I remember sitting on the floor of my friend’s apartment at The Standard just around the corner from my classrooms and voice studio at the Peabody Conservatory, pouring over YAPtracker listings and audition requirements, and looking at my aria package and headshots. I was thinking, “this is the year.” This is the year that I finally start to ace those auditions that I’ve been thinking about.
But, it wasn’t.
It wasn’t the year that I started to ace auditions because I still had some major blind spots about who I was as a singer, what I wanted to accomplish, and how the heck I was going to get there. It wasn’t the year because I had no idea how to budget for getting myself on those Acela trains to those NYC auditions much less the application/audition fees required for each one. Once I was finally there, how do I make sure that the panel doesn’t forget about me as a singer once the next girl walks in?
After that year, I knew I needed to get my research and systems together. I needed to figure out what was slipping through the cracks of voice lessons and coachings. I needed to get my audition game face on.
7 Steps to Audition Success
Last night I helped run a webinar with my friend Peter Jacobson of Total Vocal Freedom in which we talked about the “7 Steps to Audition Success.” I could feel the complete physical change in my body while talking about auditions now compared to talking about auditions years ago while sitting on the floor in my friend’s apartment. It’s similar to that feeling that I have when I walk into auditions now: clear, focused, and ready to put my preparation into action.
Avoid the Long Way
When Peter asked me to help with the The 30-Day Audition Success Reboot: How to Perform at Your Best When the Stakes are High, I jumped at the chance. Here are the things that I needed and found out the long way. But, it’s part of my mission here at the Sybaritic Singer to help divas, like you, avoid the long way. Why? Because I devote my life to better musical experiences for everyone involved — performers, presenters, and audiences. I don’t want you to have to go the long way because that will take away from the heights you can reach as an artist and the work that you can do to inspire other people to fall in love with opera again or for the very first time.
Audition Like You Mean It
If you’re ready to confront your audition blind spots, or if you just want to check out the recording of the webinar from last night, feel free to check it out here.
Want to share your audition blind spots and how you overcame them? Please tell me in the comments below. I love reading your stories!
