I’m 29, a soprano with a BA in music and a passion for early music and Baroque opera. Long story short, a series of unfortunate events happened that derailed my pursuit of a graduate degree in early music, and I ended up giving in to the pressure from my family to go back to school for “something practical” instead and became a physiotherapist. Hated it, quit and started an online business, and I’m at the point where I’m financially stable and can afford to think about things beyond basic survival.
As soon as my business became profitable enough that I could quit my day job, I started taking lessons from an early-music specialist who teaches at my first-choice school and studying theory/ear training/diction and French every day, joined the collegium at my undergrad last semester, and applied and was accepted to a Baroque music festival/workshop for this summer. I KNOW the odds are against me - being almost 30, being a soprano, having a massive resume gap - but I still really want to study historical performance/early music at the graduate level.
I know this is primarily a forum for traditional undergrads and their parents but it can’t hurt to ask - is there anyone else here who successfully got into grad school after taking 5+ years out of music, or returned to music from another career? Or do you know anyone who has done this? What can I do to make myself more competitive? I would really appreciate any advice, thoughts, opinions, experiences, etc.
You’re already studying it- you’re taking lessons and everything else- so why is it that you want the MM degree? Can you get work in your field without it? The Early Music scene in the US is heavily concentrated in Boston and is more about “who you know” than regular VP. It’s hard to make $$ in the field unless you’re a tenor- there are more women than the field can support, but it sounds like your doing what you need to and “getting the masters without the masters”. A BA in undergrad didn’t give you as much as you would have had as a BM, so you may have quite a few deficiencies to make up should you go ahead.
List what you’re doing/taking on your resume under training and get out there and perform!
Thanks for replying! My desire for a masters (or grad performance certificate) is because as you said - the early music scene is all about connections, even more so than “mainstream” opera, and it seems like doing a grad degree could help me to develop more of a network. And because when I look at singers’ bios for ensembles/companies I would like to audition for, literally everyone has an MM - even for chorus - so I am afraid I wouldn’t be competitive or invited for auditions or taken seriously without it, even if I am up to par vocally.
While I do not know anyone who went to graduate school after 5+ years away from music or returned to music from another career or know anything about studying early music as a MM concentration (I am currently in a MM program for Music History and Literature that is part of a coordinated MLIS/MM program), one thing that could help is emphasizing your passion for early music in your statement of purpose (or reason statement, as it is called at my school). Also, I totally believe in you and cannot wait to hear where your journey goes!
I know a couple of much older grad or doctoral students. Granted not in voice but you are not that old! Go for it! That said ( and I don’t know that much about VP) I recently had lunch with an early music vocalist who also said she tells people to get out there and sing versus school. I have no idea but these days school really does provide resources, provided it is funded.
Thank you @compmom for the encouragement and for taking the time to reply and share your thoughts. 