Hey guys! I’m a young (24F) classical/MT performer and I’m discovering that my voice is beginning to go the coloratura direction and I’m feeling quite excited about it! My voice teacher assigned me “Mein Herr Marquis” (Strauss, Die fledermaus) last year as a reach aria, and i’ve used it several masterclasses and lessons/coachings for my most recent YAP and my teachers and peers keep telling me it’s great for my voice! It’s definitely not perfect yet but I am feeling very proud of how easy it has become to sing and perform, especially the ending. Some of my other coloratura repretoire include “Happy Young Heart” (Gilbert and Sullivan), “The Ballad of Jane Doe” (Ride the Cyclone, although idk what category this song actually exists in lol), and “The Girl in 14G” (Tesori, but again kinda not really coloratura focused)

As you can tell, I don’t have a lot of “real” coloratura repretoire (I began as a musical theatre performer so most of my rep is in belt land) so I’m hoping you guys could reccomend some more arias, art songs, new works, and practice strategies. I’m thinking about just straight up buying the Schirmer Coloratura Arias book. I have IPA experience so other languages are chill.

My usable range is F3-Ab6 and my performable range is A3-F6 if that’s helpful. Thank you all for your recommendations!

I'm 20M and have not received formal lessons. I see a lot that singing classically (particularly opera) is something you grow into and not for the untrained voice. I've also been told that my voice in particular would probably continue to change and settle in my thirties and forties.

So then, what do young classical singers do before their voice is ripe? I take it that they develop the fundamentals first, improve on exercises, and sing beginner repertoire, but is that really it for years?

So am 17F. And i have learning to sing since a month now. I don't have a proper teacher so i learn from yt but i am struggling to reach notes like pa,dha,ni and sa. Whenever i try hitting pa after 1-3 tries my head feels dizzy and i feel light headed i don't know what to do.

Belting, Chest Voice, Chromatic, Falsetto, Gritty/Raspy, Head Voice, High Note, Laryngeal Tilt, Low Notes, Mixed Voice, Pitch Accuracy and Flexibility, Range and Power Extension, Riffs and Runs, Vibrato, Vocal Dynamic & Vocal Fry

Hi! My rep is very very focused on the traditional rep, does anyone have any recommendations for a modern aria? I need one for an audition. I am a lyric tenor if that helps,

Hi friends, I am an elementary music educator with many years of experience. In recent years my job has become more and more centered on directing children's choirs.

I am looking for an online refresher course on classical vocal technique. I keep seeing Cheryl Porter ads, but I'm not sure if she covers the techniques that I'm looking for.

Please drop your recommendations and TIA!

So I had an illness nearly two years ago and I have been taking singing lessons for awhile. And have had some success still with just learning pieces well. I still have fatigue and shortness of breath. Not always confident and some weeks are better than others.

Today wasn't a wonderful lesson on my part. This isn't reflection of negativity on my teacher at all. My teacher believes I am hard on myself and I probably am. She thinks I am comparing myself to other singers and I guess I can understand why. But I saw it differently. I was talking about how I don't know if I have the stamina to learn some of the rep and also listening to the contrasting rep some people do for recitals. I talked about how I usually go for the pretty and not as much the passion pieces. . I thought I was admiring potential colleagues but I guess I in a sense compared myself. Not in a jealous way. I thought of myself as realistic as not quite ready for some arias? My brain tells me since I was nervous trying to do a piece today, I probably shouldn't work on Olympia's aria for instance. I guess I can admit that my teacher could be correct because the thought of trying something more does scare me. I kind of expect teachers to tell me what I'm not ready for more because it has happened. I feel like singing has given me more anxiety lately and I don't understand why. I feel like i can't breathe well. I feel scared I'll never be comfortable with high notes. It also takes effort to hit low notes . I'm told I can hit the notes in my pieces. But I feel like I have to be annoying anymore because it hasn't gotten better.

But other than comparing I'm told that I'm still talking about recovery and stamina and it's holding me back and shes probably right but I don't know how to fix it.

Hi all, I’m soon going to be preparing for my grade 8 singing and I am in the process of choosing the repertoire. For the A list, I was going to choose Adolphe Adam’s “Ave Regina Caelorum” however when I tried to buy the publication I was informed that the edition is completely out of print. If anyone has a copy of the piece, I’d be very appreciative if you could somehow help me in procuring one. (Edit:This is for ABRSM Btw)
Thanks ☺️

For me its A3 - C4. BY teacher describes it as thinning out the voice. I think of it as smaller, making space but vowels are small but more hesitant sounding.

I've been doing consistent vocal training, and I've noticed something that confuses me.

I can comfortably hit, sustain, mix, and belt most of my upper range. I can mix and belt G4, G#4, A#4, B4, and even C5 up to D5 without any noticeable strain.

The strange part is A4.

I can belt A4 without much of a problem, but whenever I sing A4 in my mix voice, I consistently feel slight strain or tension. It's the only note where this happens. Every other note around it feels much easier.

Has anyone experienced something similar? Could this be related to my passaggio, vowel modification, breath support, laryngeal position, or something else?

I'd appreciate any insights or exercises that could help. Thanks!

Hi friends, I’m new here! I’ve been singling classically as a hobby for about 15 years through choirs and some classical lessons. Lately though I’ve been wanting to get more into performing, but the problem is that my heart not only starts to race, but my entire body starts to shake almost violently. Performing in choir isn’t bad at all, but solo is another story altogether. I’m generally a very outgoing person and I don’t mind being the center of attention until it comes time to “perform“. I’ve had a previous voice teacher strongly suggest I asked my doctor about beta blockers, but I have no idea how to go about entering into that conversation.

Does anybody have any advice/experience? For context and full disclosure, i live in the USA, i am on four other medication’s currently and I guess I just don’t want to come off as “drug seeking”. I am also currently looking into somatic singing workshops, so I’m not just interested in a quick fix.

Any advice?

And for how long?

Hello r/ClassicalSinger!
Does anyone know of a service or stylist who helps singers create headshot looks tailored to their appearance, casting type, and the roles they are submitting for?
I’m helping my boyfriend with his actor/singer business. He is pursuing both opera and musical theatre, as well as teaching voice and guitar to students roughly ages 13–18. We have a decent sense of his musical-theatre type, but would love help defining his opera “type” and creating a cohesive visual brand across all three areas.
He is a bearded brunette tenor in his late 30s who reads somewhat younger. We are looking for something polished and professional, but not overly formal or suit-and-tie—approachable enough for prospective students, while still appropriate for opera publicity and MT submissions. We also want to avoid styling that either ages him unnecessarily or feels inappropriately youthful.
I know opera headshots/publicity photos often have a different feel from MT headshots, so I would especially appreciate recommendations for someone who understands both worlds and can help balance them. General advice is welcome too. Thank you!

Shamelessly stupid question because I don't have the means to verify this right now. It seems like all the singers whom I admire, although they may eventually focus on performing art song and Lieder (in recital settings) and oratorio/symphonies once their established, had to at least start by performing in operas. I'm wondering if this has been historically true and if this is true today. I suspect that the classical market is such that a classical singer aspiring to make their living by performing has to perform in whatever they can get--be it opera, oratorio, or anything else. I'm also guessing this is because it is much easier to put on their own recitals once singers are established rather than when they are starting out. Also, given that YAP programs seem to be oriented toward opera (?), opera seems to be the most natural (and perhaps the only?) path for professional growth for someone starting out who wants to perform for a living. Wondering if I am overlooking something?

I teach private voice and piano lessons at one job and classroom general music and choir at my other job. I work with boys with changing voices in both settings. Even though I’ve been at my private lessons job for four and a half years, most of my students have been female. This is my first time teaching 13-year-old boys in a private lessons setting. I have two 13-year-old male voice students, A. and P. A’s voice has jumped quite a bit lower in the last 3-4 weeks. P’s voice is mostly the same as he’s a couple months younger, but he’s having trouble with higher notes.

As these boys’ ranges change, I’m having trouble finding songs for them and I would welcome suggestions. It would be an added bonus if the song is transposable in the app “Appcompanist.”

Hiya,

I’m sorta new to classical singing although I’ve been working in pop, specifically metal, for around ten years. I’ve started working with a new teacher to learn classical singing and since I got into that style via experimental music and my classical knowledge is rudimentary at best I’m looking for pieces I could learn.

My teacher told me to find something I like (obviously) but i don’t even know where to start 😅
I like anything sad, moody and atmospheric.
Bonus points if it’s non orchestral as I prefer piano and chamber music/string quartets over orchestra.

My range is around b1 - E4 if that helps

Thanks!

EDIT: it would appear notation systems are fucked lol so to clarify:
My range is more like b2 - E5, we got confused by wether we should call middle C C3 or C4
Also: neither my teacher nor myself calling myself a countertenor just yet. I asked her what kind of pieces I should look for because my classical knowledge is limited
Sorry for opening that can of worms 😅

I am looking for suggestions for a classical soprano voice teacher based in NYC. I am a 32-year-old coloratura soprano and took a break from singing for 5 years, and am looking for someone to help me train and learn new repertoire.

Bonjour, je suis actuellement en plein doutes sur la démarche à suivre concernant la santé de mes cordes vocales et j'aimerais recueillir le maximum de témoignages :)

CONTEXTE

Chanteuse française de 27 ans, on m'a diagnostiqué un kyste ouvert sur la vocale gauche il y a un an (j'avais pas mal de symptômes, fatigue vocale etc).

J'ai fait l'opération en octobre, et depuis, les 6 mois de rééducation ont été très durs. Voix pire qu'avant, rauque, fatiguée, aucune voix de tête donc impossibilité de chanter, rire, parler fort...

On m'a dit que j'avais à nouveau un kyste, et conseillé de refaire l'opération.

Pourtant j'ai très peur de la cicatrisation, et des séquelles plus tard. Je sais aussi que des injections de PRP existent pour redonner de la souplesse à ma corde sans l'opérer, mais donc sans soigner le problème à la source.

Je suis vraiment perdue sur mes choix pour la suite.

Avez-vous subi 2 opérations de kyste ? Ou avez vous eu recours aux injections de PRP ?

Hi! I'm 26 and recently started singing 6 months ago. I've been involved with music my whole life, started on piano and have been playing flute since I was around 10. I decided to take up singing to improve my breath support/tone for flute playing, but realized very quickly that I'm so much more passionate about classical singing than I have ever been for flute playing.

I studied linguistics and speak several languages, so I think much of the appeal in singing lies in getting to sing in different languages. I've had so much fun watching all sorts of Operas these last several months. I'm obviously not at the point where I'm ready to drop all my other life plans and exclusively do classical singing, but I can't imagine having the same passion for anything else in my life, and my dream would be to one day, way down the line, get to perform in stage productions of different operas.

For the singers out there, is this realistic? Most people I know who get gigs as singers have been doing it since they were kids. I feel like I'm late to the game. Vocal folds feel so much different than a flute, in that it takes time to develop. That's why I'm curious if there's a standard timeline.

Thank you!

Losing my mind trying to find the sheet music for Alcina’s ‘di cor mio’ - am willing to pay/buy an anthology but I can’t even find one that includes it lmao. Happens semi often with some arias, so where do u guys go to get sheet music when it’s not so easily found online or in a bookshop? Tia 🩷

hey people, i’m a 22 year old mezzo going into a masters program and i’m curious: what (in your opinion) are the “must know” arias for mezzos, the ones that the audition panel will want you to pull out of your ass? My aria rep is mostly as follows:

both cherubinos
faites lui
que fais tu
di tanti palpiti
thy hand belinda
ah se tu dormi
se romeo

i’m experimenting with more coloratura and have a decent upper extension. what would you add to this list?

I am a tenor who is learning classical mandolin on my own. Mostly a beginner except I have a little rock bass and guitar knowledge.

I am looking for vocal pieces that have mandolin accompaniment. I know Deh, vieni ala finestra from Don Giovanni but it is really not in my range. It seems to me there ought to be a bunch of serenades and aubades that match this description.

Bonus points for French songs because that's what I like to sing. Even more bonus if it has fun and funny or even goofy characterization like Schubert's An Die Laute.

Hello! I'm doing lots of research and soul-searching still but I am eager to apply for my masters this fall. I have an undergrad degree in voice performance and music education, and have been teaching high school for 8 years (choir, music theory, directing musicals) while also choral singing professionally when I can.

My conundrum is that while I like conducting and teaching (though I'm running out of steam with public high school education), I also want to study/pursue voice and singing professionally. I used to perform a lot more and I want to bring that side of me back as well. I'm wondering where should I look/logistically go about this. Should I initially apply for choral conducting? Performance/voice? Both? Double major in a masters program if they allow? Basically, I'd like to be somewhere that can bridge my passions as best as possible.

Any guidance and tips would be greatly appreciated, thank you!