"Like I said, there's an industry focused on telling singers what they're doing wrong, and it's targeting singers who haven't yet had a chance to really see the industry from within. Even I, a mere pianist, fell for it. Say the experts: your audition dress should be below the knee but not floor-length , with closed-toe pumps that aren't hookery, and with your hair out of your face but not in a ballerina-bun. You should wear contacts, not your glasses. You should start with Moz ... art or Handel, otherwise the auditioners assume you can't sing. You must be malleable and agreeable with the ideas and wishes of any director and conductor, because you won't get hired again if you're not. Oh, but be unique.

The result is a bunch of singers who a) all sing the same audition arias, b) are so used to criticism that they're self-flagellating martyrs who can't take a compliment when they hear one. It's a sad thing to see singers who can do truly remarkable things onstage, unwilling to commit to a creative opinion for fear of it being "wrong". It's like they're human oxymorons. It's a shame, because they're not really the ones with the fragile egos." cathedral length veil