Postponed

I hated to do it, but I had to cancel my audition. Yesterday my cold finally hit my voice, and I have about an octave range with zero power. Not exactly the voice I want to present to the Higher-Ups at the Met! So, I cancelled. Or rather, rescheduled. And, in fact, I didn’t have to do it.

I’m still not at the place where I can reveal names or agencies, but I have some help now. I’m now in an unofficial trial period with a manager and his team, and they have been very helpful on this trip. I sang one audition that they arranged (Nevada Opera; it went well) and was able to call on them for help when I needed to cancel with the Met. I emailed them to let them know that the first round went well enough that they wanted to hear me again. They responded by saying, “Great news, we have a good relationship with the company, keep us posted.” Heartening! I asked at the Nevada audition if a representative would be willing to come with me for the second Met audition, and they said of course. But yesterday, as my voice failed to get stronger, I had to ask for their help in canceling.

They made the call, gave my apologies, and were able to reschedule immediately for January. For better or worse, having an agency act in my stead likely gives me a level of authenticity with a company like the Met. Sure, they understand that I’m a young artist just getting established and so I may not have management, but, if I do, all the better. Besides, they are more used to working with managers than dealing directly with singers and all their foibles! The rep also tried to deduce what, if anything, they might be hearing me for. From what she could tell, though, it is truly a general audition, most likely for small parts (“one-liners”) or covers. Hey, fine with me!

Speaking of covers, there was a fantastic article in the NYTimes about opera covers. It is insightful, and may help explain what exactly I’d be up for if I was a cover at the Met. Or at any company, for that matter. While I certainly don’t want to make a career out of covering, it can be a great way to get my foot in the door. As with anything, what happens after that is up to me.

I also had to cancel my Seattle YAP callback, scheduled for today. Again, better to cancel than to sing sick, and hopefully I (or my quasi-manager) can arrange to sing for them back on our home turf. But all in all, this audition trip turned out to be very successful, encouraging, and worth the trip. Even if only for the pants!