Douglas’s Website

1. How did you get started with singing?

I was five years old and Barbara Hendricks lived with my family in Lincoln, Nebraska. I used to mimic her singing to annoy her. That would have been my start, I suppose

1a. Barbara Hendricks lived with your family? How neat!

She was a buddy of my older brother. they met at the Aspen festival. She was finishing her chemistry degree at UNL and needed to live in a cheap place. My sister’s room was free.

2. What made you decide that music and singing was what you wanted to do?

I had a music teacher in high school in Denver who recognised something in my voice and kicked my tail until I figured it out.

3. Do you still take regular lessons?

Not regular, but when I have time. I use the technique he [my teacher] gave me in high school with the added finesse Souzay and Rossi-Lemeni gave me.

4. Do you feel you still have stuff to learn?

Absolutely. Not as much as I did before, however. I don’t consider myself a “master”, but I do teach one week a year in Breckenridge Colorado.

5. What about practising? How long do you practice in a typical day?

I don’t on a typical day. A typical day involves packing and phone calls and writing bills. I check in with my voice on a daily basis. but like long distance runners, I know my “legs” and if I’m warmed up already, I don’t beat myself up vocalizing.

Ok. in a typical week then

Depends on what singing I have to do. Mostly, I just warm up to sing thru the music I have for the week. A regular, “Dougie getting better” session? Doesn’t typically happen anymore. Even preparing MASS here, I hardly sang before the production week. I was in terrific shape from the 60 recitals this season, so I just kept myself hydrated, warmed up and relaxed.

6. If you were learning a new role, how long would that take would you estimate?

Usually, in English, a role takes about three weeks, but USUALLY, I really hit it about three weeks from the first rehearsal, so… my timing could be a necessity based thing

7. What would you say is the best thing about what you do?

The best part? Easy answer: I’m using the gifts that were provided me at birth and the skills I’ve acquired on my own.

8. What about the worst thing?

Packing. Absolutely … packing

9. Aside from packing, do you like travelling?

I love it!

So that’s not a problem then?

No, travelling is the easy part. I view it as a challenge.

11. Ok, what about making a living: how easy or hard is that to do?

Well, my wife is a flute professor at Julliard with her own performing career. between the two of us, we make enough to keep ourselves housed, fed and reasonably up to fashion standards. Buying the apartment at the low ebb of the market was a blessing. As for the money, I couldn’t care less. I love toys, but I get as happy buying cheap $5
gadgets for friends as I do buying cars.

12. Do you have an agent or do you do all that stuff yourself?

I will be leaving Concert Artists Guild in a few days

Then you will be agent-less?

Yup. I expect to hire an assistant soon. I hope for a dream agent to stumble upon my work and get excited about what I’m pulling off out here. Until then, I will be answering the cell phone. I have enough to keep me in mortgage payments thru next season. and expect to offer up my own “Broadway” concerts for orchestras next issue of Musical
America.

13. If someone who was headed towards a career in opera asked you for advice, what would you say?

Depends on their momentum and motivation…. headed towards means going that direction, but not what’s driving them. If they can do anything else, they should. Music is a wonderful avocation. As a vocation, it’s a crapshoot

Is it difficult?

Not difficult. Singing is easy. Rejection and uncertainly is the drain.

If performing is a “fun” thing, then leave it as a hobby you love and can enjoy. If it is your “calling”, then by all means, pursue it

This webchat was originally published at About.com several years ago.

Biography of the Guest

After graduating from Manchester University with a music degree, I took a six-month postgraduate admin course and immediately got a job at the BBC.   Worked as secretary to the General Manager of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London, then moved to Cardiff, Wales as a TV Production Assistant in the Music Department at BBC Wales. Projects included Proms, Cardiff Singer of the World competition, documentaries, series
with singers such as Stuart Burrows, Dennis O’Neill and Aled Jones.

Subsequently worked as Unit Manager and Business Manager, and was acting Manager of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. From 1993 worked as Production Associate on various music and arts TV programmes, including an award-winning arts magazine programme. Currently working in BBC Online, producing the website for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Cardiff Singer of the World, and a site for teenagers on the
paranormal.

In my spare time I sing with the BBC National Chorus of Wales and a small chamber choir, take my two Tibetan Terriers for walks, go to concerts and the opera, play the piano and cook for my friends.

Webchat

1. What exactly do you do?

At the moment, I produce BBC websites for an orchestra, a singing competition and for teenagers interested in the paranormal! Before that I managed TV classical music productions, amongst other things.

2. I’m a songwriter surviving on film and movie $. I write country and pop. Can you
suggest a supervisor I should submit to?

If you want to do stuff for TV, particularly TV dramas, try BBC Head of Drama - the person here in Wales, UK is Matthew Robinson. I could forward on an email to him. But if you’re from US, there may be a Union problem here.

3. How much education do you have? Also, how did you get started (ie. how did you get her foot in the door)?

I got an Honours degree in music from Manchester University, then did an admin course and came in as a secretary to an orchestral personnel manager. That’s 20yrs ago though - there’s much more opportunity now, with school and college work placements. And in those days it was hard to break out of the secretarial mould.

4. Did you choose from an established catalog, or recruit custom-writes for projects?

Any music we recruited for the programmes I did tended to be for opening titles graphics - the stuff in the body of the programmes was mostly classical performances of opera, symphonies, songs etc. For the most part, we’d commission from a group of people that we knew, who specialised in that kind of thing. But also you’d hear stuff on other TV programmes and make a note of the composers, plus people would send in tapes and CVs of their stuff, and would be recommended by others in the business.

5. Is there a market for online music for websites with non-music themes?

Good question. The paranormal one I’m working on at the moment has a couple of bits of music - one is a midi file of spooky music which loads with our Ghostcam. I personally don’t like it much - I get a shock when music plays when I don’t expect it! The only other music is background to audio clips - more like special effects.

At the moment my personal preference is to turn sound on if I want to, especially if I’m listening to the radio online at the same time. 

6. How well can you live on what you make?

Not as well as I’d like to! but that’s always the case. But I can afford a quite nice house, I run a car, I go on holiday once or twice a year. Well enough for me, but I don’t crave yachts and diamonds (Just as well)

7. Why did you make the switch to websites?

Apart from getting into a bit of a rut, this time last year I worked as I always do on the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. For the first time, it had a website, and I was involved a little bit with getting material for it during the competition. It was a really [great] site, with a resident expert giving comments each day, with audio clips,  interesting information etc - and it really opened up my eyes to the possibilities. Especially when the expert’s comments were being put online during the live transmission of the TV programmes - really impressive.

Apart from that - it’s a whole new future which I wanted to be part of.

8. Are you concerned about Mp3 and Napster? Have you changed your practices due to the copyright concerns they create? Are the British p.r.o.s enacting legislation to protect the rights of writers/musicians?

I think this is part of the whole new world of the Internet and the copyright difficulties that result generally, with images and print material as well as music. I’m not an expert, but I know the whole area is being examined here the same as elsewhere.

As far as the BBC is concerned, we always have to be squeaky-clean when it comes to any kind of copyright, and as far as music goes what we can do is governed by Union agreements and agreements with the various agencies which protect the rights of the writers, record companies etc.

9. How do you go about marketing your services?

If you mean how do I market the websites I work on, well, I get in touch with people like Cheryl at about.com to see if I can get the URL onto her list! Seriously though - the Internet is such a big place, you can’t rely on search engines and you have to go out and find the sites that you’d like yours to link from.

If you mean me personally - I network a lot, and after 20 years in the BBC I know quite a few people!

10. What do you like best about your job?

Difficult question! I really like the exchange of ideas, leading to the creation of something that wasn’t there before …. I like the people I work with, and the quite relaxed atmosphere here, which really is a breeding ground for new ideas. Oh - I don’t know - I like most things about it really!