Crafting a good resume is one of the many skills you need as a performing artist. Just like a captivating performance on stage, your resume needs to showcase your skills, experience, and unique talents in a way that captures the attention of casting directors.

Your resume is more than just a list of accomplishments; it’s a marketing tool that represents your unique artistry and professional background. It helps casting directors, agents, and conductors quickly assess your suitability for specific roles and productions. As such, your resume should be tailored for each opportunity to highlight relevant skills and experiences.

In an article on the Opera America website, they layout the importance of a well-crafted resume:

Your resume should be a one-page representation of your performance and training experience to date. This sounds like a simple task, but there are many things to consider. Auditioners, who will see hundreds of resumes, are looking for clues not only about your training and performing experience, but also about who you are as a professional. Typos and misspellings can be an indicator of your thoroughness in preparing a role. Resume exaggerations can be viewed as deliberate untruthfulness (not a good character assessment), and missing information can raise flags.

Here are some things to think about when crafting your resume.

Formatting and Presentation

• Keep the design clean and professional, with a focus on readability.
• Use a consistent font (such as Times New Roman or Arial) and maintain a font size of 10-12 points for body text.
• Use bold or italics to emphasize important sections, but avoid excessive formatting that can distract from the content.
• Align your content in a logical manner, using headings and columns with definitive margins.
• Ensure your resume fits on one page, unless you have an extensive performance history that warrants more space.

What to include

PERSONAL CONTACT HEADER

• Place your full name prominently at the top, followed by your contact information (phone number, email, and website URL) – you can also include professional social media profiles if they are strictly professional
• If you are managed, list the agency, the contact person and their phone and email.
• Vocal Categories: List your voice type or fach (e.g., soprano, tenor, mezzo-soprano, etc.). If you are in musical theatre, you can also include your vocal range 
• Professional Headshot: Include a high-quality, color professional headshot in the upper right or left corner.
• Professional Affiliations (optional): If you are a member of a union or relevant industry organizations/associations, you can also list them here. This is mostly for musical theatre performers

UPCOMING ENGAGEMENTS

If you have any confirmed upcoming engagements, include the role, show, company, and dates. Do not list any gig that you haven’t been officially confirmed of or that has not been announced by the company.

If you don’t have any upcoming engagements, do not put this section on your resume.

PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCE

This section is the heart of your resume. List your roles, shows, companies, and dates.

For opera resumes, if the opera is a contemporary or rare work, include the composer’s name in parentheses after the name of the work. Start with the most recent roles and work backward. 

For musical theatre resumes, you can include the director’s name for any production you’ve done.

Be careful not to fill your resume with every single role, big and small, you’ve done for the past 10 years. Remember that everything has to fit on one page. List the most relevant and recent roles that represent who you are as a performer.

If you were an understudy/cover, include that in the listing by putting *(cover)* next to the role

If you are at the beginning of your career and you don’t have much professional experience, you can include roles you performed in college. Once you’ve been out there for a few years, leave the college roles off.

And if you are at the beginning of your career and you have yet to perform a complete role, you can also include scenes that you have done in school or programs. This will give them an idea of what roles you would be appropriate for.

ROLES IN PREPARATION (Optional)

If your resume doesn’t totally reflect who you are as a singer/performer because you have a lack of experience, you may include roles that you have been learning that show who you are now. But be careful with this: only include roles that you are really working on and can sing. If you put a role on your resume as “in preparation,” an auditor may ask you to sing something from that role in your audition!

CONCERTS/RECITALS (Mostly for opera singers)

Document any solo concerts, recitals, or guest appearances you’ve had if they are relevant. This could include collaborations with orchestras, chamber groups, or as a featured soloist. Name the role/solo, work, composer (if it is a contemporary or rare work), orchestra/concert series/venue, and date.

OTHER THEATRE CREDITS (Mostly for musical theatre performers)

If you have a list of straight plays you have done, include them here in the same format as above.

If you are a crossover artist who does both musical theatre and opera, you can divide your performance experience into separate categories but only if you have more than two or three roles that fall outside of your main genre. If you only have one musical theatre role and all the rest are opera, list that role with the opera roles.

AWARDS AND HONORS

Mention any competitions, awards, scholarships, or grants you’ve received related to your singing career. List the award, the name of the organization who awarded it, and the date

EDUCATION

Include your formal musical education, degrees, conservatories, vocal coaches, and masterclasses. Highlight any specialized training relevant to your genre.

List the organization, any degree or certificate you received (if applicable), the place, and dates.

SPECIAL SKILLS

Include talents that set you apart from other performers. These could be unique dance abilities, proficiency in playing a specific instrument, or language skills. If the role you are auditioning for requires specific skills, make sure to highlight them if you possess them. 

Make sure your special skills are relevant to performing.

REFERENCES/TEACHERS/COLLABORATORS

Us this section to list the people you have worked with – Teachers, Directors, Conductors, Coaches, Masterclass Clinicians.

But only list them, if they can vouch for your talent and artistic abilities. Make sure to obtain their permission before listing them.

Some final thoughts

Keep It Concise.

While it’s important to showcase your achievements, aim to keep your resume to one page whenever possible. Casting directors often have limited time to review each application, so present your information in a clear and concise manner.

Proofread and Polish.

Before submitting your resume, meticulously proofread it to ensure there are no grammatical errors or typos. Consider having a trusted friend or mentor review it as well. A polished resume reflects your professionalism and attention to detail.

Print it and have it in PDF format on your website that is downloadable.

And finally….

Keep it updated! You should review your resume a few times a year (more if you’ve got lots of gigs).

Now, go get the job!