05 December 2005 @ 03:50 pm
contacts
Many people say that in this business it's about who you know. Who knows you. Who remembers you. Who you sang for three years ago that you still send yearly email updates to about your career.
Well, yesterday I had an eye-opening contact issue. I sang an audition for a certain company, whose general director sometimes posts in an online forum that I read. There happened to be an agent in the hallway of my audition, who I was introduced to through my accompanist. She told me he was kind of a sleazy agent, but that I should meet him because he did get people work.
I did, and he asked if he could sit in on my audition. This usually happens- nothing new that agents walk into rooms with singers to make sure their roster still sounds good and their singers look good.
So, he walked in with me. He talked to me afterwards and tried to impress me with the names he threw out, the contacts he had. I felt a little bit special, but knew that HE was nothing special, so I didn't really think much of it.
Luckily when I got back home from this set of auditions I looked him up on the forum, and realized that the general director of this opera company had specifically posted about this agent and how much he doesn't like working with him.
I hesitated for a moment, but then shot off an email saying that I was in no way represented by him, as I had heard that some AD's GD's and companies don't like dealing with him. It was a shot in the dark to assure myself that I would not be associated with him, and I hoped to get some kind of response saying, oh, ok thanks.
Instead, I got a very nice email back saying- thank you! thank you for telling us that you are not his singer, because we hate dealing with his singers, and we would not have paid any attention to you even if you were so so so good, because we don't like dealing with him so much.
Well. I was stunned. I didn't know a contact could do so much against you.
Being around the right people and name dropping is one thing. Having one stranger sit in on an audition and completely almost ruin a singing opportunity for you is quite another.
I will stay far away next time, and not let anyone sit in on anything--rather, I can audition for them privately and if they are interested, they can do more than take me out to a 1.25 dollar coffee and spit out names of places where they can get me to sing in the next year.
--------geeee-thank goodness I caught this career-breaking mistake.
Well, yesterday I had an eye-opening contact issue. I sang an audition for a certain company, whose general director sometimes posts in an online forum that I read. There happened to be an agent in the hallway of my audition, who I was introduced to through my accompanist. She told me he was kind of a sleazy agent, but that I should meet him because he did get people work.
I did, and he asked if he could sit in on my audition. This usually happens- nothing new that agents walk into rooms with singers to make sure their roster still sounds good and their singers look good.
So, he walked in with me. He talked to me afterwards and tried to impress me with the names he threw out, the contacts he had. I felt a little bit special, but knew that HE was nothing special, so I didn't really think much of it.
Luckily when I got back home from this set of auditions I looked him up on the forum, and realized that the general director of this opera company had specifically posted about this agent and how much he doesn't like working with him.
I hesitated for a moment, but then shot off an email saying that I was in no way represented by him, as I had heard that some AD's GD's and companies don't like dealing with him. It was a shot in the dark to assure myself that I would not be associated with him, and I hoped to get some kind of response saying, oh, ok thanks.
Instead, I got a very nice email back saying- thank you! thank you for telling us that you are not his singer, because we hate dealing with his singers, and we would not have paid any attention to you even if you were so so so good, because we don't like dealing with him so much.
Well. I was stunned. I didn't know a contact could do so much against you.
Being around the right people and name dropping is one thing. Having one stranger sit in on an audition and completely almost ruin a singing opportunity for you is quite another.
I will stay far away next time, and not let anyone sit in on anything--rather, I can audition for them privately and if they are interested, they can do more than take me out to a 1.25 dollar coffee and spit out names of places where they can get me to sing in the next year.
--------geeee-thank goodness I caught this career-breaking mistake.
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