Audition Strategies for Singers

Another wonderful discovery this week was Boston Singers Resource, which contains an enormous amount of information both at the free and subscriber level. One of the articles on the site is Audition Strategies for Singers, a list of general audition guidelines compiled by Beth McLeod of Opera by the Bay, Scott Brummit of Longwood Opera, and BSR director Lynn Shane.

A few highlights of the list:

* DO NOT give a pianist unbound single pages.
* DO NOT give your pianist music that is wrapped in clear, shiny plastic. It often creates a glare from lighting.
* If repertoire is your choice, DO research the company and the upcoming works that you are auditioning for.

About that last one--when playing auditions for a certain company in Toronto a few months ago I was shocked at just how few people in two full days of auditions actually bothered to research the company and what they do. This is extremely important for smaller niche companies that have a specific mandate.