Advice for Applicants and Auditioners
Some personal insights on applying to vocal training programs and contests

by David Gordon            
Read the statistics from the 2006 Carmel Applications

I've been the administrator and Director of the Vocal Master Class at the Carmel Bach Festival since 1990. I'm also administrator of the preliminary round of the biennial Vocal Competition co-sponsored by the American Bach Society and the Bach Choir of Bethlehem.

Both events are based on an audition process conducted by mail and demo recordings only (there are no "live" auditions).

As a result, during the past 15 years, I've received probably more than 2000 packets of press kits and application materials from young professional singers. Over the years I have begun to see patterns emerging. Each year some applicants enter easily into the process, and others cause little speed bumps for themselves and for us.

Here are some thoughts on all this, to give you some insight into the process from my point of view. Some of my opinions are pretty direct, and I assure you that my only intention here is to help singers understand what the system is looking for, how it works, and how to work with it.

First, in a nutshell, here's what is involved in running the application process for a training program like the Carmel Bach Festival Vocal Master Class.

1) During the fall months we place ads in Classical Singer Magazine, post our info in various online sites, and mail flyers to about 250 academic and musical addresses throughout North America. We also maintain online web pages year-round, which publicize the program and give complete, detailed instructions for applicants.

 

2) We accept applications by mail anytime after December 1. February 1 is the application deadline for 2006. We usually receive about 100 actual applications each year. (112 in 2005, 142 in 2006, 96 in 2007)

 

3) Once the application deadline has passed, the mailing envelopes are opened and the contents sorted. The printed material is immediately separated from the demo recordings. Each applicant's printed material (resume, rep list, photo, etc.) is stapled in the upper left corner, with the resume as first page and the photo at the back. The stapled packets are then sorted SATB and put in file folders by voice type. No further attention is given to the printed material for a while.

 

4) The recordings are sorted into four groups by voice part - SATB. Then comes a "blind" first round. All recordings are listened to and the first cut is made. As we listen, we have no idea of the name, age, skin color, sex, or any other non-vocal attribute of the singer. We listen only to vocal quality, style, expression, language, etc. We listen to all the singers in each voice category, one category at a time.

 

5) This first round enables us to narrow the selection to to four or five finalists in each voice category. Only at that point do we begin to examine the resumes and other printed matter, in order to get to know the singers better.

 

6) After as many more listening sessions as are necessary, four singers are chosen for the summer Master Class program.

 

7) Sometimes, if a decision in one of the four voice categories seems hard to reach, I will telephone every finalist in that category and ask a few questions. For the sake of true comparison, I am very careful to ask each person *identical* open-ended questions such as "What is the most difficult performing situation you ever were in, and how did you handle it?" These questions are intended merely to allow me get to know the singer better on a professional level, and assess each singer's artistic and professional personality. There are no "right" answers, and I ask no personal or non-musical questions.

 

8) We notify the four winners by phone, and every other singer receives a personal letter from me. Only then is a public announcement made naming the four winners.

Please keep these previous eight steps in mind as I make the following suggestions.

Suggestion #1

Please format your printed matter in a standard, simple way (8-1/2"x11" letter size paper) .

Keep in mind that we receive more than 100 applications each year. Please do NOT send your resume in a special binder or in a non-standard size. I believe some people send out non-standard format material in the hopes of "standing out" from the crowd. It does indeed make you stand out: but only by causing extra effort as we pull your resume pages out of their plastic binders, remove special covers, trim overzixe photos, etc.

Within minutes of our opening your packet in our office, all special binders, report folders, plush resume covers, card stock, and other decorative fillers are discarded. Your material, photo included, is stapled upper left and put in a file folder with all other applicants of your voice type.

The format we recommend in general for all such applications: resumes and other material should be printed on letter-sized paper stapled or paper-clipped together, with a demo recording not physically attached to resume. Make it easy for the people to whom you are sending the material.

Suggestion #2

Please label every single item with your name, voice category, and contact info.

As amazing as it seems, each year we receive resumes and photos with no address or phone number, and demo recordings with no identifying info on them at all.

(2005 statistics: we received 6 resumes with no contact info at all and 9 completely unlabled demo CDs. Four applications bore former addresses, and our response letters to the applicants came back undelivered. As of April 26, 2005, there were still two singers who applied but never received a response from us, because we had no way to contact them.)

And don't forget: on both your resume and your demo, include your voice category (soprano, mezzo, etc.). It would seem to be an obvous thing, but lots of people omit it.

When people see a disorganized or haphazard press kit or application packet, it's easy to assume that the singer is disorganized, too. Remember, your press kit is not just about the information in your resume: the way in which you organize and present your material tells the world a lot about you.

Suggestion #3

Please take responsibility for getting your material to us on time and without extra hassle.

For example, here's a common pattern that has appeared in the past few years:

1. First email from applicant: "Dear Carmel Bach, I'm going to send you my material"
2. Second email from applicant "Dear Carmel Bach, I have sent you my material"
3. Third email from applicant: "Dear Carmel Bach, please let me know if my material has arrived."

Although I am polite enough to reply courteously to every such email I receive, my truthful answers would (should) be:

1. Thanks for telling us this, but we really don't need to know what you are "going" to do
2. Why are you telling us this?
3. So, you want us to take time to go to sort through the material to find your packet?

Regarding item #3: the Carmel bach Festival does not make you pay a fee simply for applying, as many other programs do. But whether or not an application fee is charged, if you are serious enough about your career to apply to a training program or competition, you need to keep track of your application yourself. Spend a few extra dollars and send your material by UPS, FedEx, DHL, or other courier. Then you can track the package yourself and have peace of mind knowing that it was delivered on time. Please do not make us, or any other recipient, do this for you. Even the US Post Office will send you a proof of delivery notice - it costs 40¢ extra to do this.

If you are worried about your package arriving on time, and you need to email or phone us to make sure we have received it before the deadline, then you have sent it too late.

Each year on the day before the application deadline, at least 6 or 8 singers email or phone to say they just learned at the post office that "next-day-delivery" really means "the-next-day-after-tomorrow-delivery". Or Kinkos didn't duplicate their resume correctly. Or they didn't finish their demo in time. They ask if it is allright if their package arrives a day or two after the application deadline.

Of course emergencies do happen, but in 15 years I have heard maybe 4 excuses based on an actual emergency. And so for the most part, the request itself (for special treatment) tell us something important about that singer. We always make a note of singers who ask for extensions, or send material late.

Except in the case of a true emergency, we have begun to reply to these requests with a request of our own: Please write a short essay on the following subject - "Why I deserve special treatment different from all other applicants."

Suggestion #5

Planning ahead is a very important skill for all people in the arts.

I can say, as a general rule (based on a decade of observation), that the singers who have the best chance of making a career are also often the ones whose applications arrive in an orderly fashion a week or more before the actual deadline. These singers have structure in their lives, and they plan, schedule, and think ahead to avoid last-minute panic situations.

Establishing yourself in the classical singer business is getting more and more difficult each year. To survive and succeed, you need not only your vocal and musical talent, you need also to be organized in everything you do.

Last-minute frantic worrying (very often caused simply by a lack of planning) in any aspect of your career is not only counter-productive to your artistry, it tends to give others the impression that you are disorganized. Singers who are disorganized are often not hired, or re-hired.

The Bottom Line

Remember: you are not sending your application to some faceless "organization." You are sending your press kit and demo to *people* who will open your package and look at the contents and try to get to know you through your printed material.

For this reason, please remember that the manner in which you present yourself during the application process is often almost as important as how you sing on your demo.

In the case of a demo-only audition process such as ours, we take time to "read between the lines" and try to get to know you through your material. Why is this important? Because, especially in the case of training programs such as our 4-week Master Class, administrators need to ask themselves two important questions after evaluating your vocal talent:

• Is this singer a person who would be dependable and pleasant to work with?
• Is this singer organized, focused, and mature enough to have a chance at making a career in this difficult profession?

If this essay sounds a bit tough, it's because this profession is tough. If you can't organize an application packet for a training program, you will not be able to organize a life as a singer.

And please don't let any of this discourage you from following your dream. I make my living helping singers do just that. I honor your courage, and your desire to sing. I hope this page will aid you on your path and help you focus your efforts.

Sincerely,

David Gordon
Education Director, Carmel Bach Festival