A few tips to remember during audition season

Audition season is in full swing and I want to remind myself to stay fresh during the process. It’s very easy to get down about the idea of singing for a room of people who don’t know you and knowing that they hold your fate in their hands. But I aim to remind myself that I LOVE singing and more than that, I LOVE performing. I am willing to do what it takes to be successful at what I do and since the audition process is a large part of being a singer, I better find a way to LOVE it!

So I am posting a few things to keep in mind that will help every singer who sits there and waits for their name to be called in the hopes of dazzling the panel in the allotted five to ten minutes in order to get work.

1)Be as prepared as possible. One of the major factors that separate the working singer from the pack is their preparation. And it goes beyond just musicality. Obviously the singing should be en pointe, but the drama and better yet, the understanding of the drama are essential. A singer has to have the music in their body and should possess a complete understanding of the character and where they are in the story. This will get your headshot and resume to head of the pack (and possibly get you hired or at least the chance to sing for the company in the future.) Remember, every character on stage wants something and one of the most interesting components of opera is that it tends to be good people making bad choices.

2)The next thing is to be your “on” self. The people behind the table want to hire folks that perform the role incredibly well, who can charm donors, has a gregarious personality and is EASY to work with over the course of rehearsals and performances. Since we all work in the world of make believe, sometimes we have to make believe that we want to make small talk with the donor who compares our performance to that of a legend or the novice opera-goer who says that Phantom of the Opera is their favorite opera. We must remember that our public “self” needs to be a little heightened in the audition room in order to make ourselves memorable. These administrators hear hundreds of singers and tend to remember those who make the best overall impression.

3)Dress for success. Often we hear about the female fashion faux pas at auditions, but men remember that a well-cut suit, tailored, if necessary, can create the image we have worked so hard to project during our singing. And know that if your suit is great and your shoes look like something a farmer wore while harvesting wheat, they will focus on them and not your gorgeous voice.

4)Treat everyone at the audition as if they could hire you, because sometimes that monitor sitting outside the room might have a say in whether or not you get the job. Also treat all the other people at the audition like they could hire you, because you never know whom they might know or if they have an “in” with that company.

5)Have your music double-sided copied in a folder, clearly marked and easy to navigate. Cross out anything you don’t want the accompanist to play. Mark cuts VERY clearly and if there is something tricky in your score, alert your accompanist so that you two are on the same page.

6)Speaking of the accompanist, if the company doesn’t provide one, hire a great accompanist that you trust and that trusts you. This is integral in making your audition its best. Your accompanist should know where you breathe, when you need time to slow down or need to go faster and should contribute to your musical experience. If you don’t know someone, ask the company you are singing for or others in the business for recommendations.

7)Assess and release. Once you are in the room, just sing. If you are prepared, well warmed up and feeling good, muscle memory should take over. (The hard work comes with the hours of practice to get it to sound its best.) Never assess your singing while it is going on. It takes you out of the moment and you can’t fix something that has gone by. This is not to say forget about technique, but remember that what you do in the present is what can alter what has happened in the past in order to change your future. And when that audition is done, release it. (OK, that’s hard one, but it will keep you sane.) If you’ve recorded your audition, give yourself some space before you listen so that you can assess it in an honest way. Immediately after an audition we are still emotionally connected and it can be hard to hear ourselves objectively. After you listen and decide what you’d like fix, work to change what you didn’t like as opposed to fixating on the fact that something wasn’t “right.”

8)Finally and most important: The more auditions you do, the better chance you have at being hired. This is a numbers game and you increase your chances of getting work if you sing for as many people as possible and in my humble opinion, if you’ve auditioned for someone and been hired, BE WILLING TO SING FOR THEM AGAIN. People often hear you at one point and put you in a box. If you are singing new rep and haven’t sung for a company in a while, it’s important to have them hear you again so that they have an updated opinion of your talent.


Many singers dislike the audition process. It can be exhausting, expensive and feel futile. But what if we looked at it as an opportunity to attend a cool party where we get to be charming, talented, sexy, well dressed and the center of attention for at least five minutes? Perhaps it would take away some of the “pressure” and would allow the audition experience to actually be fun.

Peace,
Eric