ordered list

1. Overcommitment:

   Singers have a tendency to overcommit. I’ve seen singers trying to make a living by singing in professional choirs in combination with a weekly church job, a synagogue job, teaching voice, and endlessly auditioning and occasionally getting and performing operatic roles. This can be a disaster if you get sick–which you always will! When you get sick, you cancel your voice lesson to protect your voice, right? But, you can’t cancel contracted work or you won’t get paid! That means pay for your rent, your food, your medical bills and other expenses. You end up robbing Peter to pay Paul.

2. The Cumulative Effects of “Little Jobs”:

   From our earliest days singing in the conservatory of music, singers are warned about the dangers of singing music that is “too heavy” before their young voices are ready. No Verdi or other demanding opera roles until the voice has matured! Yet, singers often underestimate the impact of seemingly minor gigs like weddings, funerals, or rehearsals in church choirs. These “little jobs,” accumulating on our schedules like debt, really add up and take you by surprise often resulting in vocal strain and overall exhaustion.

   But, how can a little rehearsal in church hurt you? It depends on what you were doing yesterday and what you will be doing tomorrow. I remember one clear example on a Sunday during my regular church job. One of our church sopranos had sung Madame Butterfly the night before. Yet, there she was Sunday morning trying to sing the day after such a commitment. It didn’t seem like much — just a few hymns and responsorials — but clearly she needed rest and wasn’t able to get it. She was brave and soldiered on, but that was a sobering moment.

3. Vocal Burnout & Counterexamples

   There are many instances of singers who damaged or even ruined their voices singing too much, too soon. Maria Callas immediately jumps to mind, jet setting all over the world in her twenties singing very demanding and diverse roles in close succession: Tosca one night, Lucia di Lammermoor the next! Too much, too soon! An interesting counterexample was the great early 20th century opera singer, Zinka Milanov. Apparently, her brother was also her vocal coach and set boundaries with impresarios to make sure that she was not over-sung. Another interesting exception was Jenny Lind, the “Swedish Nightingale,” who apparently was quite capable of setting very stringent limits. Here is a dramatization, based on fact, of a conversation she had with PT Barnum before a concert tour, where she fully lays out her conditions for the tour. Very impressive!