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Opera
I've always loved to sing, but have only this year been in choir at my school( It's only offered in high school). I am a soprano, and I'd like to think that I'm a good singer. I recently fell in love with the Phantom of the Opera and opera music. And yesterday I was hit with the notion of becoming an opera singer now, or when I'm older. I'm fifteen years old, and have a pretty mature sounding voice. Any ideas of how I could fufill this dream?
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Maybe give some free advice about: Music?
First, I would suggest taking voice lessons if it's financially possible. The voice coach will work with you to bring your voice to its maximum potential. Try asking your choir director or checking your phone book to find one.
Second, keep singing. It sounds trite, but practice makes perfect. By continually singing, you're training your voice.
Third, go to the opera and listen to operas whenever possible. By exposing yourself to opera, you're teaching yourself as well.
Fourth, try to find musical acting groups in your area. Audition for parts if you feel comfortable. It's great experience.
Last, do some research or speak to your guidance counselor about schools that offer music programs. I think one of the earlier posters gave a list.
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Heh. That sounds familiar. You need the following:
*Connections
*A degree
*incredible ability
*dedication
*power
*control
*...a lot more
First let me say about the colleges I noticed listed below, Juliard is great for dance and instrumental music (I know a dancer who went there, and my third flute teacher went there), but not for voice, and DEFINITELY not for undergrad. University of Michigan is a lot better for education than it is for performance.
You want a vocal performance degree. That's what I'm doing - I'm a vocal performance major at Oakland University (Michigan).
La Traviata is a good opera. If you get the chance, go see La Boheme (If you know the musical Rent, that's the opera the musical's based on). Also, see Il Barbiere di Seviglia (I think I spelled that right, but in English it's just The Barber of Seville). Rossini. Funny. Mozart continued that with Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro). Even if you're not into opera, you'd probably like these.
Anyway, a voice performance degree requires a lot of patience and the will to work. A LOT. I like to think I'm good for my age, but I still don't practice nearly as much as I should, and I know it.
I'm not trying to discourage you by any means. Opera is a great thing. When I sing anything now (classical), I feel like I'm using my entire body to produce the sound my voice teacher wants. I feel like I'm singing from my toes, lol. Operas are long - that's a lot of power to keep steady for that long.
I'm glad you have other things you'd like to do.
I don't! (We'll see where that gets me, right?)
Music is never a bad idea. I say pursue it, if you like, in college. Get a degree in vocal performance if you have the stamina/endurance/ability. If it turns out that it's not what you want to do, change your major. You have loooooots of options, but definitely go for that if it's what you want to do. College.
College is the answer. You need training above all to be an opera singer. You want to go where one or more of the teachers has experience training opera singers. Look for that before you look at the name of a school.
UofM sounds good, but if the teachers suck (no offense to anyone who goes there), then it's bad.
Good luck!
-Siren =)
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Becoming an opera singer isn't just strutting to the Opera House and telling the director, "Hey, I have a pretty good voice. I'm only 15 years old, but do you think I can star in your next production?" It's more than having a mature sounding voice. You have to have amazing acting abilities, great sight-reading skills (Opera is extremely hard to sight-sing), and you have to have opera technique. When I say "opera technique" I mean mastering the full sound (which isn't just having a mature voice), learning to increase volume to the point where it will carry through the opera house, the kinds of runs that are typical in operas, and I'm not even going to list the rest.
Voice lessons are a must. Experience and knowlege are a must. Most opera singers started their basic training at 7 years old at the most. If you haven't been singing very long, the chances are that regardless of the maturity, your voice isn't as developed as someone who has been singing long, and you better get voice lessons quickly and join a more serious choir than your school choir. I'm not insulting your school choir, but school choirs generally aren't as directed as improving you as a singer as much as making the school more well rounded (a balance of academics, visual arts, sports, drama, instrumental music, vocal music). Also, since most of the students don't have much experience singing, the repertoire isn't going to be all that great. Join a local choir with more advanced material and trains you personally.
You are only 15. There are some 15-year-olds with a mature voice, but trust me, it's definitely not as mature as a 30-year-old. They wouldn't accept you now because there are almost no roles for a 15-year-old age-wise. Your voice is most likely mature for a 15-year-old, but honestly, it won't compare to a 30 year old. Just to show you, I have enclosed clips from the soundtrack "Madame Butterfly." Listen to the Butterfly and see if your voice can match the maturity of hers:
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
Also, it takes a lot of luck. When you're a professional opera singer, you might never get a job. And most opera singers aren't paid much, unless you are Renee Fleming. The average opera singer/actor gets paid $15,000 a year. I saw that talentrock.com thing that one user below posted, and those kids who made it big? Those are the lucky ones. Just because you go to that camp doesn't mean that you will make it big. And even the people that make it big still get repeated rejection. I heard that recently Orlando Bloom has had some trouble getting roles lately after his awful performance in Kingdom of Heaven...
You have to join the Union in order to get insurance, but to be in the Union means that there are a lot of great operas they won't let you perform. I heard about this girl who studied opera. She had a magnificent voice, acting talents, everything that any director would want to hire, but she was unlucky enough to not get any good roles, so she ended up working at an opera company in COLOMBIA, a country/state run by DRUG LORDS.
I hope this was helpful in some way. If you want to talk, my AIM is InsaneSoprano79
PS. I love PotO! But PotO isn't quite considered a dramatic opera. The only real dramatic operas were written up to the early 20th century, such as "The Magic Flute," "Madame Butterfly," "Otello," "Tristan und Isolde," etc. Most modern operas like PotO are considered musicals.
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well you can start out by getting lessons and i would recommend getting invloved in some sort of musical theater and go from there. most highschools have school musicals and some performing arts places have musicals as well
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Join a church choir, and if you really think youre up to it, find some places, like cafes and such to perform at. Good luck!
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