# Advice for an aspiring Opera singer



## Siren (Apr 5, 2018)

Hello all!

I am brand new to Talk Classical. I am 27 a Lyric Colloratura Soprano, and will be auditioning for the Santa Fe Opera Apprenticeship Program as well as preparing for the upcoming Metropolitan Youth auditions. Does anyone have any helpful tips and suggestions on how to make myself more desirable for the audition panels? Would anyone have any insiders' intel that would help during my preperation period? i.e. What qualities do they look for in applicants?

The audition pieces I have chosen are as follows:

_Piangero_ Gulio Cesare
_Ach Ich Fuhls_ The Magic Flute
_The Jewel Song_ Faust
_How Beautiful It is_ Turn of the Screw


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## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Siren said:


> Hello all!
> 
> I am brand new to Talk Classical. I am 27 a Lyric Colloratura Soprano, and will be auditioning for the Santa Fe Opera Apprenticeship Program as well as preparing for the upcoming Metropolitan Youth auditions. Does anyone have any helpful tips and suggestions on how to make myself more desirable for the audition panels? Would anyone have any insiders' intel that would help during my preperation period? i.e. What qualities do they look for in applicants?
> 
> ...


Welcome to TC!!

Something you've probably heard already, but make sure you have something to say!! They are going to hear a lot of beautiful voices, so your interpretation is going to be what sets you apart. If you marry a beautiful voice to a compelling stage presence you'll go far. I don't think I'm saying anything you don't already know lol. Have fun & good luck!!!


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Always try to make your singing expressive . Don't just produce a stream of pretty sounds . This means you must always be familiar with the words of whatever you sing . Even if you don't speak the language, read a translation of the opera in English . 
Vary your expression according to the text . If the character is happy, sad, angry, or whatever, the emotion should be in your singing .


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Welcome to this forum, and best of luck !


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## Star (May 27, 2017)

You seem to have chosen a pretty varied selection of pieces. I would just advise to remember what you have been taught and plenty, plenty of practice.

I'm sure we all wish you every success


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Siren said:


> Hello all!
> 
> I am brand new to Talk Classical. I am 27 a Lyric Colloratura Soprano, and will be auditioning for the Santa Fe Opera Apprenticeship Program as well as preparing for the upcoming Metropolitan Youth auditions. Does anyone have any helpful tips and suggestions on how to make myself more desirable for the audition panels? Would anyone have any insiders' intel that would help during my preperation period? i.e. What qualities do they look for in applicants?
> 
> ...


this is going to sound like sacrilege, but....one of the best things you can do as a young singer is ease up on the Sutherland, Callas and other legendary singers until you've come into your own in terms of style, technique and having an visceral understanding of both your capabilities and limitations. you don't have to stop listening entirely, but frankly, these voices became famous because they are freaks. Sutherland doesn't even sound like a human when she sings and Callas goes between high soprano work and digging in her boots and singing like a dramatic mezzo. if you're among the 99% of us with more "normal" vocal capabilities, it can be a bit intimidating or discouraging to listen constantly to singers of that caliber and unconsciously compare oneself.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

more on topic
- make sure your coloratura passages are clean and effortless and have shape to them. 
- expression is good, but make sure it's subtle and natural looking rather than cheap. 
- play up the contrast between the different characters you're singing. Pamina and Margarite are ingenues while Cleopatra is an ambitious queen. 
- consider wearing something that makes you stand out. it's important to be classy, but many contestants wear the same blue, red or black dress that looks like they're about to attend high school prom
- choose an interpretation and stick with it. you can't please everyone, and different judges and directors have vastly different preferences. for example, the American opera scene is experiencing a split where half is becoming steadily more like broadway with more over-the-top expression and interaction with the audience while the more conservative among us consider this turn of fashion to be overly sugary and cliche.
- if they're reviewing your folder, make sure there isn't anything in there you wouldn't want to be singing that day. for example, if you have one of the Queen of the Night's arias in your portfolio and aren't having the best day with high notes, best to leave that one back home 

apart from that, I'm not an expert, so any other advice I could give would be rather obvious. it sounds like your choices of repertoire are fairly intelligent, having enough variety of style and characterization without being overly ambitious for an under-30 singer.


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

They aren't hiring you for orthography, but at least learn to spell coloratura. You have several other words misspelled in your original post. Run important documents (like your CV) through a spell-checker. We all need all the help we can get. Good luck.

Kind regards, :tiphat:

George


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Oh how I wish I could hear you sing a Sills special," Se pieta" from _Giulio Cesare_. (maybe when you get to the Met finals soon, eh?)


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## Siren (Apr 5, 2018)

HAHA! Thank you for some of the best advice! I love it! Yeah I don't try to eminate the freakishly amazing voices. I have my own freakish voice that I am struggling to discover. I just learned that rather than a Lyric Colloratura (as I thought I was in college) I am now a Dramatic Colloratura. Great advice though! Thanks!


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## Siren (Apr 5, 2018)

Thank you very much! Great advice! To this point you made, "- consider wearing something that makes you stand out. it's important to be classy, but many contestants wear the same blue, red or black dress that looks like they're about to attend high school prom." In my research I saw that judges for auditions prefer the auditionees to wear something along the lines of a career interview with something memorable. So now I am a little confused on that part. 

To this point, "- choose an interpretation and stick with it. you can't please everyone, and different judges and directors have vastly different preferences. for example, the American opera scene is experiencing a split where half is becoming steadily more like broadway with more over-the-top expression and interaction with the audience while the more conservative among us consider this turn of fashion to be overly sugary and cliche." THANK YOU! Now I know to go to those who have visited the Santa Fe Opera and can give me some feedback to the acting/expression styles of the principle roles. That will give me an idea of what the judges preferences will be and help guide my interpretations style. 

As for the compliment on my repertoire choices, thank you very much! I am quite proud of my choices here. Your advice is very helpful! Thank you!


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## Siren (Apr 5, 2018)

Barelytenor said:


> They aren't hiring you for orthography, but at least learn to spell coloratura. You have several other words misspelled in your original post. Run important documents (like your CV) through a spell-checker. We all need all the help we can get. Good luck.
> 
> Kind regards, :tiphat:
> 
> George


Thank you for the advice. I wrote those posts while exhausted at my place of employment. Of course in a professional setting I will be double checking/triple checking all of my spelling and grammar in context.


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## Siren (Apr 5, 2018)

nina foresti said:


> Oh how I wish I could hear you sing a Sills special," Se pieta" from _Giulio Cesare_. (maybe when you get to the Met finals soon, eh?)


Thank you! I would love to sing, "Se Pieta!" I'll be auditioning at the Metropolitan Youth auditions for the next round of auditions. Information for that will not be up until August of this year.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Siren said:


> HAHA! Thank you for some of the best advice! I love it! Yeah I don't try to eminate the freakishly amazing voices. I have my own freakish voice that I am struggling to discover. I just learned that rather than a Lyric Colloratura (as I thought I was in college) I am now a Dramatic Colloratura. Great advice though! Thanks!


when you say "dramatic coloratura", do you mean like a Queen of the Night/Mozart type voice, a bel canto voice or a heavier voice like early Verdi music? (not trying to get too technical, but this will definitely affect your choice of repertoire going forward)


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