WHAT CAN I DO IF I CAN'T GET ANYONE TO HIRE ME?

 

This is the topic of one of my classes in my workshop on the Business of Singing. It's something nobody is taught in school, and it's something everyone needs to know, because we ALL go through dry periods. Unfortunately, there are no magic formulas, no quick fix. But there are some things you can do.

 

NYC is NOT the best place to start out for every singer. Some people thrive in that atmosphere; but others would do better in a smaller town where they can be a bigger fish. Of course, small towns have their share of difficulties, too: fewer local opportunities; sometimes a more insular, harder-to-break-into music community; and that stigma of the provinces, which is often really unfair. Only you can decide where you'll bloom.

 

I think a lot of young singers would do better to stay in a smaller community, or even just a non-NY community, and try to get established there first. Chicago is a terrific place to live and has a lot of opportunities not only in town, but within a couple hundred miles' radius. The Bay Area is another wonderful place to live, and there are opportunities there as well. Heck, I live in Texas, and we have opera companies of various sizes in Houston, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Austin, El Paso, Amarillo, San Antonio, and even Waco! And that's not counting the symphonies, choral organizations, concert series, festivals, and small venues. I think that unless you're in the absolute middle of nowhere, you can probably find some musical life.

 

If you aren't getting hired at the level you want to be, there are several things you can do.

 

1. Examine yourself. Are you really performing at the level you think you are? Is your technique as good as you think it is? Is your package really together? Take inventory. What can you do to improve?

 

2. Look at the competition. What do they look and sound like? What do they have that you don't? This requires some very brutal honesty. There is no room for ego in this exercise.

 

3. If you can't get hired at the level you want, get hired at the level you can. If you can't get into a young artists' program but you can be a soloist in the local community chorus' annual Messiah, do it and add a useful experience to your resume. Then do another one. And another.

 

4. Outline your goals and take 'em one step at a time. In fact, outline the steps you need to take to achieve each goal. Breaking a project down into tiny steps makes it less overwhelming, and clarifies your path.

 

What if you do all this and still can't get hired? Then, in addition to a whole lot of brutally honest self-evaluation, and possibly taking a new direction in your training or your goals, you are going to have to create work for yourself. Find churches that will sponsor you for a concert, get friends together and work up an opera to take around to nursing homes, form a carolling group. Get creative. Build on each experience. Then get out there and try again.