The Path of a Typical Professional Opera Singer

Before we get into our next blog episode, I’d like to thank Jack Swanson for his time and expertise in helping me update this copy. Especially on Stage 5, the Maintaining Stage. “Thank you, Jack!”

Carol Kirkpatrick created this list over twenty years ago. She had a couple of things in mind when she did. One was to give aspiring singers a visual context of a career path as an opera singer. And two, to illustrate the importance of your relationships as you walk that path.

While much has changed about this business, the basic stages of a singer's career have, for the most part, remained the same. However, the work necessary to advance through these stages has become more sophisticated and critical. Today, there are many more singers vying for far fewer opportunities. That said, nearly all opera singers will follow some version of these six stages in their career path.

As in many demanding professional careers, not everyone who begins this journey completes every stage. Many choose to leave this path for various reasons along the way. (On pages 247 -254 in Ariaready: The Busines of Singing, Carol goes in-depth on this important decision. And, no surprise, it’s more about the how than the decision itself.)

The career of a professional opera singer typically involves some version of these six stages. Remember, each stage is pivotal to your development and success.

These are the “What Happens Next” steps most singers take! Each stage offers valuable and essential learning that will assist you during the “Bridge” stages, your transition periods that occur as you progress to the next stage.

It will also inform you how your behavior might need to be adjusted in this new career identity stage as you move along your “Career Arc” from mentee to mentor.

1. Training Stage: This stage encompasses years of rigorous vocal training, often starting in childhood or adolescence and continuing through college or conservatory programs. Training includes vocal technique, language study (especially Italian, French, and German), acting, stage movement, and musical interpretation.

Bridge Stage

2. Young Artist/Ensemble Stage: After completing formal training, many opera singers enter young artist programs or ensemble contracts with opera companies. These programs provide valuable performance opportunities, coaching, and exposure to the professional opera world while singers continue to refine their skills and build their resumes.

Bridge Stage

3. Emerging Artist Stage: As you gain experience and recognition, you transition into the emerging artist phase. This period involves performing supporting roles or covering leading roles with regional opera companies or smaller productions, gaining exposure to a broader audience and industry professionals.

Bridge Stage

4. Principal Artist Stage: This is the pinnacle of an opera singer's career, characterized by engagements as principal performers in leading roles with major opera companies and on prestigious stages worldwide. Principal artists typically have established reputations, extensive repertoires, and the ability to command large audiences.

Bridge Stage

5. Maintaining Stage: Throughout their careers, opera singers must focus on maintaining vocal health, artistic growth, and relevance in a competitive industry. This stage is, in fact, quite challenging because the “maintaining” stage actually requires you to constantly improve while simultaneously navigating a schedule that is very busy and rarely affords time for dedicated study. You must continue to polish and refine your product, secure your success by being prepared, and recognize that your understanding continues to improve with each new experience, provided you stay present, flexible, and curious.
   
   This stage is not a time for the "status quo"; instead, it is an ongoing process that requires consistent effort to build on what you have started, even if you have limited time for focused study. And yes, it still involves vocal coaching, physical conditioning, and careful repertoire selection to sustain longevity and versatility as a performer.

Bridge Stage

6. Legacy Stage: As singers approach the later stages of their careers, they may transition into mentoring roles, teaching positions, or directing opera productions, passing on their knowledge and experience to the next generation of artists. This allows them to leave a lasting legacy and contribute to the ongoing vitality of the art form.

These “Milestone Steps” represent the typical journey of a professional opera singer, from your early training to the peak of your artistic achievement and beyond, building both personal growth and a contribution to the opera community.

This matrix only shows the likely “What” path of a career. Knowing where you are and where you might expect to be as your career continues to grow helps you to stay focused. However, it rarely informs or shows the “How” necessary to prepare for that next stage.

You’ll want to create relationships that support you from below (the stage you are currently in) as well as ones that reach down (from the stage you aspire to) to help you from above. And I haven’t even mentioned all the relationships you will need to develop from adjacent fields or even those outside the world of singing.

Creating or getting an opportunity to “step up” is of little value if you’re not prepared to be there.

This is where the AriaReady process comes into play. Much of your learning, practice, and honing comes during the stage you’re currently in. But it’s during these “Bridge Stages” where your work proves its worth!

Owning these tools and skills shows you are ready, prepared, and confident. It shows others and yourself that you belong there!

"Avanti!"

David