Back In Chitown

So, I'm home from home. And the stress is on! Things like student loan payments, and organizing my chamber group's Messiah rehearsals with everyone's schedules changing and gigs coming up at the last minute, etc., etc.

Here's a plug for the group's new website!



www.beaconstreetchamberplayers.com

There. I did it.


More posting later...I'm finishing up my DMA statement at the moment.

Shippin' Up To Boston

We made it home! 2 plane rides, 1 ENT appointment and 2 auditions later, we got to my house in Acton.

The ENT appointment was fine....I need to keep an eye on my adenoids, but for now they're staying in.

We both sang for Ohio Light Opera, and were both successful at impressing them, I think. We'll see! I never thought I'd be happy to spend a summer in the boondocks of Ohio, but if I get this gig I'll be ecstatic.

I'm waiting for Jon to wake up now, and hope we will spend the day driving around the area so I can show him my hometown. Then we're going to sing for my high school voice teacher.

It feels great to be back!

Leaving Louisville

I'm sitting backstage while Jon does his final performance of "Hansel and Gretel" and then we're off to Ohio. We stay with his parents tonight and then fly home to Boston tomorrow. And we both have an Ohio Light Opera Audition tomorrow afternoon and evening! It's exciting when we get an audition for the same place on the same day and time...most companies have auditions in several cities, with several dates planned for each city. It's a tricky coordination.

Yesterday we were fortunate enough to record several CD tracks for our applications to schools. I sang 2 arias and 2 art songs, and Jon sang 3 art songs. We are compiling what we recorded with previously recorded tracks for our school audition CDs. I'll be bringing extra CDs of my recordings to Thanksgiving for people to have, if they'd like.

After I return to Chicago I will actually have a month of mostly singing and little other work, which is a refreshing change from earlier in the fall. I have a Channukah concert, 2 Christmas masses, a Chicago Cultural Center performance, and a chamber Messiah with my roommates and other local musicians. Thank god for the holidays! It's when singers get the most work, and I'm glad that I'm known enough around the city to secure so many holiday gigs.

See most of you on Thursday!

Crunch Time

So Jon and I are sitting here trying to finish our DMA/PD/AD applications. Aaaaaand I suddenly remembered why most people don't go on to GET DMA/PD/AD degrees - applying to college is hard!

I will power through these next few hours so I can enjoy Thanksgiving with the family.

I had a fun audition with St. Louis, but unfortunately did not get called back :( oh well. I can keep saying "I'm young"....at least for another year.

Birthday

Today was my 24th Birthday, and I celebrated by mailing 2 more young artist apps, and baking cupcakes for the children in Jon's Hansel and Gretel cast. (Though the costume ladies didn't appreciate it much - sad!) It was a fine birthday, and I got a lot of love from family via phone and email and friends via facebook.

It feels strange to be getting older - I have less excuses/exceptions made for me in the career because of my age. I am moving from ridiculously young artist to just young artist, and feel as though I have a lot to prove - my talent, my schooling and preparation. It's easy to remember why I chose this profession when I am onstage singing; not so easy when I'm filling out apps, traveling to auditions and generally working my butt off to have another awesome onstage moment.

Tomorrow I'm off to St. Louis to sing for their Opera Theater. I get to see Leann, my double from the Figaro I did at Bay View last summer! I'm crashing at her house and returning to Jon on the 18th.

Thanks everyone for the Birthday wishes! And I'll see many of you next week for Thanksgiving.

Homeward Bound...sort of

today is my last day in Chicago for awhile....I'm flying to Jon tomorrow and hanging out, then Cincinnati, then to St. Louis for a couple of days (audition on the 17th, crashing at my friend Linden's, then callback hopefully(!) on the 18th), then I go back to Jon for a couple of days and we fly to Boston!

We're spending Thanksgiving with my family. Can't wait to see everyone!

This last day is especially hectic; I'm getting together all of my applications for school programs. I've chosen 4 Artist Diploma programs: Indiana, Cincinnati, BU, and A.J. Fletcher at North Carolina School of the Arts. All are well respected and would give me two more years of excellent training and preparation for all of these competitive residency programs.

I also changed my Blog options, so everyone can comment on my Blog even if you aren't a member of Blogspot. No pressure! Just letting you know.

Audition Season

This past week has been insane with work...I'm in the middle of a 14-day work week, and trying to keep my eye on the 12th, because that's when I will fly to Jon! He's finishing up a 3 month residency with Kentucky Opera, and we both have a Cincinnati Opera audition on Saturday, the 14th.

Audition season is a time of trepidation for most singers....it's a very involved process. First, you decide to which programs you'd like to apply...and they range in duration from a few weeks to a few years. Generally I am avoiding the most competitive ones, like the Met and the Lyric Opera Program, until I'm around 26 or 27 (the term "young artist" is a relative one in this business). It's a hard thing to decide if you want a company to hear you now and know that you're out there for whenever they might decide to take you, or to wait for them to hear you until you think you are at your peak. Some companies want to hear you several times before they take you, and some, if unimpressed with your first audition, will never hear you again, no matter how many times you apply.

So far, I've sent in about 12 applications for summer and year-round residency programs. I'm trying to be smart about where I'm applying, and so far have been granted auditions from all but 3 of the companies I've sent materials to.

I've completed 2 auditions: one for Santa Barbara Opera, and one for Chicago Opera Theater. I felt that I did fairly well at both auditions, but there are many things I'd like to improve about my performance (That's another aspect of the audition - thinking of it as a performance instead of a judging!)

I have several more auditions coming up in the next two weeks - Cincinnati, St. Louis Opera Theater, and Ohio Light Opera. Very exciting!

First Post!

So after struggling to keep in touch with all family and friends while starting this career and failing admirably, I've decided to start a blog. I hope that everyone will leave comments so I know what you're all up to, and I will try to post every couple of days with updates in my life.

As of now, here's what's happening:

-finished at Roosevelt with my Master of Music degree in May of 2009

-spent a wonderful summer at Bay View Music Festival performing the role of Susanna in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro. While at Bay View, I also met my current beau, Jon, who was performing the role of the Count. In the opera, his character pursues me while mine evades him, so we now joke that the Count finally got Susanna!

-I'm now living in an apartment with 4 other musicians: Kyra the cellist, Kevin the pianist, Aleida the violist, and Jonathan the violinist. It is crazy but a lot of fun to live with all your close friends.

-I'm working several jobs: as a hostess, a bartender, a babysitter, and a singer (who knew?). My 'day jobs' are necessary to pay the rent, and occasionally fun and rewarding.

-The same goes for the singing....choir gigs and teaching are fine, but I'm really hoping to make it as an opera singer...which means many many auditions and rejections. I've learned that you only need a couple of directors and conductors to really like you in order to make it, so I'm just trying to find the few that do! I think they're out there, and am trying to enjoy the process of finding my voice and my place in the opera world.

I have to run to rehearsal now, but hope to write more later today.

~Sammi