Here's a spin-off question about the "big"
apprenticeship programs (of which the Met is one).
The others are Merola in San Francisco, Houston's
apprentice program, and Chicago's. Merola is a summer
program but the next-tier Adler Fellowship is a year,
so I am counting them as generally equal in length and
intensity. In each year-long, highly prestigious
program, the apprentice receives coachings, training,
small parts in mainstage productions (and often large
parts in B casts or less-popular operas), and the
exposure or "boost" to start a successful career.
Are the programs mututally exclusive? I have only
seen one Merola participant who had already gone
through one of the others, the Houston program (she
was Joyce DiDonato). Opera News had an article on the
Houston program which basically said that anyone who
comes out of their apprenticeship is ready for an
international career (implying that one needs no other
"finishing" after them). The Met has the reputation
for taking on the "natural" talent (usually quite
young, stunning voices), and giving them training and
exposure (but are they thus rocketed to stardom? no; I
would guess that's because they're too young and
unformed). I don't know what much about Chicago, but
that it's prestigious.
Are there many singers who do more than one
apprenticeship, or is it more a "pick your favorite"
and have your career launched from there? Should you
enter a program like those after you are polished and
ready for an international career, or when you are
(probably in your mid-twenties) still learning and
growing? It seems like you would benefit career-wise
from the first approach, but training-wise from the
second.
What is the best path to take to an international
career? By that, I mean... well... the path to
stardom, I guess. What do I mean by "international
career" (and I suppose this also means, "what kind of
career do I want")? Being a working singer who is
offered more contracts than she has time to accept;
singing big roles in big houses; having a name which
is recognized by the majority of opera-lovers. There,
that's my definition.
So what's the best way to get it? Wait until you're
perfect and then using a big apprenticeship program to
"get launched," or going through the ranks and gaining
skills from these programs, then working to launch
yourself after you're through them?
Isabelle B.
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Isabelle Bracamonte
San Francisco, CA
ibracamonte@y...
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