Building a Career in Opera from School to Stage: Operapreneurship

CMS Emerging Fields in Music

James Harrington

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780367421519
• eBook ISBN: 9781000077377
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music

Building a Career in Opera from School to Stage: Operapreneurship provides early-career singers with an overview of the structure of the opera industry and tools for strategically approaching a career within it. Today's voice students leave the conservatory with better training than ever, but often face challenges to managing their own careers after graduation. This book addresses what singers need to know in order to craft a career path in the contemporary landscape of opera.

Readers learn about the opera industry's structure, common pathways and entry points, non-academic training programs, researching and evaluating opportunities, crafting professional documents and media, and what it means to be a professional opera singer. Written by a singer with recent experience in the industry—and particularly the emerging phase—this book is a practical guide for all singers embarking on a career in opera.

The author's website, www.OperaCareers.com, hosts additional resources including databases of training programs, guides and templates for creating professional documents, as well as articles addressing current industry issues and interviews with subject matter experts.

Part I

The Industry from 30,000 Feet

1Opera Companies

There are, as of this book’s writing, over 140 total Opera America (OA) Professional Company Members in the United States across five budget levels. There are at least a dozen more I can name off the top of my head that aren’t Opera America professional members, and small companies are cropping up every month, it seems, often with artistic missions that are on the cutting edge of the industry. So it is safe to assume that there are around 200 active opera companies and organizations presenting opera in the United States at a given time, comprising companies with massive budgets and resources (Tier 1—over $15 million/year, including the Metropolitan, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco) and relatively small budgets (Tier 5—below $250K/year), and everything in between.

Terminology

At some point, you will hear people referring to various opera houses in the following ways:

•“Tier 1/2/3/4/5 House”

•“A/B/C/D House”

•“International/Regional/Vanity Company”

Some of these terms have precise meanings, some have meanings that are a little less precise and more colloquial, and at least one of them is derisive, even if it’s descriptive. Let’s look at these different groupings.

Tier 1/2/3/4/5 House

As I mentioned above, these tiers refer to Opera America budget levels (see Table 1.1), and the groupings can be seen on their website. These budget levels, available through their annual public financial reports, are as seen above.

Table 1.1 Opera America Budget Levels

Tier	Budget	# of OA Professional Companies (2020)
1	>$15 million/year	11
2	$3–15 million/year	26
3	$1–3 million/year	25
4	$250K–1 million/year	53
5	<$250K/year	27

Source: Opera America Membership Directory.

A/B/C/D House¹

These designations used to be rooted in Musical America’s budget levels, just as the Opera America tiers above, but now Musical America uses Opera America’s classifications in its searchable directory and these designations, persistent as they are, are officially a vestige of another time. Either way, “A” houses are those with the largest budgets (and are presumed to be those with the most prestige) while “D” houses are those with the smallest (and loosely correspond to Opera America’s Tiers 4 and 5).

International/Regional/Vanity

These are very loose, unspecific groupings that have to do with who gets hired to sing roles at a given house.

“International” houses regularly hire one or more singers from outside the United States in their productions (which usually means they have the resources available to get visas, pay for travel and per diem, etc.). Here in the U.S., the Met, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand, and Santa Fe Opera are examples of international houses. A singer who has an “international” career is someone who regularly sings at this tier of companies and orchestras outside of their home country. (It is not a singer who has given a single recital or sung a role in a training program in a foreign country.)

“Regional” houses are companies that primarily hire singers based in the United States, with principal roles typically sung by out-of-town singers who sing full time and comprimario roles cast locally. These companies are found at every budget tier, except for Tier 1. If a singer is said to have “a great regional career,” it is not derisive: they have probably been singing consistently at some of the best houses in the United States, which is not a small feat.

“Vanity” is a derisive name often used to describe a small opera company whose founder/director regularly casts themselves in productions. I am torn regarding its use—it is no small thing to present opera and trying to do so on a modest budget is difficult. That said, you should still make note of whether a company engages in this practice when you decide whether to audition. Especially if there is an audition fee associated with your application, it’s good to know if you’re a baritone and the person who runs the company is casting himself as Figaro. But personally, I’d prefer that this term fell out of favor soon.

People/Organizational Chart

At some point, you are going to communicate with someone at an opera company directly, whether through an email or a face-to-face meeting or an audition. When that happens, it will be helpful to know how that person fits into the company’s structure. Here are a few of the positions you may encounter:

Artistic Director

The person responsible for the artistic direction of the company. This person has at least some of the casting authority in the company and is likely to be the stage director—or choose the stage director for most or all of the company’s productions.

Musical Director

The person responsible for the musical quality of the company. This person is likely to have some casting authority, and probably has significant input into the hiring of other musical staff (coaches, chorusmasters, choristers, orchestra members, etc.). This person is likely to be or hire the conductor for most or all of the company’s productions.

Executive Director

Primarily a business manager for the company, setting budgets, fundraising goals, hiring artistic and administrative staff. May also have artistic and casting input, especially in the absence of an artistic director. May also be an important fundraiser for the company.

General Director

Usually pairs the Executive function with one or more of the artistic functions, in place of a standalone Executive or Artistic Director. Like the Executive, the General Director may be an important fundraiser for the company.

Director of Artistic Administration (also Artistic Administrator)

Depending on title and size of organization, may have casting authority, and otherwise performs all administrative functions related to casting, including negotiating and writing contracts, booking artist travel and lodging, and sending direct-casting requests to managers. At most companies, this will be the highest-ranking officer most singers deal with until they are in rehearsals.

Education Director/Studio Manager

The most likely first point of contact for a singer coming out of their formal education. Primary duties typically include casting Young Artist Programs (when YAP serves outreach function); choosing, directing, and booking community engagement programming, including runout shows and public concerts; serving as primary point of contact for Young Artists. A Studio Manager may be used in place of an Education Director at companies without a community engagement component to their YAP, or with a separate Education or Outreach ensemble. (See Chapter 6 for more discussion of YAPs.)

In addition to this top-level staff, if hired by a company, you will interact with some combination of:

•music staff (coaches, chorusmaster);

•production staff (Production Director, Production Stage Manager-PSM, Assistant Stage Managers-ASM, Props Master, choreographer, Fight Director, stagehands, Lighting Designer, etc.); and

•costume/wig/makeup staff (Costume Designer, dressers, Wigmaster, wig assistants, Makeup Designer, makeup assistants);

plus the company’s marketing, social media, and possibly development (fundraising) staff.

Though the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and San Francisco Opera loom large in the American consciousness, the United States is home to some 200 opera companies of all sizes, some of which are pursuing repertoire well outside canonical fare. As you come to understand the variations in size, structure, and artistic mission, it is helpful to gain a sense of which companies focus their energies in your own areas of strength. Most singers in the United States are trained as generalists (i.e. in Mozart, bel canto, Romantic, some Baroque and music of “the long 20th century”) but almost everyone has one or more areas of particular strength within their broader aptitudes. If you specialize in certain repertoire, you should spend some time discovering which companies present that repertoire most often and make a note to reach out to the appropriate contact for an audition. In any case, a young singer (like any entrepreneur) benefits greatly from understanding the structure of the business they are entering. But opera companies are just the start of the story; a well-balanced career will see you singing in a variety of venues, some of which we will discuss in the next chapter.

Summary of Key Principles

1The American opera ecosystem comprises almost 200 companies. These companies can be divided by budget level, repertoire, or other characteristics, but above all, the opera industry is not monolithic.

2A company’s budget level has consequences to what sort of opportunities young singers can find there. If your local opera company is an international-tier house and you are not an international-tier artist, you many still find an occasional comprimario opportunity there, but are unlikely to find stable work there. You are also no more likely to be cast in their YAP because you live in town, though you may be able to perform or cover the outreach tour, if they have one.

3Get to know the organizational chart of the opera companies in your area. It is helpful to know who your most productive points of contact will be as you build a relationship there. For young singers, start with the chorusmaster and Educational Director.

Application Questions

1Is there an opera company within ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Information
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Series Editor’s Introduction
• Figures
• Tables
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Part I The Industry from 30,000 Feet
• Part II How a Young Singer Prepares
• Part III The Nuts and Bolts of Booking Work
• Glossary of Terms and Entities
• Index