WHY WRITE?

Unlike in America, in Europe you are allowed to have as many agents as you can get to represent you. Having many agents working for you is very important as it is always better to be sent by an agent to a house audition. However, it is risky to rely on the representation of just one or two agents because an agent’s contacts and knowledge of available house auditions may be limited. Also, if you write to and audition for only a few agents expecting one to find you work, you could be disappointed. If you are just starting out, have little performance experience on your résumé, and your fach (voice type) is not that marketable (i.e. you are not a tenor, or a dramatic soprano), you may find it very difficult to get even one agent to help you.

As Rick Hartung (president of Hartung Artist’s Management in New York City and the American representative for the International Opera Center in Zurich) stated: “Since agents are very selective due the abundance os available talent-including their own roster to be taken care of, it becomes necessary to audition for as many agents that can be found with the object of any one of them arranging for specific auditions. (The New York  Opera Newsletter).

Thus logically, the more agents you write to, the more you increase your chance of finding more agents to represent you and to find you work.

Even with a number of agents representing you, you still may not be able to get house auditions due to the previously mentioned limitations of the agents. Therefore it becomes necessary to write to as many opera houses as possible.

Opera houses in Europe are much more accessible than in America, and almost all of the houses WILL write you back whether they can offer you an audition in your fach or not. So, if you plan to stay in Europe for one to three months, and you choose to write to all the opera houses in 34 European countries, you will be able to set up your own audition schedule choosing from a large selection of audition offers. This will maximize your auditions thereby increasing your odds of finding a contract. You also will gain valuable audition experience and make your time spent in Europe more efficient.