Dear Colleagues,
Recently, I was asked to judge a competition at a university. The perspective a working singer receives in evaluating young singers is just invaluable. I recommend the experience as an enriching one for your own work. Based on my observations, made during numerous opportunities to hear young singers, here are my top five general comments for all young people who may be doing their first competitions or auditions.
1. Dress up. We live in a casual society, but, my darlings, you are singers. Make some effort. This means brushing, curling, styling, and spraying your hair. No messy ponytails, no hair in the face—and this goes for both ladies and gentlemen! We want to see your eyes. On the other end of the spectrum, severely pulled back hair does not look good on most people on stage.
Ladies, please apply makeup, even if you don’t ordinarily wear it. Otherwise, you will look washed out under the unforgiving stage lights. And everyone should give some thought to the image they are trying to project with a particular role or Fach. Women, especially if you are singing girly-girl parts, please do not audition in a mannish business pantsuit—and singing pants roles, does not mean you have to be entirely severe.
Finally, please remember to apply Erda’s Flip-Flop Rule for the Stage, which can be summed up in one word: never.
2. Confer with your pianist before you come on stage. Incomprehensibly, many young singers seem to think that it is forbidden to speak to the pianist. Auntie Erda would like to reassure you that not only is it quite all right to speak to your pianist, it’s necessary. Accompanists are not mind readers, and they are not machines! They are your partners and supporters in every performance. There’s really no reason to begin your arias with a battle over tempi, or have an accompanist flub your cadenza when all you have to do is communicate.
Prepare your score with clear markings of cuts, tempi, and cadenzas. Take a moment to review your tempi before you step out on stage (or once you’re there, if it’s an audition and you haven’t had a chance to speak to the pianist ahead of time). Do this even with a pianist who regularly accompanies you. If you’re not sure how to indicate your tempo, take a deep breath and sing the first line very softly to give your pianist an idea of how fast you want to go.
3. Sing to your audience. Apparently, another young singer misconception is that one must avoid looking at the audience at all costs. I have seen singers addressing the wings, addressing the back of the auditorium, addressing the floor, addressing invisible scene partners. It is such a relief when a performer actually includes the audience in the performance, rather than ignoring them! While you don’t want to look directly into an audience member’s eyes or engage them one-on-one, it is absolutely essential to invite the audience into the world you are creating for them. Communicate with them. Look at them. Talk to them. Make the audience your scene partner.
4. Act. Today’s audiences are very demanding. We want it all—beautiful voice, accomplished musicianship, good looks, and dramatic ability. As an audience member or a judge, I don’t have time for boring singers who don’t have a clue what they’re singing about—or don’t know how to show it.
The days of “park and bark” are long gone. Your voice may be kissed by the angels, but it won’t matter if your performance has no flavor. Dramatic technique and vocal technique go hand in hand. You are not ready to sing publicly, especially in a competition or an audition, if you have not fully researched and prepared your character and the scene you are performing.
5. Be gracious, even if you bombed. This really should be one of those things that goes without saying, but I guess we all need to hear the most basic of basics some time. Friends, I don’t care if the stench of your singing sucked all the oxygen out of the room and sent the judges reeling and gasping into the hallway with their ears bleeding. When you are on stage, you behave as if for your next trick, you’re going to walk into the wings and give a voice lesson to Pavarotti. In plainer English, if you sing poorly or make mistakes, don’t show your audience that you know how badly you did! Let them figure it out for themselves. With any luck, most of ‘em won’t. You won’t fool the people who know what they’re listening to, but you will impress them with your professionalism.
As a corollary to this rule, don’t try to second-guess an audition panel! When they’re chatting and passing papers around during your aria, it doesn’t necessarily mean they hate you and are using your audition as a cover to get a head start on ordering lunch. They might be discussing what they could hire you for, or what they’d like to hear next! And even if you do hear someone mutter “tuna on rye,” that’s no excuse not to sing your best. You never know who else might be really listening, let alone what they’re thinking, so don’t shoot yourself in the foot by giving up. You came to sing—so sing, and if no one’s listening … well, it’s their loss. Finish with a flourish, smile, and sweep off the stage. After all, Pavarotti’s waiting.
