This program is amazing. If you are a young singer looking to turn the corner from hitting the cattle calls into earning paying contracts, The CoOPERAtive Program at Westminster is for you.
The CoOPERAtive Program is a very supportive and collaborative environment, featuring the country’s top talent. Not only do Laura Brooks Rice and Dr. Christopher Arneson bring in some of the most seasoned and passionate faculty, but they also make sure you spend ample time with each. Check out this faculty list including coaches, teachers, and conductors from the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Washington National Opera, New York City Opera, The Juilliard School and The Curtis Institute of Music.
The list includes such names as Susan Shiplett Ashbaker, Thomas Bagwell, Daniel Beckwith, Sandra Bernhard, Deborah Birnbaum, William Hobbs, Chuck Hudson, Gina Lapinski, Anthony Manoli, Mark Moliterno, Buck Ross, Debra Scurto-Davis, Ted Taylor, Marc Verzatt, Mark Moliterno, Nova Thomas, Lydia Brown, William Burden, Steven Crawford, Kathleen Kelly, Yelena Kurdina and and Brian Zeger.
How much value do you get? Well, they have taken the time to measure it so you can be sure you are getting your money’s worth. Singers typically receive over twenty six (26) coachings over the three weeks of the program. Yep, that’s more than one a day. One singer told me that she had nine (9) coachings the week before my seminar. And that is just coachings! That doesn’t include seminars, yoga, concerts, workshops and masterclasses. Read more about a Typical Day at the CoOPERAtive Program.
The Seminar and Individual Sessions
This seminar was certainly one of the best. We had a perfect room and the group was energized and well-prepared. Several of the singers had already printed the workbook sample and taken the questionnaire online. That is the kind of proactive skill that pays off huge in our entrepreneurial business.
We had a great discussion and the singers were very willing to share and contribute their creative ideas. I was flattered to read their comments (below).
The directors of the program also made sure to block out time for individual follow-up sessions with many of the singers. We met in fifteen-minute time slots throughout the afternoon discussing web sites, resumes, headshots and brainstorming marketing and product positioning.
We were able to make some major leaps forward with many resumes. In many cases, we condensed and refined the content. In many others we found small errors and discussed some basic graphic design formatting principles: less is more, readable should be the highest priority, white space is golden.
Please Email Us your resume if you would like some free feedback! We are happy to help in any way we can.
We chatted about the trade-offs of creating your own website from scratch using a WordPress blog engine, hiring a website designer such as Vox Page1, using a Flash based template such as Dynamod Web Portals, or building/hosting your website through Classical Singer or YAP Tracker.
I was also able to help singers refine their product positioning and strategize their market development. Most specifically, several singers had interest in creating a recital series. We helped them move from having a unique idea toward putting it into action: picking some deadlines on the calendar, deciding on a name for the series, targeting the right market, creating a fee structure and budgeting for print materials.
This was a fantastic session and I look forward to revisiting Westminster in the fall!
A unique and consolidated approach to organizing a singing career. It’s so beneficial to have the information in one easily accessible place on my own computer!
Very helpful, very informative. It really helped gain perspective on how to approach auditions and maintaining a career. I feel more confident and organized about how to approach the future of my career.
Bill was extremely enthusiastic about his presentation. He was very motivating. I felt that I now have tools which win help me accomplish my goals.
Was a very motivating presentation… Wow! Crazy awesome software.
Thank you so much for this. My organizational instincts have always been the thing holding me back and this will help me in the pursuit to make that better.
Thank you for forcing me to stretch and create concrete attainable goals, bringing them to the forefront & out of the subconsciousness.
I came into this seminar with some idea of what the next steps are. I now have a clearer understanding of how to achieve them systematically.
This was a highly efficient way to talk about the business side of a singing career. We also examined personal thought processes that might hold us back from or help us with our business skills.
This seminar is well-organized and allows an artistic mind to assess current strengths as well as areas that need focus to move toward greater efficiency.
Thank you for a great workshop full of energy and motivation. It was all I needed and more.
I liked the practical and real quality to Bill’s engagement with us. He wasn’t a “motivational speaker” or greasy salesman… just someone with a plan to share.
This seminar is great because it focuses specifically on what each individual needs, not “singers in general.” Very useful at any level.
Just as in coachings we try to take the mystery out of the process of performing, this seminar really helped take the mystery out of being a professional singer – I feel inspired to organize my life.
Bill’s perspective was a catalyst for thinking outside the box in areas that I thought I had exhausted in career planning.
This is a veery realistic and organized way to plan my professional life. Its years of advice and suggestions from multiple teachers and mentors all in one. Thank you!
Practical, high-energy, accessible.
Presented a very practical, simple and inspiring solution to manage one’s own self as a singer.
After this presentation, being a professional singers seemed just as attainable as having a “normal job.” I was very encouraged by this prospect.
This seminar forced me to acknowledge the things I knew that I should be doing for myself — but in a way that makes them seem approachable and achievable!
Very nice presentation. Bill just gets the singer’s perspective. Great software too!
This session helped focus my energy on what I need to do to organize myself as a singer and artist. Very helpful!
Informative and succinct. The information is priceless and presentation of the highest quality.