Important read for potential Vocal Performance/Opera students and families

College Majors Music Major
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If you have a child (especially a daughter), or are yourself interested in degrees and a career in Classical Vocal Performance/Opera, I think the following two articles are so important. They are a sobering take on the finances of being educated and working as a singer (especially as a woman). Don’t despair, but do be informed!

http://www.theempoweredmusician.com/new-blog/2017/10/4/supply-and-demand-gender-disparity-in-opera-part-1

http://www.theempoweredmusician.com/new-blog/2017/11/2/opportunity-versus-debt-gender-disparity-in-opera-part-2

I am hoping CC will allow me to post the links. I did try to email for help but received no response. If not, search theempoweredmusician (dot com) and look at the Gender Disparity articles from 10/4/2017 and 11/2/2017.

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Well…can’t disagree with any of that! Here are some comments/observations for people looking at VP.

1.) I didn’t know all this when my D was applying to college. But I did know that a “performance career” was NOT going to be high pay. Therefore money was a big factor in our school list. So LIMIT debt!

2.) Determine what you are willing to pay for a “bachelor’s degree” or equivalent and hold to that…bc March can bring a lot of emotions. We knew a performance degree had some risk but so does a history degree. Nevertheless, she would have a bachelor’s degree from a well-known school. We felt that she would be “employable” regardless of major.

3.) The comment on “no one knows how an 18 year old will grow” is very true. We did pick a school that would allow our D to change majors. As a classical vocalist she had only been studying “seriously” for 3 years. Who knew how she’d do in college? We wanted her to know she could change majors if necessary.

4.) IMHO UG is still different from grad programs. In UG, I do think the field was more even (but I could be wrong). My D’s school had the same amt of boys and girls entering VP (10 each); and from evening discussions amongst students enhanced by “jungle juice”, lips were loosened and scholarships seemed pretty similar.

5.) Understanding the game and pulling the plug. For my D, it was in summer programs that she started to see how the game was played. And at IU, she watched and learned how the grad students were treated. There were grad stars at IU (many 25+ and/or foreign) with guaranteed roles, successful students with a big role a year and the rest (small roles or none). There is also some big name faculty players; and they will fight for their students to get roles. So yea…it can get political (but UG is not often involved in this). All of this “stuff” informed my D on grad studies. She thought seriously about stopping…as she was unsure if she could really get to the top echleon where you get a lot. She threw a wide net for grad schools (not always common) and in the end stepped down to a less selective grad programs…bc that’s where she got a lot (promises on roles etc) and nearly tuition free. She felt lucky she got that deal (they were desperate for mezzos). She was accepted at big names but with only one good offer, the others were ho-hum. She was pretty sure that she would not be getting opportunities at those schools. She was a realist. She also could have waited to get older…but she didn’t want to at that time.

6.) Now she is out of school and I’m happy to say…she just got her first offer for a YAP program residency (4 mo short program)! I imagine the opera company personnel sitting around the table trying to figure out the ABSOLUTE LEAST amt of money they can pay and still entice 4 young singers to come to their program. Yea…I knew it would be low…and it is! This brings us back to point 1 - limit debt! My D can do the program bc she has no debt, lives pretty frugally…and is still on my health insurance and phone bill! She will also have a GAP in pay for a few weeks as she leaves her theater job…so a little nest egg from her grandparents will help there. Luckily she has a gig when she gets back. I’m trying not to assist…until inevitably I have to…but pay gaps…yep I see those in the future.

I hope this helps in some way.

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@bridgenail big congratulations on your daughter’s YAP!!! I know from reading many of your comments over time that your family is aware of the difficulties of the field and has made careful choices. But many newcomers may not be fully aware of the realities! The two biggest “surprises”for me in the articles were 1) those percentages of males vs. females, both within school programs and in Operas themselves. And 2) the RIDICULOUS debt numbers (seriously, just shocking)! With debt like that there is NO WAY a young singer could accept a contract with YAP; I just can’t see how.

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Thanks @dramasopranomom. I’m surprised at the numbers too. I don’t know any college programs that don’t balance females and males. Sure a few more girls may accept making a program 12 F and 10 M. But if my D were auditioning now I guess I would ask programs just to be sure. Boys do have it easier however bc there is less competition to be accepted and more roles once accepted. Still…it’s a tough road for all. Also not all kids graduating try for YAP programs and then the opera stage. While money is an issue, significant others seem to be another big issue. Many of my D’s friends (all finished grad school) are starting to marry. Many are choosing to perform in the city and not try for residencies. They are no longer willing to move. A friend of my D’s in grad school in NYC told her he found his home and has no intention of leaving the city and would not do YAPs. Still these kids do perform in their area but it is not their sole source of income. Many seem happy … as happy as my D’s liberal art major friends that are making their way in the world. I guess my point is: if you look at it black and white or opera star or fail, you will probably fail. If you look at it like a liberal arts degree (a launching pad into adulthood) and you are willing to work hard and hustle for opportunities and see where it takes you, you’ll probably do just fine. This type of path is not for all. But I have a liberal arts degree so I’m not bothered by it.

And yes the money. I hope I don’t know anyone who did that. I think some times articles troll for the most eye popping amts. But the truth is…any debt will be difficult to pay back. So be careful.

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Very informative posts! Thank you! College is such an important developmental time I would hate my kiddo to think it is all or none with music. My wish for my daughter is to mature into a decent, kind adult (preferably capable of paying her own bills, in time). My hope is that a vocal performance degree is the grease for that process. If it later pays the bills, great. If not, she can join the rest of us. I work in a mental health office and one of our therapists majored in voice. So, like a liberal arts degree, I think music study can prepare a person for many jobs. Side note, when she was in her chamber choir in HS, she would sometimes sing with the tenors. Just not enough boys.

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I posted this about 6 weeks ago:
http://www.wqxr.org/story/her-music-crusading-composers-present-past/

Please scroll down to the graph on female faculty in composition in 2015, which shows a shocking gender disparity in the field of composition.

The articles bridgenail posted are important reads. There are the points I absorbed:

-Undergrad studies can be for exploration and can result in a continued music path or in other careers, just like any other liberal arts major
-Debt for grad studies, if undertaken,s should be avoided as much as possible
-The dream career may turn into a practical mix of vocal performance and other job, with smaller roles, alternate venues, newer works and so on

Despite the fact that one of the articles says female composers are not writing operas that have any better gender parity, I think that more gender parity in the composition world will help the issue with opera/vocal performance improve tremendously. One of my kids is a “female composer” (who ever says “male composer”?) and attended a summer program last summer where she was one of 2 females in a group of 30 composers. One attendee asked whose wife she was. In the US there are schools where faculty and student body does indeed reflect some equality in numbers and opportunities so it is getting better, but slowly.

The other interesting point that almost never comes up on this forum is the opportunities presented by contemporary classical aka “new music.” There are grad programs (a few in the US and more in Europe) that tend toward more avant-garde work for vocalists. This is a niche with some exciting opportunities. Also a niche where gender parity is valued in all fields within music, mostly because it lacks the historical baggage.

I think that looking at programs that offer funding can be a priority. I am not informed enough about VP to know if students can jump from bachelor’s to doctoral or to a non-terminal master’s with funding. Or if lesser known schools offer funding to those with talent. Maybe someone can tell me if VP is a field where funding is less available-?

The idea of smaller, more selective programs to address the problems outlined in these articles is a good one in theory
but I suspect the reality is that expensive master’s programs fund the doctoral students, and in general, music schools and departments need a certain number of students to fund the few who are certain to “make it.”

Finally, performers and composers alike have always considered the prize at the end of the rainbow to be orchestral or large operas, big time performances that pay well if you can get them. But music has changed. Musicians are becoming more entrepreneurial and there is a lot of solo or ensemble work out there too. Amazon has a few good books on guidance for music careers that are well worth looking at.

Here’s hoping that all the young artists who are on this board, or whose parents are on this board, find their way! And that their years in school, at whatever level, are indeed “magical” as one quote in the article put it- even regardless of outcome.

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@bridgenail yes, yes, and yes, regarding marriage and lifestyle issues as relates to young Opera singers. And I totally agree with the perspective that the Undergraduate liberal arts degree in VP is a very usable degree and “worth it” even though of course, most singers won’t end up as Opera Singers (and the article addresses this). I think it is usual business for programs not to balance males/females; my D’s class of 16 consists of 5 or 6 males/10 or 11 females. Honestly, to do so, I think colleges would have to say no to talented young women with potential and say yes to some young men who are really not at the same level (there are so many fewer males studying classical voice at a top level). Did your D enter an MT style program at IU? These programs are known for disciplined balance… and @compmom one or the other of the articles address leadership and composition and how more women in these fields will make a difference for the future! So we can all have hope. One take away is today’s artists need to acquire business and entrepreneurship skills, and generally be scrappy.

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My D was in VP. I still think it was fairly balanced…but IU has big time sports and I know that attracted some guys. So maybe a bigger pool to chose from? And I would never say the boys were behind the girls there. There were some excellent male singers…so no guys should think it would be a walk in the park there. My opinion is the good males that get hired are just as talented as the females at the top level. However fewer good male singers are overlooked compared to females. More good females will end up on the side lines. Well that’s my opinion…for what it’s worth.

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Great read if for no other reason than the impact of debt on future choices.
I have a son, junior in HS who is considering voice performance. Even now, in our small world, it’s much harder for girls. It’s all numbers. His high school has one men’s chorale and two levels for women–bigger ensembles too, along with the concert choir. The local theatres are looking everywhere for boys. Far fewer men than women audition for the same number of slots in all-state honor choirs.
It makes the odds, numberswise, look good for our son, but he will still need talent, strong skills, no debt, perseverance, a little bit of luck, and time to make it all work. That’s daunting.

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dramasopranomom I love your word, “scrappy”!

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Oof. Thanks for posting this.