On the question whether one should or shouldn't lie about one's age Mezzoid (Chris Thomas??) wrote: "Instead of passing judgment on her personally, let's open dialogue about age limits and need-based awards rather than age-delineated awards." and "Good people think about things that aren't right; it's a question of acting on them or talking them out. I like to think that's what this forum is for - talking things out."
I couldn't agree more. I think everybody on this list knows that everything we write can be read by a future employer. It would not make sense to expect from anybody to make statements that could ruin their career in no time. So instead of discussing whether we would have no problems in cheating about our age, let's talk about the sense of it all. As a very inexperienced singer, I haven't had many opportunities to cheat yet, but that may come. Earlier this year I wanted to audition for a program at Notre Dame (Paris). The age limit was not a problem for me, I was still "acceptable" with 30 years, but I was tempted to lie about my repertoire. As I have never sung classical music as a soloist, some friends told me to "make up" some concerts and recitals in order to "enhance" my curriculum vitae. I decided not to lie about it, but included a list of arias and songs which I precised I had only worked on with my teachers but not sung in public. To my great surprise, they actually wanted to hear me, so at least I was able to audition (even though it turned out that I didn't qualify for their program, for whatever reason). I have to confess that it took me a long time to make up my mind about the cheating issue, but I was glad that I didn't lie about my repertoire. I am conscious however that this was perhaps not the most important audition of my life and that I might have had more trouble making a decision in different circumstances (like financial pressure). I met many singers who told me to have cheated about their age on the grounds that "everybody does it". Apparently, we have the same problems in France as the American listers... Thoughtful on a monday morning Jan - baritono poco robusto
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