From our founder, Larry Bakst…
I decided to reach out to a colleague at the ZAV in Stuttgart, Martin Geißler, who oversees auditions there for both chorus positions and soloists, and who also advises singers more broadly. Remember ZAV stands for Zentrale Auslands und Fachvermittlung or in English, Central Office for International and Specialist Placement. It is the state funded employment office for people living in Germany, with its own department for performers and artists.
From what I can see, Stuttgart—and likely Köln as well—are among the strongest ZAV offices to approach right now. München, on the other hand, seems quite saturated and very busy this year. I haven’t spoken recently with Frau Jürgens in Berlin, but while many singers naturally gravitate there, the reality is that this particular ZAV office is also quite saturated and very busy. I’m less familiar with Hamburg, though there are certainly good houses in the region. Leipzig is also worth noting, especially given its connections to numerous eastern theaters. Köln, however, stands out—not only based on positive firsthand experience, but also because of the sheer number of theaters in North Rhine-Westphalia, which creates a broader range of opportunities.
I’ve known Martin Geiẞler of the ZAV in Stuttgart for quite some time. He immediately shared the current ZAV materials including an introductory letter, which I found to be exceptionally clear and useful. In his letter, he suggests that soloists who don’t immediately get solo contracts, consider working in a chorus. These days it is possible to do this without prejudice from casting directors.
Don’t Rule Out Chorus Auditions
Working in an opera chorus has come up a lot lately, especially as I’ve been speaking with younger singers who are pursuing that path alongside developing solo careers. It’s a practical and increasingly common route. A lot of good solo voices are working in the chorus these days, and the choruses have benefitted. If you’re looking for a chorus job the long list of opera choruses in the ZAV materials lets you know what might be asked of you to sing at the audition. You won’t be asked to sing all of them but you’d be well advised to familiarize yourself with them because you will be asked to sing excerpts which could come from any of them. You can use the music, of course. Sight singing is important, however, and you’ll probably be asked to sight sing some unknown modern repertoire.
Materials from the ZAV
WELCOME LETTER & BASIC REQUIREMENTS: FREE RESOURCE
This is provided to you here without a subscription to our website, so that you can get a general sense of what the general requirements are before auditioning for the ZAV.
For all solo and choral auditions the following is required:
-At least one aria in German and one piece by Mozart.
-A basic command of the spoken German language
-Scholastic training in music and some previous professional experience / aptitude for the work field
INFORMATIONAL LETTER WITH ARIA LISTS (Required & Suggested)
OVERVIEW: Pflicht Arie for Chorus auditions (but soloists…pay attention also!)
For chorus auditions: you must prepare the ‘Pflichtarie’ (‘Obligatory aria’) – an aria in each voice type that is required for all chorus auditions, but this information is also a good guide for soloists to use as well. “Und / Oder means ‘and / or’. You can bring both or just one, depending on your voice type.
The list of arias that follows under the primary ‘Pflicht arie’ is a great guide to what roles German theaters think should be sung by the same voice. You can certainly prepare arias from these roles as well, but they are not required. Agents and theaters here do like pieces they know, but if something shows your voice particularly well, use it too. Be very careful about singing the heavier roles especially if most of the roles in a lighter category suit you. It’s a mistake Americans often make and can mark you as unrealistic. Theaters are looking for singers for specific roles and have particular ideas about what is suitable.
SAMPLE CV
OVERVIEW: If you’re auditioning in Germany, use the attached CV. Convert measurements to the metric system, and using the German date system is best. Remember this is different than the North American date system. In Germany it is formatted as follows: dd/mm/yyyy.