Crushing Classical

From Dr. Phil to the World’s Great Opera Stages: Building a Career on Your Own Terms with Ben Bliss

What happens when the career you thought you wanted turns out not to be the one you’re meant to have?

For tenor Ben Bliss, the road to an international opera career took an unexpected detour through film school and three years working in production on The Dr. Phil Show. Eventually, he returned to what had once been his college “hobby”—and built a career singing on some of the most prestigious opera stages in the world.

Today, Ben has performed leading roles at the Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opera, Royal Opera House, San Francisco Opera, Berlin Staatsoper, and many more. But his story isn’t just about landing big roles or making it onto the world’s most celebrated stages. It’s also about navigating the realities of life as a freelance performing artist.

Ben is the author of Making It Work, a practical guide to financial and entrepreneurial literacy for freelancers in the performing arts. Because talent matters—but so do the skills that help you build a sustainable career around it.

In this episode of Crushing Classical, Jennet Ingle talks with Ben about his unconventional path into opera, the realities of building a freelance career, and what it takes to make a life in the performing arts work.

In this episode, we explore:
* How Ben went from film school and television production to an international opera career
* What it takes to build a freelance career in the performing arts
* Why entrepreneurial and financial skills matter for musicians
* How a career can take an unexpected turn—and still lead somewhere extraordinary

You don't have to follow a straight line to build a meaningful musical life. And you don't have to figure out every part of your career by yourself.

🎧 Listen to the episode and get inspired to think differently about what’s possible in your own career.

About Ben Bliss:
Ben Bliss is an internationally acclaimed tenor who has performed leading roles at major opera houses around the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opera, Royal Opera House, San Francisco Opera, Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu, and Bayerische Staatsoper. He is also the author of Making It Work, a practical guide to financial and entrepreneurial literacy for freelancers in the performing arts.

https://makingitworkbook.com/ 

instagram.com/makingitworkbook

https://a.co/d/022Kp69O

instagram.com/mrbenbliss

Subscribe to Crushing Classical for more conversations about building a creative career that works for YOU.

Book a free discovery call with me! We can spend an hour looking at your creative career. You deserve to thrive, and your artistry matters. 

https://calendly.com/jennet/thm

Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to Crushing Classical, and maybe even leave a nice review! 

Thanks for joining me on Crushing Classical! 

Theme music by DreamVance.

I help people to lean into their creative careers and start or grow their income streams. You can read more or hop onto a discovery call from my website.  https://jennetingle.com/work-with-me

I'm your host, Jennet Ingle. I love you all. Stay safe out there! 

I love this visual way of understanding and taking control of your money. For musicians and creatives, whose income can often trickle in irregularly, having confidence about what you actually need and a plan to get it can be the first step in building a career you can be really confident about. 

Check this episode out on YouTube for the visuals of me doodling live... Or just listen and enjoy. 

Book a free discovery call with me! We can spend an hour looking at your creative career. You deserve to thrive, and your artistry matters. 

https://calendly.com/jennet/thm

Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to Crushing Classical, and maybe even leave a nice review! 

Thanks for joining me on Crushing Classical! 

Theme music by DreamVance.

I help people to lean into their creative careers and start or grow their income streams. You can read more or hop onto a discovery call from my website.  https://jennetingle.com/work-with-me

I'm your host, Jennet Ingle. I love you all. Stay safe out there! 

MAIRI DORMAN-PHANEUF has established a busy career in New York City as a solo, chamber, Broadway, and recording artist.  Since 2003 she has held chairs in 22 Broadway shows, including The Bridges of Madison County, A Little Night Music, Sunday in the Park with George, and currently, The Great Gatsby. Off-Broadway credits include the premiere productions of Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years (Chicago 2001, NYC 2002). Her debut solo album, Music of Broadway for Cello and Piano, was released in September 2021 on Craft Recordings/Concord Theatricals and described as “sublime” by BroadwayWorld.

Following her sold-out debut at Birdland Jazz Club in 2018 she continues to present headlining shows featuring Broadway’s greatest stars; including Liz Callaway, Ariana DeBose, Rebecca Luker, Jessica Vosk, Norbert Leo Butz, and many more. Her one-woman show "Cello Stories: A Life Under Broadway" premiered at the Perelman Performing Arts Center in 2023.

Mairi is a regular on the NYC cabaret and concert scene and has been featured in performance with stars such as Christine Ebserole, Jeremy Jordon, Jason Robert Brown, John Pizzarelli and Brooke Shields. Her TV and movie work include “Camp” (2002), and the PBS Live From Lincoln Center concerts of Chita Rivera, Joshua Bell and Lang Lang.

Mairi was born in Glasgow, Scotland, studied at Chetham's School of Music and the Guildhall School of Music in London, and holds Masters and Doctorate degrees from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She lives in Hartsdale, NY, with her husband, saxophonist, Marc Phaneuf.

Facebook/Instagram @mairidp, https://www.instagram.com/broadwaycellist

Album: Music of Broadway for Cello and Piano

Website MairiDormanPhaneuf.com 

Sheet Music

Book a free discovery call with me! We can spend an hour looking at your creative career. You deserve to thrive, and your artistry matters. 

https://calendly.com/jennet/thm

Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to Crushing Classical, and maybe even leave a nice review! 

Thanks for joining me on Crushing Classical! 

Theme music by DreamVance.

I help people to lean into their creative careers and start or grow their income streams. You can read more or hop onto a discovery call from my website.  https://jennetingle.com/work-with-me

I'm your host, Jennet Ingle. I love you all. Stay safe out there! 

Look, no one's life is perfect. You certainly have problems in your career. I have some too. 

But the solutions we jump to can be overly broad, or unnecessarily hard, or literally just unnecessary. Are you sure you are solving the right problem? 

Book a free discovery call with me! We can spend an hour looking at your creative career. You deserve to thrive, and your artistry matters. 

https://calendly.com/jennet/thm

Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to Crushing Classical, and maybe even leave a nice review! 

Thanks for joining me on Crushing Classical! 

Theme music by DreamVance.

I help people to lean into their creative careers and start or grow their income streams. You can read more or hop onto a discovery call from my website.  https://jennetingle.com/work-with-me

I'm your host, Jennet Ingle. I love you all. Stay safe out there! 

Sarah Coponat has built herself an incredible career - but her path is not for the faint of heart. Could you imagine doing live-streamed improvisations four times a week, for YEARS? Terrifying, right? I loved this interview and I know you will too. 

A true alchemist of the piano, Sarah Coponat unites technical complexity and raw emotion in a style at once modern, neoclassical romantic and cinematic. Between acoustic piano, electronic and organic textures, she captivates with her haunting powerful voice and surprises with unusual instruments, down to the kazoo. She s a real, modern romantic composer and piano virtuoso. 

She started composing at 5 years old and is an internationally recognised improviser, she has performed in Rolling Stone Magazine's New York studios and plays in France and abroad (Senegal, Berlin, Amsterdam…). Her online improvisation concerts have built a devoted community that earned her the nickname "the Chopin of Twitch".

A prolific artist, she has a new album coming out  and she records produces and releases everything independently with her brother Sébastien Coponat at the Coponat Records studio that they created in the south of france ( open to other artists ) . She composes for video games (PlayStation) and award-winning short films, haute couture runaways..

Getting there wasn't easy - she built everything independently, working closely  with her brother Sebastien. She went through a real journey of finding her freedom, breaking from the classical mold, in music and in her life. She studied math and physics at high level before quitting everything to pursue music without any idea of how everything would turn out and no contact in the music industry. her last shows were sold out in Paris.

https://sarahcoponat.com/

https://sarahcoponat.com/liens

Book a free discovery call with me! We can spend an hour looking at your creative career. You deserve to thrive, and your artistry matters. 

https://calendly.com/jennet/thm

Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to Crushing Classical, and maybe even leave a nice review! 

Thanks for joining me on Crushing Classical! 

Theme music by DreamVance.

I help people to lean into their creative careers and start or grow their income streams. You can read more or hop onto a discovery call from my website.  https://jennetingle.com/work-with-me

I'm your host, Jennet Ingle. I love you all. Stay safe out there! 

I've had a few experiences in my business and my life recently that reminded me about the perils of complacency. And I bet - I BET - that you can relate. 

Book a free discovery call with me! We can spend an hour looking at your creative career. You deserve to thrive, and your artistry matters. 

https://calendly.com/jennet/thm

Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to Crushing Classical, and maybe even leave a nice review! 

Thanks for joining me on Crushing Classical! 

Theme music by DreamVance.

I help people to lean into their creative careers and start or grow their income streams. You can read more or hop onto a discovery call from my website.  https://jennetingle.com/work-with-me

I'm your host, Jennet Ingle. I love you all. Stay safe out there! 

From a young age, Joaquín Soffredini stood out in music and singing. He was awarded with grants throughout his career in recognition of his talent by the “Fondo Nacional de las Artes” and the “Fundación Beethoven” among others.
He perfected his skills as a countertenor in Buenos Aires with renowned teachers such as Ricardo Yost and Marilú Anselmi, in addition to studying chamber music with Mónica Cosachov.

His talent led him to play the role of Orpheus in Gluck’s opera “Orfeo ed Euridice” and a few years later, to be part of the play “Espectros” (H. Ibsen) alongside the famous actress Ingrid Pelicori and Walter Quiroz.
In musical theatre, he shone in “El Ave”, a show produced by Linda Peretz, under the direction of the talented Julián Vat, in which Joaquín was acclaimed by critics.

On the international stage, he made his debut in Paris in 2019 with a successful tour along France, followed by performances in England, Italy and Portugal.
In 2021, he composed two songs for the French film “Down in Paris” and was awarded in London as “Best Classical Singer” at the “Stars of the Albion” festival.

In 2024 Joaquin spent most of his time working on his new songs, composing, producing and recording. He also created its own music videos for some of his own compositions.

In 2025, he received an award for his professional achievements. This award was presented by "Madrid Magazine" in Spain. “Premio a la trajectoria professional”

https://joaquinsoffredini.com/

https://www.instagram.com/joaquinsofredini/

Book a free discovery call with me! We can spend an hour looking at your creative career. You deserve to thrive, and your artistry matters. 

https://calendly.com/jennet/thm

Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to Crushing Classical, and maybe even leave a nice review! 

Thanks for joining me on Crushing Classical! 

Theme music by DreamVance.

I help people to lean into their creative careers and start or grow their income streams. You can read more or hop onto a discovery call from my website.  https://jennetingle.com/work-with-me

I'm your host, Jennet Ingle. I love you all. Stay safe out there! 

It's Quarter Four! Well, it's MUSICIAN quarter four, anyway. We are back to school, we are back at work, and it's time to take a look at your routines and systems and make sure they are working for YOU. 

Book a free discovery call with me! We can spend an hour looking at your creative career. You deserve to thrive, and your artistry matters. 

https://calendly.com/jennet/thm

Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to Crushing Classical, and maybe even leave a nice review! 

Thanks for joining me on Crushing Classical! 

Theme music by DreamVance.

I help people to lean into their creative careers and start or grow their income streams. You can read more or hop onto a discovery call from my website.  https://jennetingle.com/work-with-me

I'm your host, Jennet Ingle. I love you all. Stay safe out there! 

Peter is a great example of someone who proves you can balance music and another career.  He is a serial entrepreneur who founded and sold companies doing such diverse things as weather forecasting for windsurfers, 3D molecular modeling, traffic signal control, photo capture software, and book publishing.  Since he loves the business of making products, he also happily consulted with many companies such as HP, Intel, Roche Pharmaceuticals, Nike, RainBird, Microsoft, and others.  And after selling one of his businesses, he ran research and development for a division of Steelcase, the world’s largest office furniture company, for 13 years.  

But he’s also a musician –playing the string bass (and later the cello) throughout that career and improving his craft.  Today he’s a professional bassist in the Atlanta metro area.  Finally, fifteen years ago, Peter was able to merge his love for business and music.  He started Aria Lights which manufactures professional music stand lights.  Today they are considered the gold-standard in symphony orchestras, on Broadway, in pits, and by freelancers throughout North America.  

I was lucky enough to spend time with him at the International Double Reed Society conference at Miami University and decided that you needed to get to know him too!

www.arialights.com
[email protected]
www.score.org

Book a free discovery call with me! We can spend an hour looking at your creative career. You deserve to thrive, and your artistry matters. 

https://calendly.com/jennet/thm

Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to Crushing Classical, and maybe even leave a nice review! 

Thanks for joining me on Crushing Classical! 

Theme music by DreamVance.

I help people to lean into their creative careers and start or grow their income streams. You can read more or hop onto a discovery call from my website.  https://jennetingle.com/work-with-me

I'm your host, Jennet Ingle. I love you all. Stay safe out there! 

If, like me, you see a ton of fear-mongering about the rise of AI, and if, like me, you don't know what it means for your creative career? 

Give this a listen. My short answer - KEEP GOING!  AI isn't real. You are real. 

Book a free discovery call with me! We can spend an hour looking at your creative career. You deserve to thrive, and your artistry matters. 

https://calendly.com/jennet/thm

Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to Crushing Classical, and maybe even leave a nice review! 

Thanks for joining me on Crushing Classical! 

Theme music by DreamVance.

I help people to lean into their creative careers and start or grow their income streams. You can read more or hop onto a discovery call from my website.  https://jennetingle.com/work-with-me

I'm your host, Jennet Ingle. I love you all. Stay safe out there!