November 30, 2005
Audition mania at Pittsburgh Opera Center
Every year at this time, Pittsburgh Opera Center (the young artist training program for Pittsburgh Opera) is planning for our annual auditions to be held over 2 days in Pittsburgh and over 5 days in New York City. This is affectionately known as 'audition season' in the world of professional singers. All of our current young artists (keeping in mind that 'young' means 'at the threshold of breaking into the big-time') are literally dispersed around the world, singing for auditions in order to score the next big gig. We have a mezzo in Paris, a tenor out West, and the rest in and out of NYC, sleeping in friend's apartments, probably on the floor if they are lucky, or on a couch if they are luckier. It's incredible to imagine such a convergence of talent sleeping on floors somewhere on the Upper West Side at this time of year. THEN they are expected to knock our socks off with a phenomenal audition. When you think about how many things could go wrong, it's amazing that so many get it right.
This year was a bumper crop for applications received in my office, all vying for a very coveted audition slot. Pittsburgh Opera Center has become one of the premier young artist programs in the country. Consequently, the number of exceptional singers applying has exploded over the last few years. To give you some idea of the numbers we face, I compiled these statistics based on this year's application data...over 500 applicants - for possibly 2-3 openings only.
2% of the number of applications I received were from the Bass voice type. We listen to 94% of those applicants.
10% of the number of applications were from the Baritone voice type and we listen to 82% of those applicants.
13% are Tenors and we listen to 81% of them.
20% are Mezzo voices and we listen to 80% of them.
Finally, 55% of the applications were from Sopranos and we still listen to 67% of them.
Needless to say, the competitiveness for all types is great, but GOOD LUCK particularly if you're a Soprano.
As all opera companies with training programs have a finite amount of space, time, and money to listen to auditions (especially in NYC), Pittsburgh Opera is fortunate to be able to offer 75% of our applicants an audition opportunity. That's a pretty decent figure. It does make for long, but interesting days sitting and listening behind the table.
Toi, toi, toi.
This year was a bumper crop for applications received in my office, all vying for a very coveted audition slot. Pittsburgh Opera Center has become one of the premier young artist programs in the country. Consequently, the number of exceptional singers applying has exploded over the last few years. To give you some idea of the numbers we face, I compiled these statistics based on this year's application data...over 500 applicants - for possibly 2-3 openings only.
2% of the number of applications I received were from the Bass voice type. We listen to 94% of those applicants.
10% of the number of applications were from the Baritone voice type and we listen to 82% of those applicants.
13% are Tenors and we listen to 81% of them.
20% are Mezzo voices and we listen to 80% of them.
Finally, 55% of the applications were from Sopranos and we still listen to 67% of them.
Needless to say, the competitiveness for all types is great, but GOOD LUCK particularly if you're a Soprano.
As all opera companies with training programs have a finite amount of space, time, and money to listen to auditions (especially in NYC), Pittsburgh Opera is fortunate to be able to offer 75% of our applicants an audition opportunity. That's a pretty decent figure. It does make for long, but interesting days sitting and listening behind the table.
Toi, toi, toi.
