How do I find audition opportunities?
How do I find opportunities? This is a question that tops the list for most singers. While of course we recommend subscribing to YAP Tracker, doing so alone may not fill the gaps in every schedule. Piecing together a season’s worth of work and opportunities may require more than one trick in a singer’s bag; here are some recommendations.
1. Do subscribe to YAP Tracker. We list 2,600 opportunities per year worldwide. More information can be found on our site.
2. Subscribe to other listing consolidator services. Depending on your location, there are many fee-based services worldwide that list opportunities for singers. If you are located in the United States, you are likely already aware of Classical Singer Magazine and Opera America, both of whom also post audition opportunities. In Germany, Stage Pool and Theater Jobs are also popular resources. Other services exist, so take a look.
3. Find free listings. Free listing pages also abound, including Musical Chairs, Operagasm, Actor’s Equity and others. Search for services that are specific to your region of interest.
4. School-based resources: NEC provides a fee-based opportunity database, but other schools like Mannes and Peabody list opportunities online for free. If you are an alum of another school, your career services center may also be open to alumni or even provide notifications of auditions.
5. Facebook is a great place to find out about auditions. Besides several audition specific message board style pages, individual companies often post their auditions on their Facebook page; some even do so without publicizing that information elsewhere. Take the time to “Like” companies that are of interest to you to ensure that they will appear on your feed when updates are made.
6. Search for local audition consolidators. There are many great websites, blogs, and online newspaper classifieds that list auditions locally. Singer Source in Washington DC, the Denver Post, and the Vancouver Public library page are valuable resources if you are a resident; search for other local resources in your area.
7. Forums. There are several forums out there for classical singers; Classical Singer Magazine, The New Forum for Classical Singers (NFCS.net) and Classical Voices (classicalvoices.net) to name three. Many companies large and small post opportunities on the forums, and singers share valuable advice about auditioning and the field in general.
8. Local venues. Houses of worship, libraries, nursing homes, rotary and other clubs, as well as smaller companies that don’t often advertise on YAP Tracker (even when asked) are a great place to hone your craft. Doing a bit of leg work seeking out these opportunities may well prove worth the effort.
9. Google. Although YAP Tracker is always searching for new opportunities, not every company wants to publicize their offerings. Using Google to regularly search for opportunity types of interest frequently helps our staff to discover great new programs and competitions; singers should also use this incredibly valuable tool to search. Using keywords like Vorsingen or Gesangswettbewerb for auditions and competitions in Germany, Concorso Canto Lirico in Italy or Konkurs Wokalny for Poland may lead to a great discovery. Even typing Opera Auditions into Google from month to month returns different results.
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