Graduate Destinations: Jason Belanger, MA Musical Directing
Jason Belanger: MA Musical Directing, 2022
What are you working on at the moment?
Right now, I am working as the Score Manager at Tammy Faye on Broadway. This means that I track all of the changes to the piano-vocal score in real time (lyrics, notes, dialogue, etc.) and distribute the appropriate information to various members of the music, sound, and stage management teams, among a few other duties.
What were your first jobs after graduating?
My first few jobs were small gigs – turning pages for an outdoor Broadway concert, playing for an audition class, playing piano for a junior production of a musical.
The first medium job was arranging, MDing, and playing piano for an original Christmas musical. The first big job was MDing an off-Broadway show, which happened about six months after graduation.
Any career highlights?
About a year after graduation, I got my ‘big break’ by getting hired as the Music Assistant for How to Dance in Ohio on Broadway.
Working on this show was incredible – it centres on seven autistic young adults preparing for a spring formal set up by their therapist in order to help them grow and try new things.
Everyone was so friendly and welcoming, and getting to work on the development of a brand-new Broadway musical was a dream come true – especially one with such a heartfelt message of inclusion and empowerment.
How did RCS prepare you for the industry?
RCS prepared me in two main ways: by giving me opportunities to collaborate with creative, intelligent artists from around the world and by giving me projects that employed the tools I am currently using in the industry.
On the collaboration front: musical theatre is an incredibly collaborative artform, and being able to work with people of all backgrounds and styles is essential to getting the best work done quickly.
Being able to ‘speak the language’ of the person you’re working under/with is essential to keeping things moving, and working with so many different creatives while at RCS definitely helped prepare me for that.
On the tools front: throughout my year at RCS, I learned more about (or learned for the first time) software that I now use every day on Broadway, including Finale (may it rest in peace), Sibelius, Logic, and, funnily enough, Google Sheets.
Being able to execute or record changes in these programmes quickly and efficiently is also essential to my position, and RCS helped get me there.
What did you enjoy most about your studies?
I loved getting to work with artists from all over the world and getting to work on a variety of projects that stretched my creative and logistical skills.
My programme was jam-packed with learning opportunities and I tried to take advantage of every one.
Does anything stand out from your training that you’ve carried into your professional life?
One of the things that I worked on in my piano lessons is getting to ‘making music’ as soon as possible when playing a piece.
The notes and words on the page need to be followed, but they alone are not the music; you as the musician have to bring your training, artistry, and personality to each piece to make it truly ‘sing’.
What would you say to those thinking about studying at RCS?
I don’t know if you can find a more positive, creative, and rigorous atmosphere than the one I found at RCS.
The people you get to work with are some of the best artists and humans out there, and I would not be where I am today without my time at RCS.
Interested in studying on the MA Musical Directing programme?
Visit the course webpage for everything from entry requirements to course structure.