MezzoGirl
Los Angeles, CA
Female, 29
I sing beautiful music -- primarily opera -- but I also do concert work, church music, studio/scoring sessions, and whatever other performance opportunities I can get my hands on.
Hopefully, your opera contracts. But the great thing about singing is that you have many sources of income: church, chorus and concert work, recording sessions, private events, teaching ... I was at a singer's workshop recently with Dan Montez and he made a great point: if you have a full-time job, you could lose 100% of your income in a day. But if you're a singer, you probably have many sources of income and if you lose one of them, it won't break you. It was a different perspective than most people's usual stream of thought/panic about freelance work! Also, if you know how to sight-read well, you can get booked for many more jobs. If you don't, contact AFTRA or AGMA and see if they sponsor any classes to help you with sight-singing. In LA, there's a fantastic sight singing class through AFTRA (you don't have to be a member to participate but you do get a discount if you are) -- Music1on1.com has the details. It's especially great for score recording session singing technique and a fabulous place to network. They also do events to meet session contractors, discuss demos and marketing and other such workshops.
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Yes, but there are many factors that would have to be in place (and be precisely executed) to make that happen -the singer singing the glass's resonating tone and the loudness of the voice as well as defects in the glass. Here's a link to an incredible article on the topic in Scientific America that also cites a taped experiment proving the unassisted voice can shatter glass on Myth Busters. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fact-or-fiction-opera-singer-can-shatter-glass
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Vocal technique, music history, music theory, coaching with specialists in the repertoire you're working on, piano, acting, movement, diction (if you don't know the International Pronunciation Alphabet, learn it!) and business management/finance. I think the self-employed singer has to have their business skills set so that one can focus on the creative and technical aspects of being a singer without the stress of over-worrying about finances and such. Plus, you can see the progress you're making and where you need to put greater attention when you have a specific plan with goals. If you're still in school, take marketing and small business finance or something comparable. If you're out of school, you might want to find courses at a local college for this.
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The jury's still out on this from the research I've done, but it does seem that larger ribcages have their advantages in singing. Almost every singer's ribcage will expand in size, which may also just give the appearance of heaviness as well. But that doesn't mean that large voices and long phrases can't come out of smaller framed people. The 'largeness' of a voice comes from the resonating cavities in the head combined with the amount of strength and release in the singer's body. Singing is so much about how you use and release body tension. It's a very physical art. Also, singing makes me insanely hungry, so perhaps people don't make the right choices after singing til 11p at night (I always have a healthy snack right after I'm out of costume). My teacher and I have discussed the differences in body types and singing as I'm smaller and more athletic. Some of the sensations that come from extra weight that are technically very useful, I just can't identify. So I have to find other sensations. I find that strength training and running really helps me because of my size. Having the sensation of a lower center of gravity gives me extra 'weight' while singing.
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Some do. And some look down on those who look down on contemporary music. Personally, I love it, especially when you're getting to sing music for the first time ever. Contemporary opera is challenging in a whole other way for singers, so it can be daunting. It's fantastic to find companies that specialize in contemporary opera since you know that the artistic & production values will be high, and the audience will be excited. As for modern, contemporary music that's more mainstream (pop, hip hop, rock), some singers don't listen to it, which is a shame. It's hard to find the time for listening to anything other than what you're working on when you're a singer. However, I've learned so much from the passion of Dave Grohl's performances, the storytelling of metal & hip hop, how to speak to an audience seeing Jason Mraz in coffee houses & Michael Buble at the Greek, the way to use your voice like an instrument from the great jazz singers (listen to Sinatra and you can hear how he does 'trombone' slides with his voice...it's really cool) and perhaps most importantly as a woman in sometimes revealing costumes-the importance of wardrobe tape from the pop divas. For me, all music makes me a better musician. Even when I hate it, I try to learn from it- what do I hate, what am I resisting, and , why, why are my lovely lady lumps moving like that when my brain is utterly disgusted by those terrible lyrics?
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Really, it's NYC if that's what you want to do. You could try living in Chicago if you're great with comedy and want to do that as well. Or LA if you're interested in the film/TV world. But if you want music theater, live in or around NYC. You can audition for cruise lines and theme parks that utilize music theater talent well and have you living in different places for long stretches of time. But you need to be around where the auditions are- and the vast majority are in NYC. Auditioning is the biggest part of your job when you're starting off.
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My first professional opera contract was offered to me because I was in Arizona State's production and the conductor was asked to present it for the Connecticut Early Music festival, so he pretty much took the whole university cast with him.
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