The Importance of Finding a Good Accompanist

All through your process as a singer, it is best to have a good accompanist who appreciates music the way you do. And have pretty similar work ethics as you do. It's also best to find one with the personality that fits well with yours.

Through my process as a singer I have seen 3 types of accompanist.

1) Tough Ass
An accompanist who has his own idea of how the music should sound like and forces his idea on the singer. This type of accompanist regularly judges/criticizes the singer and is not willing to make changes for the singer's voice. His pride gets in the way of the collaboration to make beautiful music.

2) Lost Sheep
An accompanist who has no idea of how the music should sound like. Too worried and self conscious of his playing that he forgets about the singer. This accompanist will make you walk out the rehearsals feeling extremely lost, confused, and unaccomplished. His insecurity gets in the way of creating honest and true music.

3) The Right Match
An accompanist who has ideas but is willing to consider the singer's ideas as well. This accompanist never judges to criticize the singer, but only has the intention of making the music sound as true and honest as it can be. His musical choices are convicted by what he and the singer think is right for the voice and the score. He is sure of himself and is confident in the singer in their musicianship.

They are all talented musicians, but there has only been one type that I would work with and that would be type 3.
Making the right choice for an accompanist is important because your final product(recitals and auditions) really depends on how collaborative both parties are during the rehearsal process.

Also, hiring accompanists is not cheap. It cost $40 per session. And that's already considered pretty cheap. Usually, to prepare for a recital, you must meet with your accompanist as frequent as you can 2 months prior to your recital.

So, once again, you need to make your money worth it!