The questions we should ask (Perseverance, Part 3)

I am constantly amazed by the people that I work with. (This, among many things, stamps me as a "collaborative musician" as opposed to "soloist."). I admire their individual talent, their own paths, and their own drive (or lack thereof).

One of my current charges is a young, very talented post-undergraduate singer who is starting to take some auditions for some appropriate-level things (some competitions, professional chorus). During our last session, she asked,

"How long does it take for me to find out the results of something?"

I laughed, not at her, but because of the honesty of the question. I reflected for a couple of minutes, and answered in the following way:

"I have sometimes known before leaving the audition room that I got a job. On the other end of the spectrum, there are certain opportunities that I have played for, that I have never heard from again."

After we both got a chuckle out of this, she thanked me for my honesty. The perseverance that this field takes is not for the faint-at-heart. However, in these exchanges, my heart is done right by people who are now a generation (!) behind me. I feel like it was just yesterday that I had graduated from Oberlin and was making mistakes every two seconds, in almost every way possible.

The overall theme of the conversation, "You just never know." Make each audition the "performance of a lifetime." That will yield dividends far greater than any of us could imagine.

The picture that I have attached is of one of my own "milestone goals." It's a shot of the back of the Wiener Staatsoper from the wonderful art collection which flanks it.