This is the question that perhaps crops up more than any other when I am talking to new clients. What can an opera singer expect to earn as a salaried singer in Germany?
After all, moving to Germany for your career is a big deal! It requires a lot of hard work and sacrifice. It means learning a new language and culture , potentially uprooting or leaving family, and slogging it out on the audition circuit. At the end of the day, is it worth it? Is there really a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Today, let’s get down to brass taxes.
An Opera Singer’s Salary in Germany
I should start out by clarifying that today I am discussing what an opera singer can expect to make during their first years in the fest system.
While a starting salary is fair, it is quite modest. So steel yourselves a little: if you’re making decent money as a freelancer, or you have a stable teaching gig, the chances are you’ll be making less bank as an opera singer in Germany; at least at first.
Show Me The Money Jerry
So here it is: for their first contract in a German opera house, a singer can expect to make €2300-€2500 a month, before tax and insurance. Theatres also generally pay each a singer an annual bonus in the form of an extra months’ pay.
Depending on the size of the theatre and the shrewdness of your agent’s negotiating skills, a starting salary might vary a little from this number, but not much.
Tax and Insurance
I have written a separate post about tax and insurance in Germany, so I won’t get into into it here. Having said that, an unmarried person should factor in around €500-€1000 for various monthly contributions. This means we are looking at €1500-€2000 take home pay.
I know this seems like a big hit, but don’t forget you are getting what you pay for in the form of excellent health care and a cracking state pension in Germany.
Getting a Salary Increase
After your initial contract is up, you have three options for increasing your salary:
- The first option is to ask your agent to renegotiate your contract. If you go this route, bear in mind that you will be paying your agent fees from your renegotiated salary.
- The second, Singing and Sauerkraut recommended option, is to renegotiate your own salary. In this case, you don’t pay agent fees any more, which makes a big difference to your bottom line. Renegotiating your own contract is actually the more common strategy in German theatres, as daunting as it may seem!
- The third, and probably most lucrative, option is to move to another theatre. Your negotiating power is always at its highest when you start a new job and your agent is highly motivated to land you a new contract. Of course, this usually means uprooting and moving to a new city, which is costly in several ways.
A final thing to be aware of when it comes to salary increases in German Opera Houses, is that these decisions are made at the start of the season. This means that you are generally negotiating your contract a year in advance. If that seems weird, it’s because it is!
Consider The Other Factors
On the face of it, a fest salary might seem like a lot of work, for not so much reward. However, it is not necessarily as black and white as your bank statement. There are so many other advantages to working in the fest system and earning a stable salary as an opera singer.
When you are getting fixed income, your world opens up. It is finally possible to plan your finances. You can save, invest, or book a holiday. You know that you will be paid the same again next month. It is this peace of mind that is really worth its weight in gold.
Have you booked your free chat with me yet? Do that here!
Singing and Sauerkraut 