Q: Do I need a visa to work in Germany?
A: Yes.
If you do any paid work in Germany you will need a visa. If you are coming to Germany with a contract offer (lucky you!) then your theater will help you with the process. If you are coming over planning to audition with the hopes of finding work then you can do so for 90 days on a tourist visa. However, the moment someone wants to hire you, you will need to get that visa!
I’ve found that this is a bit of a cat and mouse game. Companies will be reticent to hire you if they know you don’t have your work visa (Arbeitserlaubnis), but it is very hard - although not impossible- to get your work visa without a German contract in your hand. If you can manage to get your Arbeitserlaubnis as a freelance artist then you will be in a good position to audition for more than the 90 day period you are allowed on your tourist visa. There are some lucky singers that land work after 90 days, but most will not.
Q: Should I have done a major young artist program, won a major competition, or gone to a big name school?
A: None of these are requirements for success
Doing a major young artist program, winning a prestigious competition or going to a well-known school can be a big help in terms of contacts that are able to forge. They can also be an indicator to yourself if you are singing at a level high enough to be taken seriously in the career. However, there are absolutely no guarantees.
And I think that is actually the up-side of auditioning in Germany. Forging great contacts absolutely helps and being absolutely incredible at what you do is necessary- but you can do these things without going to a young artist program in the US, winning a competition or going to a big school.
In fact, I graduated from the Jacobs School of Music. The connections that school afforded me helped me incredibly on the back end — crashing on IU alumni’s couches, coaches, coffees, help finding a teacher, navigating immigrating, finding an apartment in Berlin… the nitty gritty stuff.
However- I am quite positive that nobody that has hired me and paid me income for the last 6 years even knows what IU even is. Same goes for young artist programs. Your average German Opera house hears people from all around the world, they generally don’t know the difference between Merola vs. Opera North YAP, or CCM vs. University of Pick a State.
The truth is, singers make it on professional stages from all sorts of backgrounds. Not all of which include the USA, not all of which even include a Masters Degree or one single competition.
Q: Do I need to speak German
A: Eventually, but you don’t have to be perfect.
In my opinion, singers who are brave enough to move abroad are brave enough to jump completely into the experience. It’s another truth that not everyone will ‘make it’, whatever that means to you. But I love the thought ‘failing’ to find work as a singer in Germany because you can 1. fail anywhere 2. learn about a million skills by immigrating to another country. ********Becoming fluent in German is one of those skills. Most Americans never get to experience the joy of learning another language. Even though it is painful, it is a joy.
Also- think of the singers you respect the most, the singers at the top of our industry. Ask yourself if they are fluent in more than once language. The answer is almost always yes. If you want to be one of them, then be like them.
That said, when I moved to Berlin, I couldn’t speak a literal word. I made sure to learn as quickly as possible (DM me if you want a glorious list of cost-effective German language resources…future blog post on this to come). So, don’t let his hold you back.