ABSTRACT
Collaborating with a professional soloist, or a professional orchestra with its own staff and conductor, can be especially challenging—even intimidating. This chapter reveals how to properly manage and navigate these kinds of collaborations. Playing chamber music and accompanying solo singers are both good training for the young accompanist who will be working with choirs. Professional and amateur singers may intermingle according to different formulas. If the amateurs know the music well and there is a large orchestra to contend with, place the professional singers in the front row, where the professionals' voices will project the best. Working with soloists requires accompanists to hone their listening and accompanying skills, to interact with them effectively during the performance. Things generally run more smoothly when working with an established professional orchestra. Even if the orchestra conductor is the one conducting the performance, accompanist play a significant role in the collaboration because you trained the choir.
