Behind the scenes
Berlin
Over the past six months, I’ve had the pleasure of auditioning in Germany and Austria for agents, project work, an opera studio, and several full-time roles with opera houses. From singing in a tiny carpeted studio to the mainstage of an opera house, auditions come in all shapes and sizes.
Theater Koblenz will always have a place in my heart as my first audition for a German opera house.
| © Imogen Thirlwall
There are many stories, shared between performers as badges of honour. You might travel ten hours by train to sing for five minutes. A panel of creatives, administrators and colleagues judging your performance will, at best, look bored. At worst, eat an apple loudly. And the inevitable “vielen Dank” – don’t call us, we’ll call you.
Going into auditions, you can never be sure you’ll have time or a space to warm up your voice. Cue: singing into a scarf with this pretty wonderful view.
| © Imogen Thirlwall
Preparation for auditions
Moving halfway across the world and attempting to find work in a highly-saturated, competitive market has been an incredible experience. How do you find jobs to apply for, let alone win auditions?Job advertisements are primarily posted online; various subscription services collate job postings into online platforms, such as “The Opera Stage”. To apply for work, singers submit a CV and cover letter outlining professional experience alongside audio and video recordings. Opera companies will then pre-screen from hundreds of applicants to select who they want to hear for live auditions.
![Performance schedules Performance schedules](/resources/files/jpg705/photo-3_491x213-formatkey-jpg-default.jpg)
![Dialogue excerpt Dialogue excerpt](/resources/files/jpg705/photo-4_491x213-formatkey-jpg-default.jpg)
Behind the scenes
Auditions are a test in your ability to hold your own. You will be thrown into some level of pre-audition chaos. It’s likely you’ll spend three hours sitting on the floor in a hallway with every other soprano called to be heard that day. There will be big personalities, a lot of noise, and often no pre-performance luxuries, such as meeting your pianist in advance, or having a quiet space to warm to up your voice or gather your thoughts.There is a lot about the lead-up to an audition that is very isolating. It is lonely working individually in a practice room on repertoire. It takes extreme resourcefulness to be able to afford precious hours of vocal tuition and fund audition travel costs. I deeply miss the sociability of classroom learning now that I continue my German tuition with a private tutor. All in all, it takes significant individual work to prepare for every audition.
![Meininger Staatstheater Meininger Staatstheater](/resources/files/jpg705/photo-5_737x320-formatkey-jpg-default.jpg)
Going into an audition room is scary; you’re entirely vulnerable. But then you get to sing your guts out. And that’s the best part.