Opera brings in blind auditions in the hunt for diverse new stars
Size, age and disabilities of performers to be hidden from judges as competition borrows from The Voice
THERE aren’t many fat ladies singing in opera, and when they do the brickbats fly.
That could change with the launch of a competition that will use blind auditions in the hope of discovering new stars based on their vocal talents alone.
Hopefuls will perform from behind a screen to a panel of judges, in a format reminiscent of ITV talent show The Voice.
The competition, By Voice Alone, is backed by the Royal Opera House, English National Opera and other leading companies. Its ts founder, Melanie Lodge, wants to bring more diversity to the industry.
There is no age e limit, people with disabilities are welcome, lcome, and prior experience will not t be taken into account. In the first t round, the judges will not be able to see the contestants’ CVs or even be given en their names, in an effort to eliminate unconscious bias.
“This is all about t finding and nurturing raw talent, and giving singers who might have previously reviously been invisible a platform m to showcase their potential tial in a very real way,” said aid Ms Lodge, a casting director. Opera productions tions have “a very generic ric look”, she said, “not ot just in colour but t in size, shape and [absence of ] disability. I’m not looking to play a blame game and it’s t’s not the companies’ s’ fault – the industry is aware of the problem and prepared to do lots of things to make change. But if you go and watch a show and you can’t see anything of yourself up there on stage, why would you connect with it?”
Ms Lodge has contacted the Royal National Institute of Blind People, Scope and Action on Hearing Loss – Janine Roebuck, a deaf mezzo-soprano, has proved that her hearing loss is no bar to success – to raise awareness of the competition, which launches in March. She is also encouraging ablebodied singers of all sizes to take part.
Ms Lodge recalled a conversation with a male operagoer about a performance they had seen. “I was chatting to the guy next to me and said, ‘Wasn’t the soprano wonderful?’ And he basically said: ‘She was very overweight.’”
“It’s frustrating that people want to see a certain thing. I don’t think you can ever look at a person and know what their voice is going to be. If somebody touches your soul, that’s the important thing, not that they look amazing and fit into a size zero dress.”
In 2014, the size issue came to the fore when Tara Erraught, the Irish mezzo, was deemed by critics to be too fat for her role in Der Rosenkavalier at Glyndebourne.
Other singers leapt to her defence. Tamara Wilson, a soprano who has appeared at English National Opera, has been outspoken on the issue of looks, saying: “Being believable [in a role] and being Hollywoodready are two different things,” while Jamie Barton has said: “The idea that we all have to be a size two in order to be able to get up on the opera stage and tell a story is just not true.”
It is also hoped that the competition will reach young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Judges for the first audi- tion stage will not have access to the contestants’ CVs. Ms Lodge explained: “In my job I’ve read thousands of CVs and I realised how easy it is to form your opinion of somebody before you’ve heard them – the conservatoire where they studied, if they’ve worked for such-and-such company.
“There can be 400 people going for one chorus job, so directors have to fil- ter somehow and of course it’s natural to filter by CV. The established route is via a recognised conservatoire or cathedral school, but in order to get to those you have to have access to information about them in the first place.
“I want to show that if you are from a disadvantaged background but you are given access, then there are no limits.”
The prize fund is £5,000, with two awards of £500 each to be made in the first round recognising singers who have potential and would benefit from further training.
Ms Lodge said: “The most interesting thing is not who wins the prize at the end, it’s discovering the raw talent in the first stage and helping those people get more support and tuition to find their way into the profession.”
Application details for the competition are available at byvoicealone.com.
‘I was chatting to the guy next to me ... and he said: “She was very overweight’’’