A Candid Conversation with Kathleen Monson, Soprano
Soprano, Kathleen Monson is a breath of fresh air in a classical world, that is full of gatekeepers, and singers waiting on those gates to open. Monson’s candidness gives perspective to young singers that want to continue on the path as a classical singer. She has demonstrated that you must manage your expectations, while still forging ahead with gumption and guts. Once one can get over the rejection, opportunities will await you.
Monson has made her way by “gigging” in ensemble and solo capacities. By allowing her own creative voice to shine, Monson has identified with her audience and been successful in remaining “hireable.” Monson is the epitome of someone who has created their own opportunities, maintained high musical and professional standards, and upholds a positive outlook despite the ongoing crisis in the arts. Monson proves that boldness and genuine enthusiasm for your craft is the necessary fuel for entrepreneurship in the arts.
Kathleen Monson sings with Opernfest in Prague.
What set you on this career path as a singer?
My first solo was at the ripe old age of five. In Kindergarten, I sang the solo in Toyland. I kept getting solos in school musicals from there on, until I was homeschooled starting in fourth grade. When I was sixteen, my parents sat me down and said, “what do you want to do with your life?” I said, “I think I want to do this singing thing,” with honestly no knowledge of what opera was. I grew up in a very small town in Wyoming of 300 people. I had a very small view of what the world of music looked like. I started driving an hour and a half to a community college to take voice lessons once a week. I worked a part time job. My parents said, “you pay for gas we’ll pay for lessons.” My voice teacher introduced me to the 24 Italian Songs and Arias book. I sang two of those for my entrance exam into my freshman year of college. I went to my undergrad at the University of Montana, and I will never forget this: I walked into my first class (it was a diction class), and I remember this gal came in and sang Rusalka’s aria. She had this massive voice, and I was blown away. After that, I kind of struggled to find what my role would be in my undergrad. Did I want to be a pop singer? Well, my voice just kept guiding me toward this classical soprano track. I ended up taking three years off after my undergrad. I did my master’s at Manhattan School of Music. At that point, I was in my later twenties, and I finally felt like all the stars had aligned, and I was like, “this is what I want to do.” Even then though, it was always work, work, work.
It was a rather unexpected thing. I never thought, when I was a little kid, I would do classical music, but I’ve never had a traditional route. I was always doing one-off concerts and starting my own things. I never did a Young Artist program---not for lack of trying. I was just much older when I started my master’s, so the “under 30” requirement excluded me. And that was okay. I just forged ahead. I freelanced in New York after my grad studies. Then I ended up being in Malaysia for a couple months with my husband working there. I did European programs in the summer. Now I’m in Chicago, and I’ve just been gigging and freelancing here.
Other than your own voice leading you in the direction of classical music, what else has? What do you love about opera?
I was really drawn to grand opera. I’ve done musical theater, since I was kid. That was great, but there was something about the grandiose nature of opera. I realized pretty early on that I would never be a Wagnerian soprano. I love the role of Tosca, but I’ll never sing it. I really found my niche with comedic opera. I’ve done Fledermaus four times. I love that opera is more musical than the shout-singing that is sometimes happening in musical theater these days. I love golden age musicals. I do that as a fun thing on the side. Classical music, though, it was just one of those things. I looked around, and I saw all these people that had tons of talent. It was more than just easy contemporary musical theater. It was so complex. I went to grad school with so many big voices that are doing things at the Met, and I just always wanted to be a part of that.
Ms. Monson in the role of Kate Pinkerton in Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.
You’ve mentioned you’re a self-starter in your work and take on various projects. How do you approach delegation?
That is a great question. I’ve learned a lot over the years. What I usually say is, “I have personal Kathleen, and I have professional Kathleen.” With my friends, I’ve been burned. I’ve been let down. I had a situation where I was asked by a church to do a gig, and I had already been committed elsewhere. I suggested this girl I had worked with a few times, and she was completely unprepared for the gig. The church was upset that I had suggested her.
I have had a lot of those things within my trio. I shared the weight with my friend initially. We were both really into doing this, and I was trying to make everything official with a website. She came to me soon after and said that she accepted a cruise contract and was leaving for the next nine months. We were friends, but I had to have this conversation with her where professional Kathleen was talking to her. I learned from that, and now we have contracts. I had to separate the friend thing from the work thing. Clarity of expectations is also very important. Even with front of staff help, I draw up contracts. I also bring in people with very specific skill sets. I had someone draw up contracts who is qualified to do so. Before the pandemic, we had even just hired an assistant for the trio. There was a lot of busy work I did not have time to do, but having someone who worked for SAI, (that’s their wheelhouse) was really helpful. I had a lovely girl I brought on to help us with social media. Unfortunately, she needed so much instruction in this role, that it ended up being more work for me. That was no longer helping us.
I wish it was cut and dry, but the best advice I can offer, is to separate personal from professional. Paperwork is your friend. It elevates you beyond a group of friends getting together. With contracts, I have the right to revoke pay if someone doesn’t meet outlined expectations. Anytime there is money and friends involved you want to make sure everything is as clear and crisp as possible.
Where did you find to be successful in networking with people?
A lot of networking happened through gigs. When I first arrived in Chicago, having been in New York, it was very hard. I was sad to leave. My pianist had actually been my coach in college, and I just started involving her in as much as I could. I lost money at the beginning, because she would always get paid regardless of if I had enough money to pay myself from the gig. That relationship has saved me so much. We are now really good friends. This is a connection I need to have. As a vocalist, you need to have great accompanists in your pocket.
Never underestimate the power of a church gig. You will meet so many people. One of the girls in my trio, I met at a church gig. She was an alto, and good altos are hard to find. I initiated the relationship, and said, “You want to have coffee?” There was a quartet I sang with for holy week this past Easter, and there were two singers I had never worked with before, so I struck up conversations before and after the rehearsals. I’m a very extroverted person anyway, but I really engaged them. I’m very bold with reaching back out to people as well if I did a festival or gig with them a year ago.
Further, I’ve built a reputation with my trio of “If you work with me: you’re always going to get paid, and you’re always going to be treated well.” It’s a professional environment. I’m not running around like a chicken with my head cut off before the gig. We always have things in order. Set yourself apart from small opera companies that over-promise and under-deliver. In short, when you’re networking, make sure you have follow-through.
Ms. Monson is pictured in auditorium prior to a performance with Fort Wayne Philharmonic.
How did you approach lessons and coachings after graduating with your masters? Did you retain weekly lessons/coachings? Did you switch teachers?
This is kind of a loaded question. I have stayed with teachers solely for the networking possibilities. I have paid generously for lessons that may not have actually been worth it objectively. There was an ulterior motive behind it. My teacher in New York is different. I work with him on and off. He still has some great things to say to me. Every time I go back to New York for an audition, I try to schedule a lesson with him if I can afford it. I’ve been with him since 2009, so we have a very good relationship.
There was one teacher where knew I wasn’t getting much out of the actual lessons, but I got connected with some great coaches by working with them. One of the coaches actually saved me during a concert. I started working with Stephen Smith at Northwestern University, and it was because I had this teacher on my resume.
I also remember being recommended to a few teachers here in Chicago that were not for me. I know my voice. Always remember, even in grad school, you’re paying these people. For me, coachings are different. If I walk in, and I feel like we haven’t done the work that I want to do, we’re done. I will not mess around. A coach is there to help me with music. You know, sometime after grad school you’ll feel pretty established technically. Just like a car though, you’ll need to go in for maintenance pretty regularly. That is what a teacher is for. Immediately following grad school, I tried to do lessons every other week. Coachings, I’ve always done more than lessons. Normally, coachings are once a week, sometimes twice a week in really busy seasons. That also ties in with the question, ‘why are you going to that coach?’ There are several coaches I will go to, if I have a lot of music to get under my belt, where they will just act as an accompanist. I have a German coach, and we just work language. With Dana [Brown], it’s both. We work language, music, all of that. You’re really shopping around for what you need after school. If I’m singing a musical theater gig coming up, I’ll go see a musical theater teacher. It is to suit your needs, and it also depends on what you’re auditioning for. I always tell people if you have a big choral audition coming up, work with a choral conductor for a coaching.
How do you adapt your programming and performance practice for a variety of audiences, particularly those that are not familiar with classical music?
I took a marketing class on SkillShare. If you’re running your own operation, until you have some serious funds, you have to be the marketing person and promo person. The biggest thing I learned in this marketing class was: “be who you are.” If you try to be who everyone wants you to be, then you’ll actually end up being nothing. Our image with the trio was specific. First of all, I am not about platforms. There are a lot of people in Chicago that have platforms for all kinds of things, and good for them. That’s not what I am. I am about happiness and great music that’s entertaining.
When I started the trio, I wanted to be able to introduce opera to the masses. That was our slogan. Well, the only way to get opera involved in what we’re doing, is to introduce something that people are already familiar with. Musical theater is one of the best ways to do that. When I looked around and saw the people that wanted to come to these concerts, I knew they would not be entertained by a solid four hours of opera. So, we incorporated opera, musical theater, and song into one concert. Then we created marketable programs. We have our classical concert. Obviously, we’re red heads, so we have our Celtic concert. We just did a sellable musical called American Musical Classics, which is songs from the 1930’s and 40’s. It has plenty of Golden Age musical theater, and we pair Gershwin alongside that. This is who I am, and these are the concerts I create. If you want them, great. If you don’t think it’s a fit, even better.
What about corporate events in particular?
That is a market I would love to get into. It’s a little hard though as a classical singer. I have a friend that works corporate events, and he said most events, people will talk over you. I’ve tried gearing myself toward weddings and more fancy corporate events where they actually want to be entertained. We had a gig, for example, scheduled before COVID, at a Catholic college’s awards banquet. Once again, know your audience.
So how do you pitch for these gigs?
I’m bold. My uncle has this great saying: “the least they can do, is tell you no.” That has been a life motto for me. I remember the first time I went to Italy. I was raising money for it, because I had no money in grad school. I cold called a bunch of corporate offices in Montana, where I lived, and asked if they did sponsorships. I would tell them about my opportunity to go to Italy. There was a woman who gave me $500 from her company. Of course, I did all the right things: emails, phone calls, sent her pictures, and thank you notes. Same thing when I went to Prague. I started randomly calling people. I started a blog for everyone that donated to follow along. As far as gigs, I’ve done the same thing with retirement homes. I would just call and ask, “Are you allowing live performers right now?” I’ve built up a whole thing to back it up. I have a solo, duo, or trio concert. A Skillshare class taught me how to do a pitch and how to set up an email pitch. Also, get your hands on the book, “Break Into the Scene.” Seth Hanes, the author, goes through how to set up specific pitches.
So, I’ve done it all. I’ve emailed, called, and even texted. I’ve gotten plenty of “nos”. Get used to hearing that. It’s a numbers game, as with auditions. If I call 100 people and get 5 concerts, that’s 5 more concerts than I would have had. I’d rather spend 3 hours on the phone calling people to book those concerts. And you’ll get repeat clients where people will seek you out. A lot of stuff is trial and error. Our first press packet… phew! In general, though, if you are enthusiastic and you want to share your talent, people will buy it.
I have heard you say before that you have balanced your income between singing and other sources. When folks ask you, “what do you do?” you say “I’m a musician” without hesitation. This is quite empowering. My question is, though, have you found other jobs difficult to balance?
I’ve had many jobs: frame shop associate, front-desk at a hotel, voice teacher, barista, high-end salon, and bridal consultant. When I was working those jobs though, I made it known, even to clients, that I was a musician first. I was unashamedly bold in asking clients if they wanted to hire a musician.
All of my jobs have given me skill sets that I’ve used in music. There is also only a small portion of classical musicians that only make their money in classical music. A lot of us go into this field blind in that way. Those of us that continue to make money in music, do other things to supplement. I’m not looking for one thing to pay all my bills. It’s a ton of little gigs. Always plan in advance too. Right now, I’m looking to October. In June, I’ll be looking to book Christmas.
This pandemic has taken a personal and professional tool on musicians, particularly vocalists. Your tenacity in keeping the course as a performer has been a breath of fresh air, and quite inspiring. How have you carried on both emotionally and professionally? Are there any predictions or hopes for the future?
The biggest thing for me is to know that this is a season and it's not forever. Gigging musician's experience ups and downs all the time. Sometimes it can be a very fruitful season in your career, then very dry seasons. To me it helps to think of this past year as just a dryer season. I’ll leave it at that. Staying flexible is absolutely key. Work hard to find the gig and be grateful when you have one. Use this time to work on areas your career lacks, language, marketing, branding etc. One of the ways that I stay positive is to remember that there's been a lot worse seasons in human history, yet somehow music has always survived, and I firmly believe it will continue to survive. It will just take hardworking, forward thinkers to step up to the plate and not be afraid to think outside the box. I've looked at this season as a challenge: one I'm determined to find a solution to. I could waste time being sad about the way things are, or I could use those hours to call, learn, or book myself some gigs. (I would challenge you to do the same!) This is something too, to remember, pandemic or not if you want this career you have to work, and I mean work. Most musicians are not overnight successes. Many of us have worked years and years (something they fail to mention in school). I've always been a half full kind of person. Why dwell on something you can't change, when there is something you can?! You really have more power than you realize when it comes to making things happen. You just have to try. As one of my favorite quotes says "Falling on your face is still moving forward". I would rather go out fighting with my career, say I tried everything I could to be a performer, than wait around for someone else to do it for me.
Ms. Monson is pictured with her trio, Canto Zenzero. They are on set prior a performance on America’s Got Talent.