r/ClassicalSinger • u/OtherAir5929 • 7d ago
Anyone here study singing in Germany? Looking for tips.
I'm a 24 y/o American baritone. I'm currently in a non-music master's program. As part of the program, I studied abroad in Germany for the past year. My wife came with me. We loved it.
Throughout the year, I took singing lessons with a instructor from a music conservatory. She urged me several times throughout the year to consider pursuing singing professionally. I told her I was interested in. She invited me to apply to the conservatory where she teaches, while also recommending me three other instructors at different conservatories in Germany. She warned me I would have to start at the bachelor's level in Germany, given that I lack a BM or BA in Music.
She seems confident that I could have a professional future as a singer. I've thought about it, and part of me would really like to give it a go. Singing professionally used to be my one dream. COVID killed it. A year in Germany with my voice instructor (and the one I had before I went to Germany) revived it.
My wife is on-board with us returning to Germany and me pursuing singing. One (awesome) complication is that we have a newborn. My voice instructor in Germany has assured me that doing this with a wife and child would be doable, given the support of the German government. Also, we lived off approx. 1200 euros a month (including rent) during the past year as our stipend. Allotting a few hundred more a month for our child and a higher rent, we still have enough savings for a few years, and both of us are willing to work in Germany on top of that, if possible.
I'm wondering if those more experienced here think this is at all feasible and a good idea. I'm not sure if my voice teacher from Germany is being a bit unrealistically supportive. I talked to my piano teacher from Germany (I also took piano lessons over there), who immigrated to Germany and did her Bachelor and Mastersstudium in Germany as a mother of three children, and she assured me that it is also possible.
I'm thinking I would drop out of my current master's program and go to Germany ASAP. However, if I completed my current program, it could lead to me getting work in Germany while studying. It's a very niche field of study, but it's not uncommon for graduates who continue in the line of work to do MAs and PhDs, even if internationally, including in Germany. At the same time, my German voice instructor recommends just going ASAP, and singing has taken over my drive, again.
Something that also occurred to me is applying for master's programs in the US. (My US voice instructor is encouraging me to consider that as well.) I could, but since the opera industry is much more hopeful in Germany, I figure, why not there?
Any thoughts?
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u/ScatologicalComposer 7d ago
I’d be inspired solely by the fact that a voice teacher at a German school were doing so, rather than an American who might get some tenure points by contributing to enrollment and therefore more tuition dollars. If you can study and work there and you really want to pursue it, go for it. But even doing it abroad, be prepared for the career path to be hard.
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u/Kiwi_Tenor 6d ago
Follow @colcantoconsulting on Instagram and message Patrick. This is exactly what he specialises in.
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u/verwoorden 6d ago
What exactly do you mean by ASAP? The academic year has just started, so you'd only be able to start your BA in a year. That said, if you want to give it a go it sounds like you're making a fairly well informed choice to go to Germany. No one is guaranteed a career anywhere, but I'm sure you know that. Just apply and see what happens :)
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u/Fantastic_Acadian 2d ago
With a young family already in the works, I would urge you to research the financial realities of being a professional singer as your sole source of income.
Even if you "make it", you're unlikely to be able to support yourself, let alone a spouse and child, on a singer's earnings.
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u/_Thode 7d ago
You need to get into a conservatory. You need to apply for that and convince a professor that you can do it. Moving here without a place in a program is kind of dangerous. If I understand correctly you do not have a degree on music. I doubt you can get into a Master’s program in music without having a matching Bachelor’s degree.