Sopranos get a bad rap in Musical Theatre today. This makes me mad. I confess, I am myself a soprano, but that is not the only reason it irks me. I’m not quite sure how it came to be that we sopranos are so maligned these days, but here are 10 reasons I think sopranos have the right and need to exist!

the process of finding great repertoire is like shopping for a great outfit to wear. Yes, a song is like a good piece of clothing; one size does not fit all. The question is: what “fits”?

So, how does one choose the right repertoire?

1. You do NOT get points for trying, meaning: Always choose a song completely within your ability level.

There were two basic problems with 99% of the singers’ song choices:

They almost all sang inappropriate repertoire for their youthful ages.

The difficulty level of their songs was generally just beyond their abilities.

the multi-layered topic of choosing repertoire, for young singers in particular. This is a subject near and dear to my heart as both a singer and a teacher because I know first-hand how incredibly important it is; song choice can make or break an audition or a performance, or a voice for that matter.