I would like to add that SOMETIMES if you are not "in" the music community the people that are, will try to keep you out, especially if they have children that are competing against your child. This has happened to us with kids that are not even SINGERS! It took a lot of determination on my part to basically "force" my D to believe in herself and her talent after a few of these people got through with her. It took two voice teachers who were not supportive of my D for me to realize the problem. She had a bad experience at a competition and stopped singing for 4 months. She believed that she was not talented. I am not a musician but I am an avid listener and I know what I like to listen to. You can't believe the frustration of hearing the most gorgeous sound you have ever heard in your life (ok, I might be biased because she is my child
) and then hearing, "Well, I don't know mom, so and so doesn't seem to think so."
I kept pushing and finally got her to go to a lesson with the highest rated voice teacher in our area. In 45 min that teacher solved my D's very minor breathing problem and told my D that she would go far, if that is what she wanted. My D had the courage to apply and was accepted to several music summer programs and ended up attending BUTI. There, she was repeatedly told that she was very talented and that her voice was beautiful.
She has been accepted into two amazing music schools and is auditioning for two more. Her voice improves at EVERY Lesson. Her self-confidence is up and she is already considering graduate school for voice. She has auditioned and gotten roles in local Opera. NONE of this would have happened if we had tried to follow the advice we received (or didn't receive) from her previous teachers. We are not part of the "group" in our town and I am sure that is what made things more difficult. D was seen as competition instead of one of their own. The straw the broke the camels back for me was when my D was waiting for a lesson and heard the voice teacher say to another student "Oh don't worry we can go over our time,it is only _____ . My advice, trust your intuition and make sure that you get reliable information. I don't know if my daughter will make a career of singing . But what I do know is that she never would have had a chance if I had not believed in her. I cringe inside when I think of all the other kids who might have been given a chance to succeed but didn't have someone who had the means and the drive to help them see it through. Most teenagers are not going to go through all of this on their own. We know there is a tough road ahead, but at least she has the opportunity to be on that road!