Table of Contents

  • PREFACE
  • 2007 ~ Somewhere in Europe
  • DEDICATION
  • AUTHOR'S ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  • How Good Are Your Goods?
  • Is a Fest contract right for you?
  • Can you really live over here? Do you really want to live here?
  • How old are you? Are you hot? How much do you weigh?
  • Am I at an advantage or disadvantage because I am a native English speaker?
  • It's All in the Preparation.
  • Alles auf Deutsch, Ami.
  • How about learning Some German before you come?
  • How about learning some German in Germany before your audition tour?
  • The work climate
  • Let's talk Fach. Ohhhhh yeaaah.
  • Operetta
  • Theater sizes
  • When should I come? How long do I gotta stay?
  • Me Write Agents and Theaters Real Good With Real Neat Publicity Materials in German.
  • Writing agents
  • Writing theaters
  • Publicity materials: cover letter, résumé, and biography
  • CDs
  • Web sites, e-mail, and fax
  • When to send your materials
  • I'm Gonna Need a Sugar Daddy.
  • Passports and visas
  • Finding a home base
  • Finding an apartment
  • Hotels. No, I didn't say hostels.
  • Audition fees
  • Coaches
  • Food
  • Cash machines, banking, and travelers checks
  • Health/Travel insurance
  • What to pack
  • Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (and Buses and Bicycles and S-Bahns)
  • Getting to Europe
  • Before you choose an American-based airline…
  • Getting around Europe by train
  • Public city transportation (bus/U-Bahn/S-Bahn)
  • Ride sharing
  • Air travel within Europe
  • Auto rental
  • Buy a used bike
  • Your Trip Over and Arrival to the Mother Continent
  • Pre-Audition Tour Checklist:
  • Handy/Mobile phone
  • Üben/Practicing
  • Internet and your laptop
  • Internet telephoning
  • So, you're krank/sick.
  • Agents and Theaters: They Love You, They Hate You, They Love You...
  • What to expect at agent auditions
  • A note on what to wear and what not to wear
  • Repertoire to bring
  • Forms, etc.
  • The agent wants to work with you!
  • When will they send me to theater auditions?
  • Follow-up and nurturing the singer-agent relationship
  • So the agent does not want to work with you
  • Theater auditions
  • A typical theater audition
  • You're Hired (You Like Me, You Really Like Me!)
  • What do you do now?
  • 1. Negotiate the contract/Verhandeln
    1. Fach classification and specific roles
    2. Duration of contract, salary, and per performance/broadcast fees
    3. Agent commission
    4. Pay
    5. Plane tickets
  • 2. Find an apartment/Wohnung suchen
  • 3. Registration/Anmelden
  • 4. Residence permit and work permit/ Aufenthaltserlaubnis/Aufenthaltsbewilligung and Arbeitserlaubnis
    • In Germany
    • In Austria
  • 5. Income tax classification card/Lohnsteuerkarte
  • 6. You have to put all that money somewhere. Get a bank account and learn how to transfer money back home for free./Bankkonto
  • 7. Choose your health insurance/Krankenkasse and Krankenversicherung
  • Taxes and Kindergeld (Money for the Kids)
  • Taxes in Germany
  • Taxes in Austria
  • Doing your taxes/Steuererklärung
  • Kindergeld
  • Pot Luck Dinner
  • Festing and guesting
  • Jumping in/Einspringen
  • Tipping with festing, guesting, and einspringen
  • Teaching English during your audition tour
  • Opera studios and young artist programs
  • Chorus work
  • INTERVIEWS: You Think I'm Full of Crap? Then Read What My Colleagues Have to Say.
  • INTERVIEW 1 ~ Ellen Rissinger, American coach
  • INTERVIEW 2 ~ Angela Fout , American soprano
  • INTERVIEW 3 ~ Lina Lamont (not her real name), American soprano
  • INTERVIEW 4 ~ Thomas Schmidt (not his real name), European conductor
  • INTERVIEW 5 ~ Damon Nestor Ploumis, American/British/Greek buffo bass-baritone
  • INTERVIEW 6 ~ Robert Tannenbaum, American stage director and Oberspielleiter (Chief Producer of Opera) of Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe
  • NYIOPS: Never Heard of Them? Where Have You Been?
  • Interview with David Blackburn, CEO and founder of NYIOP
  • All in the Family: Life in an Ensemble 148
  • Intendant, colleagues, and atmosphere
  • Illness and vacation
  • Musical preparation and stage rehearsals
  • Plays well with others
  • Stability
  • Veni, Vidi, Vici
  • PHRASE BOOK AND DICTIONARY
  • The Very Basic
  • Publicity
  • For the Résumé
  • Musical Terminology
  • In the Theater
    1. Places in the Theater
    2. Places on Stage
    3. People in the Theater
    4. Activities in the Theater
    5. Miscellaneous in the Theater
    6. Phrases to use before your audition
    7. Phrases to use during your audition
  • On the Telephone
  • In Sickness and in Health
  • Contracts
  • Bureaucracy: Permits, Money, and Taxes
  • Transportation
  • Finding an Apartment
  • Miscellaneous
  • WEB SITES AND DOCUMENTS
  • Embassies and Consulates General
    1. Austria
    2. Switzerland
    3. Foreign Embassies in Germany
    4. Foreign Embassies in Austria
    5. Foreign Embassies in Switzerland
  • Visa Applications and Essential Documents
  • Opera Studios / Young Artist Programs
  • Publications and Documents
  • Transportation Websites
    1. Airline Search Sites
    2. European Airline/Discount Airline Search Sites
    3. Discount European Airlines
    4. Traditional European Airlines
    5. Eurailpasses, Train Travel, Hotels, and Travel/Health Insurance
    6. Local Public Transportation Web Sites (in English, when available)
  • Apartments
  • Mobile Phone / Handy Providers
  • Practice Spaces
  • Audition Websites
  • German Language Schools
  • Banks and Money Transfer Service
  • Internet
  • Retirement, Taxes, and Finance
  • Social Services ~ Retirement, Health Insurance, and Kindergeld
  • Miscellaneous Websites
  • RESOURCES
  • National Holidays for 2008
  • Fächer List
  • Sample Résumé
  • Form Letters
  • Form E-Mails
  • ZBF Audition Invitation E-Mail
  • Opera and Concert Agents
  • Agents in Germany
  • Agents in Austria
  • Agents in Switzerland
  • Six Ways to Soak in the Language
  • Ten Things I Love about Germany and Austria

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