(English) There are possibilities in some German-speaking houses of getting year-round "house singer" contracts, called a "festvertrag." Most Americans call this a "fest" contract for short... This is a steady job. A house singer can definitely have a real life outside of singing, because he/she doesn't travel all the time. If you are hell-bent on having a traditional home life, and making your living singing, this may be the niche for you. There can be drawbacks of fest contracts, too, such as possible pressure to sing the wrong rep outside of your fach , or lack of upward mobility, or others, but that's why I said to imagine what is MOST important to you in my first paragraph! Read below for an article from 5 Americans doing this in Germany.