Living the Dream Building a Sustainable Career in the Performing Arts

Introduction

PART I :Defining the Dream

1 Your Career as a Business

2 Mission

• Why Mission is Important
• Assets and Deficits
• A Mission Exploration
• Values
• Questions to Consider
• Elements of a Dynamic Mission Statement
• Vision
• Writing Your Mission/Vision/Values Statement

3 Branding

4 Creating Business Plans

5 Support and Accountability

Further Reading and Resources on Defining the Dream

PART II: Sharing the Dream

6 Facing Outward While Grounding Inward

7 Business and Artistic Relationships

8 Key Allies

Further Reading and Resources on Sharing the Dream

PART III: Financing the Dream

9 Budgets (ugh!)

10 Liabilities, Assets, and Net Worth…oh my!

• Liabilities
• Assets
• Net Worth
• Balance Sheets

11 Savings

12 Managing Your Risk

13 “Nothing is Certain Except Death and Taxes”

• Taxes
• Deductions
• Retirement Savings Plans for the Self‑Employed
• Tax Credits

14 Plan Your Estate/Leave a Legacy

15 Organizing Your Dream Business

Further Reading and Resources on Financing the Dream

PART IV: As Dream Becomes Reality

16 Career/Life Balance—At Home

• Choosing a Home Base
• Supporting Yourself
• Managing Daily Life While Working

17 Career/Life Balance—On the Road

18 Facing the Future

Further Reading and Resources on the Dream Becoming Reality

Conclusion: Keep Dreaming!

Biography

Kirstin Chávez has sung leading operatic roles on many of the world’s great stages, including the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, and the Sydney Opera House. In addition to her extensive performing career, she is Artist‑in‑Residence at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and a Certified Financial Planner.

Johnathon Pape is a stage director of opera, theatre, and musical theatre with numerous credits in the US and abroad, including New York City Opera and HaBimah National Theatre of Israel. He has served on the faculty of the Eastman School of Music and most recently was the Director of Opera Studies at Boston Conservatory.

“Living the Dream: Building a Sustainable Career in the Performing Arts is an indispensable guide for aspiring performers. This book covers all aspects of post‑graduation life, equipping readers with essential business skills and professional strategies. The emphasis on financial management fills a critical knowledge gap often overlooked.”

Jenny Coyle, Course Leader, BA Hons in Professional Practice 2023, Italia Conti

“This is a must‑have book for every artist at any stage that offers practical guidance and perspectives about both your career and your life that is rarely discussed or taught in most training programs. The authors vividly illustrate each part of the career both on stage and off, but most importantly remind you that this is your dream. Dreams are real, and they can be shaped in many ways. Building a career, your career, is up to you. You are in the driver seat of your future, and only you choose where to lead it. What you build must fulfill and sustain you, and this book reminds us all not to be afraid to fashion your own beautiful tapestry, one that embodies and illuminates every unique part of who you are from home to stage, and everywhere in between.”

Eric Ferring, Operatic Tenor, Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago; Executive Director, Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago; Project Curator, Lexicon Classics; Soloists Vice President, American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA)

“At last! A book that offers practical guidance and invaluable perspective to artists in the early stages of building a career. Whatever your creative pursuit, you will find information here about the additional skills and tools needed in the highly competitive field of the arts. Nobody does it alone! Kirstin and Johnathon cover broad and unexpected territory with clear, pragmatic suggestions, allowing room for each artist’s personal journey. It is an invaluable guide and resource. If only this book had been around when I was a student!”

Jake Heggie, composer