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Vera Hiltbrunner

@vera_hiltbrunner

24 days ago

Photo by Vera Hiltbrunner on September 05, 2026. May be an image of miniskirt and text that says 'I've spent my fair share of giving way too many fu:ks about what in the classical somegatekeepers በሀ music world think about my singing. It has only ever made me one thing: miserable and insecure. EE'.

Photo by Vera Hiltbrunner on September 05, 2026. May be an image of text that says 'ME DOIT DO Trying to build a career by being noticed by the „right important people" left me feeling deeply disempowered, and it was absolutely not worth it. Giving away my power and my agency like that, letting other people decide whether I'm good enough that's unhealthy for the individual musician. But I think it's also bad for US as collective, and for opera and classical music as an artform that needs to survive and evolve as societies evolve too.'.

Photo by Vera Hiltbrunner on September 05, 2026. May be an image of ‎text that says '‎SCo DE دي .화..호호 .............. This culture that keeps certain hierarchies passionately alive (look at opera houses) instead of rethinking how we could create in more democratic ways... this culture that leaves so much power in the hands of so few and normalizes it, instead of questioning why gatekeepers should exist at all...‎'‎.

Photo by Vera Hiltbrunner on September 05, 2026. May be an image of clarinet, violin, saxophone, poster, cello, magazine, crowd, concert and text that says 'this culture that still celebrates competition between musicians instead of connection, collaboration and community... this culture where one person conducts one concert and earns 20x more in a week than the musician in the orchestra just about making minimum wage...'.

Photo by Vera Hiltbrunner on September 05, 2026. May be an image of dancing and text that says 'B ROLLE DISCO መራጋ อา ្គា ម J this culture cannot coexist with building a safer, more beautiful, more joyful, more creative, more alive, more accessible classical music scene for US and for audiences.'.

Photo by Vera Hiltbrunner on September 05, 2026. May be an image of dancing, standing and text that says 'And I'll add this: a-culture where people are still scared to, openly question certain practices cannot transform into a safer industry.'.

Photo by Vera Hiltbrunner on September 05, 2026. May be an image of lightbulb and text that says 'ME DOIT DO I get that change is scary. I get that it's scary to speak up (and sometimes not safe enough to do so). I get that it's scary to do things differently maybe even scarier to dream it up differently than what we're used to. But I also know this: you're allowed to want an opera career AND want the whole thing to change. Both. At the same time. ...and I'd rather feel awkward building something new than comfortable in something that's making US all smaller.'.

Photo by Vera Hiltbrunner on September 05, 2026. May be a selfie of ‎one or more people, people standing, mirror and ‎text that says '‎ع1ن Ps: I know also that it isn't safe for everyone to speak up, and I know I am also risking not getting invited anymore by certain people in the industry if I say such things out loud, but butI I also know that I'd rather work more time in a side job than with people who abuse their power, I'd rather say no to a prestigious project (and already did) and work in a restaurantfor for the summer if the conductor is creating am environment where nobody feels at ease and where I can't literally sing freely anymore.‎'‎‎.

Photo by Vera Hiltbrunner on September 05, 2026. May be a selfie of one or more people, makeup, lipstick, people smiling, mirror and text that says 'And this is not about me. This is about the classical music scene WE want to be in, we want to create, we want to thrive in and share our talents. Ok done for today, this bitch needs to go practice byeee'.

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Posted On: September 5th 2026, 12:50 pm

..there must just be something beyond „quitting the industry and speaking up freely“ and „staying silent and accepting the status quo because I want to still be able to sing and have a career“… right?! 👀💖

And a shoutout to
@annigrid because her post about Chapell Roan inspired me to write about this 💖

#classicalmusic #classicalmusicians
#operasinger #operasingerproblems #opera

Comments (44)

5 days ago

balanced_singing

👏👏👏🔥🔥🔥

5 days ago

curbelo_reeds

Less pleasing the gatekeepers and boys and girls could all be queens every single day 🦄💖🎶

14 days ago

natalino.bucci

👏👏👏 I

14 days ago

meganhharp

Yes yes yes!!❤️❤️

15 days ago

valhiaa_

Such truth !❤️

15 days ago

simeonwalkermusic

Hurray! Keep doing it! 🔥

16 days ago

loredanacatalanosoprano

Amen! ✊🏽thank you so much for this post!

17 days ago

thewildflute

YASS

18 days ago

the.arts.marketer

So much yes!

23 days ago

arualbohn

You are a gift. Cannot wait to reconnect in person soooooooon❤️

23 days ago

annigrid

🦄💕💖☀️

24 days ago

itme.abp

big yes big yes 🕺🕺🕺shame is the enemy of creativity and a culture committed to shame forces our deepest and most brilliant/creative artists to leave and do something else (or crumble!) I was recently in a Masterclass at an art song course and my body was scared, so I just cried the whole time and did NOT feel ashamed and just named that masterclasses are activating for me. Felt empowering for my inner artist!