While none of them are big stars (yet?) a number of young singers of my
acquaintance do have careers (in singing, I should add!). Even so I would
put the percentage (rough estimate) a 3-5%. I remember doing an informal
survey of the people (all instruments) who got their B. Mus. here at the
same time I did. I think about 15% of them were fully employed in some kind
of musical activity apart from teaching. When I included teaching it was a
much higher figure - more like 80% of the whole group.
But having said that: there are easier ways to make more money. You must
have either an aptitude or a need.
It occurs to me a lot recently that a singer is not necessarily a person
with a beautiful voice (there are many of those around) but a person with a
particular kind of determination, a capacity for peculiar discipline and
(for lack of a gentler epithet) a willingness to make a fool of herself in
public. The voice is just an optional bonus - many more people have
beautiful voices, a great ear and a pleasing countenance than have what it
takes to be
a singer.
That's what I think.
john
At 10:09 PM 3/16/01 +0000, you wrote:
... Virtually nobody who begins voice
>study ends up with a professional career (less than 1 percent). Your
>teachers won't tell you this because a) they have a vested interest in
>keeping you coming back for more lessons and getting more degrees, b)
>many of them haven't had professional performing careers themselves, so
>they don't really even know what's involved, and c) if they ever did
>have any professional experience, it may have been so long ago or on
>such a small scale that they are out of touch with today's market.
>Maybe what you should be asking is "does anybody have a chance?" I'm
>not being pessimistic, just realistic.
...
John Blyth
Baritono robusto e lirico
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
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