Claiming Control of Career

I have been fortunate to have well-meaning people and teachers around me.  Even though one of my teachers was considered by many to be very controlling, I met him when I was already beginning my career.  He did give great advice, and I was loyal to a fault.  I was fortunate that when I met him I was not always in New York; I was already a traveling artist.   However, we had a fruitful relationship for almost the first 15 years of my career. 

 

My first teacher was in Seattle where I was raised.  He had performed over 10 years in Europe and knew the importance of European training. He pushed me to the Lyric Opera of Chicago (another of his students had preceded me by one year to the Lyric), and then I found a manager BEFORE I moved to New York City to continue coaching and private study.

 

I now live in Hong Kong and see so many young professionals who are being sucked into following local teachers for years, or for wrong reasons.  I know that respect is very important in Chinese culture, but I see this respect being carried to such extremes that students get stuck with teachers far too long.  I also see singers gravitate to teachers who can help them locally, but don’t have the international skills (although the teachers will pompously tell the students otherwise) to bring them to where they need to be to get out of Hong Kong.   

 

A young singer must claim their freedom and have a balanced relationship with their teacher.   If a teacher is not working in the best interest of the students, not helping them to truly progress, then the student must be strong enough to move on to the best TEACHER and MENTOR.  A young singer must make plans, spend extended periods in a foreign environment, with a teacher who is truly international, or they do not progress as they should. 

 

I recently attended a small production of a main stream opera.  I was only positively surprised by two of the 9 young professionals that I heard.  The rest had the same issues and hindrances they showed while studying their undergraduate degrees.   If a young singer truly wants to progress, they must fight, struggle, and put in the time necessary to truly grow.   One of the challenges in Hong Kong is that young singers must make a living, hence they must teach.  However, the after hours dedication needed to progress if staying local is obviously not happening for the majority of the young singers. 

 

Put in the time, the effort, the pain, the struggle on your languages, style, technique, or you will always be grasping for roles.  Be truly prepared for every rehearsal, every production, then you will never look back with regrets.