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vissidamore t1_j721wy4 wrote

Reply to comment by Rolly_Polly_ in I'm Yves Abel, Principal Conductor of the San Diego Opera. I’ve conducted all over the globe, and even got to work with the great Leonard Bernstein while in training. AMA! by sandiegoopera

Check out competitions for your age group.

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Rolly_Polly_ t1_j73ix2k wrote

Have been doing them pretty regularly for the last two years. So far, not a lot of results despite getting to the finals. It is financially extremely taxing, and I can't keep up the expense of travelling and living without any financial return.

Have you had any positive experiences with competitions? Other singers I have been talking to, also have had almost non existent results from competitions.

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vissidamore t1_j74cxhe wrote

That’s unfortunate, because then what is the point of these competitions? Sorry you haven’t had a good experience. I don’t have anything to report, just always knew that was a traditional way of getting seen and making contacts. Good luck and I hope you catch a break.

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Rolly_Polly_ t1_j75n8et wrote

Thank you so much! Fingers crossed.

Honestly, at the moment I have a hard time advising people to go for competitions unless they are really young. There are some young singers who are getting some contacts from the competitions. The big competitions are good if one can get to the finals. I am unfortunately too old for those ones. Starting pretty late cuts off a lot of opportunities.

I did manage to get the opportunity to participate in Gianni Schicchi through a competition once, but it still involved covering my travel and living in a different country for almost a month. Financially it is very straining.

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