A chance comment by my Osteopath last week got me thinking. He was “cracking” my back and as the pain disappeared I said how great it was and how I wished I could do the same. He said, “Give me £40,000 and 4 years and I will teach you." As I thought about it, I realised that £40,000 was probably less than it has cost me to become a professional singer. I spent six years at Music College and have been studying privately since graduating. So far I would reckon that I have spent over £50,000 on my training.
So what might I have spent it on?
I studied for two years at Napier College in Edinburgh and four years at the Guildhall School of Music in London. Fees (which I was lucky to have paid for me by the Government – but that’s another argument) of £4,000 per year, accomodation at £200 a month for four years, food, travel, music and textbooks. I have also taken various courses at the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh and at Dartington International Summer School.
What has that training given me?
I’m told that I have a solid technique. I sing in eight languages and I know what repertoire suits me. I have a very large repertoire of Opera, Operetta, Oratorio, French Song, German Lied, Italian Song, Russian Song, Spanish Song and Jazz Standards.
I am still making a living from singing having been out of Guildhall for 12 years, although I would say that I’m still being paid more or less the same fees that I was being paid when I left college.
This is the part that is worrying. Every other job I know gets a wage rise every year but singers and instrumentalists are on the lowest wages and some are even working for less than the minimum wage. Why is that? Is it because the average person in this country doesn’t realise what goes in to becoming a professional musician or do they think that we all have day jobs?
If I had a £1 for every time I have been asked what I do as my full-time job, I would be very rich. The perception is that, as a singer, I woke up one morning and I could sing with enough technique to entertain an audience for two halves of 45 minutes each, and arrive at the other end without the audience putting their fingers in their ears!
Would they expect a violinist or clarinetist to do the same? Without practising for long hours? As a singer it is even harder as we have to sing in many different languages. Flexibility is the key for a professional singer. I work in duos with a Harpist, Guitarist and Pianist and in trios with Tenor and Piano, Violin and Guitar and Harp and Flute, with a String Quartet and Jazz Trio as well as all my solo Opera and Oratorio repertoire.
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I often wonder how I fit it all in, so I thought I would think about an average week and how many skills I have to have in order to be a singer:
- I have to learn an operatic role in Italian (before I learn the music I have to translate the opera) and know what the story is and how my character fits into the story. I have to know what I am singing about and what every one else is singing about too! I have to spend long hours with an Italian dictionary and my knowledge of the language to come to a point where I feel comfortable learning the “dots”. This has to be done in my own time and with no wages. (Most companies only pay performance fees; rehearsals and travel have to be paid for from the singer’s pocket, unless you are lucky enough to have an agent and be working for one of the larger companies.)
- I speak to a number of opera companies about what repertoire they will be auditioning for and learn the music for the auditions.
- I speak to a number of Music Clubs about what concerts and combinations I could offer them.
- I speak to the clients who have already booked me to sing and arrange programme notes, biographies and photos to be sent.
- I contact a few agents to try to obtain representation.
- I spend a few hours on the Internet surfing for opportunities and finding out about Grants and Competitions.
- I listen to CDs to find repertoire ideas for concerts.
- I apply for grants and sponsorship for a concert series which I am devising for a local Arts venue.
- I liaise with the artists who I will be performing with and arrange to send the music to them.
- I chase up an events company that I worked for two months before to see if there is any money forthcoming.
- I sing at two concerts, one charity concert for £80 and one Oratorio for £225.
- I have a singing lesson and a coaching lesson to work on the music for forthcoming concerts.
And then we have to change our name, as one of our pianist friends found out when a large promoter telephoned asking if she knew any singers to sing a role. Before she could get her filofax open the punch line was that the singer had to have a foreign sounding name! Needless to say, the phone went down very quickly as she was disgusted.
I don’t want to sound hard done-by; even though the singer's lot is not an easy one, I wouldn’t want to do anything else. It may sound corny but I feel that I have a gift and I feel privileged that so many people want to hear me sing... I just thought others might like to have an insight into the journey.
Sarah-Jane Dale, soprano
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