So I was in Bremen and had a conversation with one of the colleagues. A soprano from Frankfurt who was quite nervous about the audition we were doing in…well 30 minutes.

It was called an informal audition.
whatever that means…

“Informal for them or for us?” she asked me.
“For us!” I replied. “We also have to figure out if we would like to work with thém. It’s a two-way street.”
Her eyes cleared and she said: “That’s a good way to see it!”

When we audition we basically think that we have all the odds against us right?

Soprano’s are replaceable in the blink of an eye, mezzo’s have to deal with counters who apparently grow on trees, alto’s are growing like its a new scientific race, baritons, we thought there were not so many but turns out, there are! And even the lower basses have their competition right there where you can see it…

The panel has the power and we have absolutely nothing, right?
Thinking like that can have a huge impact on our mindset and voice. It can affect our performance greatly. But even though we only have these 7 minutes of fame in front of people who often look like they couldn’t care less, when you treat it more like a “job interview” your mindset towards this audition which you have been dreading for months can shift.

Yes, I know you want the role, the gig and when you are up that stage it sure seems like a bloody ONE-way street. But just think it’s a two – way stream!
Because that mindset can liberate yourself from your negative beliefs and can ease the pain you’ll suffer when the outcome is negative.
So,

Power to the INFORMATIVE auditions! Informative for both sides.

Have a brilliant audition season and don’t forget to read 10 Tips for doing an audition you can be proud of (4 minutes read)