Canadian opera singer moving to Germany this fall

Hi,

I am planning on moving to Germany this fall to continue a career in opera, and I came across the town of Regensburg tonight and wanted to find more information. Basically, at first I would like to find a nice place where I can improve my German, and still be able to travel to the major centres for auditions as they arise.

Other colleagues tend to move to the bigger cities like Berlin or Munich, but I wonder if it would be easier to learn the language in a smaller place. I see that there are a couple of language schools in Altestadt that are reasonably priced.

I read that Regensburgians (?) tend to be very "German" to foreigners, how does one get around the formality of it all?

I see that most ads are for renting an apartment or house. Are there many sublets or temporary rentals, or even shared accomodations that are available? I've looked on Kijiji and saw a few places, but without "knowing" the city layout or communities it can be hard.

What do you like about Regensburg?

Thanks und danke

Hello,

I thought I would try this again as my first post was very specific about a small city.

I am a Canadian opera singer (jugendliche heldentenor) who will be moving to Germany this fall to audition for agents and opera theaters in hope of getting a fest contract.

First off though, I need to decide where I'm going to hang my hat while I'm doing these auditions, and I wanted to see if anyone had any input or experiences to share.

The biggest factors in where I go are accesibility to a major ICE route and cost of living. Auditions can pop up, often at the last minute, and I would need to travel across Germany for those auditions, so having access to a major train route is essential. Many singers decide to base out of Berlin, which tends to be cheaper (so I've heard), but being in the north east it can be further to travel. On the other hand, the west and south tend to be more central, but the cost of living is higher.

I had originally asked about Regensburg because a) it looks beautiful, its a smaller city on a major ICE line and c) I had the idea that living in a smaller city or town would be a nicer experience to immerse in the language and culture.

I've taken a couple of german classes already, but when I arrive I'd like to take a 2 or 3 week german course to start on the right foot.

Is it fair to say that the cost of living would be around 1000€ per month in Berlin, where it could be as much as 2000€ in Munich or Frankfurt? Are smaller towns or cities (like Regensburg) any cheaper than the big cities?

I'll thank everyone and anyone who contributes to this post, and I'll keep scouring the archives for more info

Thanks

If you'd like to see what I do, here is a video... http://youtube.com/watch?v=8v7Iyajp46E

Hi!

If you are planning to come for 3 months and then during that time, apply for a visa to stay, you will need to show that you have 1000 Euros per month saved for the duration of your planned stay. Unless you have a European Union Passport, you can't just move to Germany. The only ground that you can use to apply to stay is for a language course. Don't waste your time on an expensive, over-priced private language school - in 3 weeks you will pay 3 times what a course at the local adult education centre will cost. If you plan to stay in Germany, and want to get German citizenship eventually, you will need the course at the adult ed centre anyway, (VHS =Volkshochschule) and the accompanying Zertifikat Deutsch.

Finding a job in Germany as a foreign national can be very difficult. Prospective employers must prove to the local government employment office that there isn't a qualified German to do the same job. Not to be a buzzkill, but there are bound to be a few German tenors, aren't there?

Try to pick a city that has perhaps a couple of opera houses, and also look for touring companies that are based in Germany. They probably won't have German choruses (more likely impoverished Eastern bloc types) and the mains might be from any number of countries, but this isn't such a bad gig. And they are willing and also more easily able to hire various foreigners.

The opera world is networking networking networking... Are you coming with a reference from a well-known vocal coach? Have you got bunches of documentation already to bring with you? Degree, Diploma and such?

(I don't want to depress you. Friends told me the same things before I came, on a different line of work of course, but I still came here... I was fortunate enough to meet my German husband a few months before they were getting ready to turf me out...) My sister, however is a professor of vocal music in the US, though, and came here on 3, 3 month long tours to try to find work when she was younger... but fat dramatic sopranos here are a dime a dozen... whereas a good tenor anywhere is something valuable. I mean, there's always a good role for a tenor... :-)

Good luck! Happy to answer questions if I can.

Hello from a fellow Canadian,

There is an American TT-er living in Hamburg who sings opera, goes by the name of Tor. You might want to PM him for tips.

Another singer - never met the guy, but I'm sure it would be interesting to: Michael J Connaire - an American singer. Link goes to a contact page on his ironically bare-bones website.

yours musically,
ian in hamburg

The above doesn't apply to artists, including singers.

I don't have much to add except that Regensburg, though it's very charming and most probably cheaper than Munich, might leave you feeling a bit isolated, as there's not a large ex-pat community there like in Munich, Frankfurt, and Berlin. Then again, your German would probably shape up pretty quickly there.

The other bit of advice I can offer: don't go to auditions describing yourself as a "Wagnerian tenor," even if you would do so here. I knew an American soprano who went to Munich a few years ago to do the audition circuit, described herself as a Wagnerian soprano, but unfortunately couldn't speak other than very basic German. Made the maestros a bit prickly, as you can imagine. You won't have problems generally with less-than-optimal language skills, especially if you are working hard to get up to speed, but just don't claim to be an expert in their repertoire. Germans can be a little proprietary about Wagner.

Since you and he won't be competing for jobs, ask profundo about the opera circuit. i know all theater people are diva's, but who knows, you might get some tips.

Thanks to all who replied. Yes, the opera world is about what and who you know, and I have many colleagues and friends working and singing throughout Germany/Austria/Switerland in guest and fest contracts. Although I do sing Wagner, I am not a Heldentenor... I am a Jugendliche Heldentenor (essentially a North american big lyric). I also have quite a lot of specific information about the audition process, the entire work permission/visa process and the likes.

There are a couple of German tenors around, but when there are over 120 opera theaters in Germany alone, there are many opportunities for North American singers who have experience. I'd rather sing 60-80 performances per year with one company and sleep in my own bed, than sing 12-15 performance per year and spend six months living out of a suitcase.

I was more interested in getting some insight into where you all live and what you like about where you live.

Danke

To be honest, I think some of your concerns will turn out not to be real.

There are heaps of good langauge training facilities and I would disagree with an earlier post because there are lots of good private ones as well as the VHS where you can crank up your German in months - as long as you are prepared to dedicate the time.

Ditto the point about learning / speaking German generally. It's Germany. People speak German. Of course they "behave like Germans" (whatever that is supposed to mean). How much you choose to engage with that (or not) is down to you. It's not a function of the world around you. Plenty of English native speakers in the English speaking centres like Frankfurt stick to German and barely speak English. Plenty of others in areas where English is less widely available still barely bother with German. Again, your choice, nobody forcing you to do anything.

As to where to live, Germany goes less for "pre-eminent" or "dominant" cities than the English speaking world seems to. I presume the place you are talking about is OK but so are lots of others. You are asking the impossible to get most of us to say one place alone is the one you *must* go to.

If the point about train links really matters, then Berlin doesn't seem *that* great to me. It's in the east and quite far from many other cities. Contrast to, say, Frankfurt or Köln, where you can not only head east, north, south in Germany but also west to Paris, north east to Brussels / Luxembourg / south west to Switzerland etc.

I spent the first two weeks of my time in Germany at Horizonte in Regensburg. I didn't speak a word of German and this was a "superintensive" course which gave me the basics. It is quite cheap.

Maybe it's different for singers, but I'm an artist with a excellent portfolio and it didn't help me one bit - frankly, I think it made it worse. Although the Foreigners' Bureau has warmed up to me since I completed my ZD, they were nothing short of openly hostile at the beginning. Perhaps it's different if you have someone already on the "inside" as it were - I only had German friends, not other professionals from back home already living here. You are very lucky. :-) Choosing Frankfurt might be a good idea so that your Foreigners' Bureau will have more experience with foreigners than perhaps mine did.

As it was, it was a very frustrating, humiliating and lengthy process slowly gnawing through that fibreglass reinforced industrial strength red tape. The moment my German husband and I went in with our translated marriage certificate from Canada, it was like they rolled out the red carpet. It would have been more satisfying to have done it on my own, but he's an awesome guy, so whatever - it's over now.

I think that Frankfurt is the best location in terms of travelling too. It's Germany's best transportation hub nationally and internationally, so you will be able to be very flexible.

One tiny point that I think is important: My sister, the professor of vocal music continues to pepper her English with German words. My German friends all despise this. They say, "Speak English, or speak German, but don't sound like Miss Piggy".