The following blog is an inspiring thought spiral, obviously.

You’re a professional voice teacher.

*Your specialty is teaching your students to melt their 1950’s microphone into music notes.*

You’re also out of touch.

*Your moment of realization after finishing this 60 second read.*

Yes. Yes, you are. I mean professionally. You don’t think you are, but you are.

Eek.

You’ve been telling university students how to be professional performers, but you haven’t performed with a high-level performing arts organization in five years.

Out of touch.

You’ve been telling university students how to audition, but you haven’t performed an audition in ten years.

Out of touch.

You haven’t received a rejection from a performing arts organization in twenty years.

Out of touch. They ghost now.

*Even this ghost is not what ghosts look like in 2023.*

I know this because I, too, was out of touch. I have been comfortable in my lifestyle and not pushing myself as a performer for several years. I have been giving students information which was current in 2017, when I last peaked as a performer.

Eek.

2017 was six years ago. Some of today’s current musical theater performers were 15 years old (and younger) in 2017.

So much has changed in the American culture in the past three years alone. So much will continue to change, and rapidly, in the coming years.

And guess what? Much of the change is for the better. Rehearsal rooms have intimacy coordinators, COVID safety officers, and DEI directors at their disposal to make the experience better for everyone involved.

How will you stay current? Not staying current is detrimental to your student’s experience, and potentially detrimental to the profession.

You should go out and fail at an audition. I honestly think that this would make you more qualified to teach a graduating senior Vocal Performance major than any of your past successes.

Let’s strengthen that empathy into sympathy.

*You (left) with your student (right), after your have asked them for and received consent to touch them.*

Stay classy, folks. And stay current, too.