Here are a few important things I discovered in my own creative process of becoming the artist I am:
– Your teachers, coaches and agents should serve you to become the best version of yourself.
They are „employees“ of the „singing business“ that is you. They get paid by the money you earn with your singing. So they should be interested in your best, make you feel secure and supported and listen to your command and wishes. Not the other way round.
– When you are out there on stage you create art with your presence and your voice. People are free to like or not like it or even to criticize it.
And you are free to not give a damn about their opinion. You will never please every one. This is a rule of life. No one pleases every one. No performance makes everyone happy. We are a diverse society and it is important to find out that YOU are the only person who can truly judge yourself.
Have you done your best? Have you accomplished what you wanted? Did you feel good while performing? If not, what do you want to work on for the next time?
Answer these questions for yourself before you listen or read the oppinios of others. And then stay true to yourself!
– Productivity is the key. The more you sing and perform the better you become. Repetition is the most effective way to gain security. So I always encourage everyone without a contract at the moment: Organize your own performances. Sing what you want in a concert you set up for yourself. You don´t know how? I do.
Instead of waiting for a chance create one. And find fellow musicians with similar intentions.
– Sing the rep you feel drawn too. There is a reason you feel like that. Even if you´re told you can´t or shouldn´t sing it. Maybe it´s not the rep you´ll end up with singing it over and over again. But if you feel drawn to a certain role or aria, you defenitely have to learn something from it.
-Make peace with the past: Bad teachers? Wrong Fach? Bad critics? Failed auditions? Any kind of bad experiences?
It is over. Start new in the now. The past doesn´t matter anymore. Art is creating and then leaving the creation behind to create something new. Once you have sung the note you can´t change it. It sounds like it sounds. If you don´t like it – Sing the next one better!
-You are only singing. If you make a mistake you don´t hurt anyone. This is a very peaceful thought I like to repeat to myself before debuting something new. You are not a heart surgeon whose mistake might cost anyones life. So chill out, and make music with a light heart. Worse thing that can happen is that someone doesn´t like your performance. And this will happen in any case as we already learned that no one pleases everyone. You are entertainment, beauty and art. These three things can´t survive under pressure. So fxxck perfectionism breath and sing with pleasure!
These are a few examples I would like to plant in every opera singers brain. But there are so much more.
Book a trial with me to find out.