Vocalist.org archive


From:  John Alexander Blyth <BLYTHE@B...>
John Alexander Blyth <BLYTHE@B...>
Date:  Thu Nov 16, 2000  6:36 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist-temporary] Re: Older students/school advice


Karena,
I am one of those passionate amateurs of which you speak. Perhaps I have
the ideal situation for such a creature: this town has only 40,000 people
so there is not gigantic competition for gigs, if there is a need for a
grown-up baritone I'm almost the only serious option.(Although what I
actually sing tends to be bass and tenor repertoire!)
Here are my opinions and experiences related to this subject:
In a larger centre one would really need connections who not only know
you personally but can place you and your voice is situations where only
credit might acrue. In a place smaller than this one (which also boasts a
fine music school) you would have to be very creative about making
performing opportunities.
Something 'clicked' when I was 39 (I'm now 44), after singing in choirs
for years - and I started to get a lot of (quite local) offers to sing
solos. Caveat: I very rarely get paid to sing. On the other hand I've sung
twice in the last year with orchestras. I've so far not had *any* solo work
outside of this one city in which I live! Ideally I'd like to be available
for oratorio-type work, in a wider area, but I've no idea how to break into
that world.
If you are only 30 or so you probably haven't reached your vocal prime. If
you have a voice that people like to listen to, I believe you could acheive
any vocal goal you set yourself! I recently went to the Met's Ring cycle
and the average age of the singers was about 50. They were very, very good.
I have a day job, which has got more tiring that it used to be, now that I
have two children, but I still manage to do maybe a dozen performances a
year. john

At 05:07 PM 11/16/00 +0000, you wrote:
...
> - I just want to DO MY ART! I want to be performing on
>the highest artistic level I am capable of.
>
>I suppose this fits in with the "be a passionate amateur" scenario. .
>that way, I get to focus on the art instead of having to worry about
>where my next paycheck is coming from or when my next big break is
>going to be. I can just ENJOY myself, heaven forbid. And I'll make
>some extra money on the side.
>
>This has been really interesting. . everyone's input has started to
>clarify things for me a lot.
>
>Thanks,
>Karena (with a K)
...
John Blyth
Baritono robusto e lirico
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada

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