the first place.
Week 1: The Beginning, Being Ready, Reframing, Wabi-sabi
Week 2: Staying Loose, Urgency, Practice, Stamina, The Toolkit
Week 3: Calm, Focus, Flexibility, Perspective, Perfectionism
Week 4: Courage, Creativity, Imagination, Optimism, Sfumato
ADVICE FROM THE ALUMNI HIVE MIND
Be Your Own CEO: Run your company and your reputation like a business.
Let It Go: Say the Serenity Prayer. Then just sing.
Life: The audition is only the beginning.
The Power of Positivity: The glass is way more than half full.
Your Aria Package: Argh… What should I sing???
Navigating the Colleague Waters: Don’t let the crazy bring you down.
Audition Day Strategies: Little things can make or break you.
Be True to Yourself: And be kind to yourself. If you won’t, who will?
[…] course, knows all of the standard soprano rep, plus all of the baritone standard rep, plus that of all the other voice types, plus violin, viola, flute, trombone, choir, and so on. Oh, and of course you know the standard […]
[…] Opera audition resources by the Wolf Trap Opera listing the most frequently performed audition repertoire categorized by year and voice types. It can be helpful for pianists who play for opera auditions. […]