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On both the national and international level, whether the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, or Operalia, or a local guild competition, singers know that competing and auditioning are actually the most likely ways to build their careers and attract attention. And while it can be costly and lonely for many, it’s also the most direct path to opening doors to a career on the main stage. It's as good a place as any to meet and be seen. As Julian Smith, music advisor at Cardiff said in the May/June edition of 'Opera Now,' "Competitions bring to the forefront singers who have the potential to be major names." And there’s another benefit: for most, the raw talent and guts they demonstrate in competitions and auditions is going to be what carries the day in their early careers, and what will most likely define them in the years to follow.

This year, as the past three, OperaOnline.us looked to a lively vocal competition as a good place to see what singers with varying degrees of experience had to say about the path they’ve chosen. And, as in the past, we found that Connecticut Opera Guild’s 53rd Annual Young Artists Scholarship Competition was as fertile a place as any to see what’s on their minds.

The competition, which occurred on May 5th at the Wallace Stevens Theatre in Hartford, Connecticut, ran over six hours and drew singers from around the United States to compete for over $30,000 in prize money, making this, one of the largest cash hand-outs in the Guild’s history.

Seventeen cash awards in total, ranging from the top prize of $10,000 (The Maestro Award), a Second Place prize of $5,000 (The Del Drummey/Connecticut Opera Guild Award) and the bulk of prizes in the $1,000 and $2,500 range, drew over 170 interested contestants and ended in thirty-five finalists, all of whom were selected by Maestro Waters in a “blind” draw.” A blind draw, the Guild emphasizes, means

that all references to singers’ names are removed from the CDs sent for evaluation, and finalists are chosen strictly on merit. The Guild stresses this point, noting that no one has an unfair advantage when it comes to competing.

This year, the top winner of both the $10,000 ‘Maestro Award’ as well as the newly established $1,000 ‘People’s Choice Award’ (selected by members of the audience in attendance by secret ballot) was Philadelphia-born, soprano Takesha Meshé Kizart. Ms. Kizart has sixteen other awards listed on her resume. She’s very good at what she does, and makes no bones about what she plans for her future. "I strive to be a legendary vocal artist," she said in an interview after the competition, "and I believe in my management team's ability to make that vision a reality." Her positive mental attitude, next to her vocie, is one of her biggest assets. "I am a young, beautiful African-American woman with a large and dramatic voice in an unconventially small 'non-dramatic' body."

But as any singer will tell you, having won an award or even several awards in the past, is no guarantee of easy employment in the future.

It’s a tough grind for singers, even those with some professional opera theater experience, as many here had. The field is wide and the competition for a vaunted position in one of the country’s many opera houses is intense. Indeed, in the early years a singer’s life is occupied with auditions, competitions, side jobs and occasional singing engagements. Almost all work in second jobs to support themselves and their families. A few of the lucky ones are chosen for internships in young artist programs or land main stage roles from time to time, and even luckier ones suvive by singing wherever they can.

In spite of the work and occasional disappointment, it’s worth it, they say. If you want to be seen and known you need “to think about competitions as investments,” said baritone Raymond Ayers, winner of the ‘The Sylvia E and Martin A. Rothman Award,’ and a check for $1,000. It’s not just the prize money and awards that attracts him to a competition, he said, it’s about contacts, too. “What contacts will I make, and will they help to further my career in any way?” These are important reasons to attend. “In some instances,” he explained, “no prize money is won, but a stellar connection is made which pays for entry fees and travel expenses many times over, through future engagements.” It’s a view expressed by singers, judges, and pretty much everyone else in the world of opera as well.

By Paul Joseph Walkowski
OperaOnline.us
If you want to know what it takes to make it in the world of professional opera, talk to the artists building their careers, the ones out there knocking on the proverbial doors; the ones auditioning, competing, singing every opportunity they get in the hope of being noticed and then being hired on a regular basis.

For most, it’s a long hard grind just to the starting line. They know better than anyone that not everyone is going to be lucky enough to be the beneficiary of patronage from a large company or receive the backing of a deep-pocketed Foundation interested in supercharging their careers. Fewer, still, will attract interest from agents or publicists who are already busy with talented clients and limited places to go. So how do you get noticed when you have – well, no one but yourself pushing your career along? The answer is simple: short of doing everything yourself: management, publicity, promotion and vocal development, make it a priority to get yourself an agent/manager and a publicist to help you along.

Securing representation is a necessity in today’s competitive world of opera. An agent/manager will guide your career and get you bookings; a publicist will get your name before the press and let everyone know what you are doing. It makes sense. After all, what’s the use of accumulating a stellar record of achievement, press clippings and awards if nobody knows you’re out there? But even then, it’s still a challenge for singers. Landing the right representation isn't as easy as it sounds and singers need to be cautions in the selections they make. Once the decision is made to seek help, you have to know which contact comes first.

Nancy Shear, the director of a public event production and consulting agency in New York, advises that a direct approach from singer to a publicist is probably the least likely way to succeed. A singer should first have a manager and a history of awards and singing engagements they can point to befopre pressing on. "I won't work with anyone who doesn't have a manager," Shear said in a telephone interview with OperaOnline.us in May. "This is an extremely complex subject," she continued, "extremely. I would rather direct my remarks to someone who already has management, because if somebody comes to me and they don't have management, I really don't take them on as clients.”

While that answer may sound harsh, a second look proves its wisdom. “You have to have a manager,” she explained, “to first go out and prepare the soil and then when those seeds are planted a publicist helps really make it into something. It just wouldn't be right to lead [a singer] on thinking that a publicist has anything to work on if they're not singing a fair number of dates." Robert Mirshak, of Mirshak Artists Management, agreed about the order, with a caveat. Just because you have a manager doesn't mean you automatically get exposure. Even the best publicist needs something to promote. “I do not recommend publicists for young artists until there is a major event or series of major events to publicize.” To review a full listing of artist managers visit Opera America, here.

This isn’t to say a singer can’t do it all themselves. Indeed, many singers just starting out have no choice. What they can do for themselves, most do intuitively: maintain a website, make contacts at competitions, send out promotional packages (sometimes just resumes and a CD), and audition as often as they can in the hope that one of these activities will result in a job offer. It's hard work, but it can succeed; the question is: how long can a singer realistically expect to keep up this pace and stay focused on a singing career? It’s a big world out there, and that’s reason enough to make finding an agent/manager and then a good publicist a high priority early on.

It's an important relationship between manager, publicist and singer, Shear said, that is like a three-legged chair. Each leg is necessary to maintain balance. “It's important in this electronic age,” she emphasized, to get involved and “to sit down and meet someone face to face because, at its best, that relationship is going to be an intimate one. You're going to know as much about your client, probably, as a family member."

Until that day arrives, however, when a singer has the awards and credentials to even approach a manager, the best way to promote oneself is doing what singers do all the time, all around the world: compete.