I made it through the first week of OFY tour in good voice and in good company. Our cast was really great...not a weak link in the bunch, everyone relaxed and happy, and ready to teach a few thousand kids about opera. I was a little sad to leave, but am looking forward to a short break back in Cincy before my next tour leg.
Before returning to Cincy, though, I've made a stop in Chicago to see Jon in Gianni Schicchi with the Dupage Opera Theater. It was a wonderful show! Almost everyone involved has been/is about to be a Ryan Center Artist with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The talent level was exceptional, but more than that, everyone seemed to be having such a great time up there, and the good times continued afterwards when we went out to celebrate closing night.
It was great to meet and talk with these singers...about outreach, about finding jobs, and about how life goes on whether or not you're singing at the Met. I know I've said it before on here, but I love being a part of this family of people who have chosen the same path I have. It's very enlightening to speak with people who are a bit ahead of me on the path...I always leave these conversations reassured and glad to see how genuinely nice most singers are.
Now it's back to CIncy...after tying up a few loose ends at my old apartment, whose lease ends Monday. Then I'll REALLY be done with Chicago, for now :-( it's been fun!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Getting my Second Wind
Yesterday I started my first leg of the 2011 portion of the Opera for the Young tour. And it's so much fun! And work. I love singing for work. It's very refreshing and beginning to reaffirm my career choice once again.
It is great to have such an engaged audience...the kids don't hold anything back!
More on the tour later this week.
It is great to have such an engaged audience...the kids don't hold anything back!
More on the tour later this week.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Woodshedding
While I am waiting here, in Young Artist Limbo, it can be very frustrating and disheartening to receive these rejections and not have much going on and keep the faith that something WILL come along eventually. It always has, so now should be no different. I am stuck with the question of What to Do in the Meantime, though, and I always revert back to what I know: woodshedding and creating my own opportunities.
I am fortunate to have a found a wonderful teacher here in Cincinnati, one who is willing to work with me despite his many demands as a professor at CCM. Under his tutelage I am reworking quite a few aspects of my technique. Reworking technique is difficult because it feels like you are reverting back a couple of years in your training for awhile. And you ARE...you're going back to the time when you started to learn a bad habit (for me, this was about 2008) and fixing it. It doesn't take 3 years to fix it, but it takes a few months of patience, and relearning stamina and diction. So I'm in the middle of that now.
Once everything IS fixed, I get to put my new technique to work...this time in a new recital with Kyra, my kickass cellist in Chicago. We are doing a similar program to the one in September, in that we want to find rep that doesn't include the Baroque period. Personally, I'd like to find as contemporary a program as possible while still making sure the music is Tonal, ie: pleasant to listen to. I think that will open up our venue options once the recital is ready to perform. This challenging parameter is making me listen to A LOT of cello and soprano music these days, and I can't think of a more pleasant way to spend my time.
I am fortunate to have a found a wonderful teacher here in Cincinnati, one who is willing to work with me despite his many demands as a professor at CCM. Under his tutelage I am reworking quite a few aspects of my technique. Reworking technique is difficult because it feels like you are reverting back a couple of years in your training for awhile. And you ARE...you're going back to the time when you started to learn a bad habit (for me, this was about 2008) and fixing it. It doesn't take 3 years to fix it, but it takes a few months of patience, and relearning stamina and diction. So I'm in the middle of that now.
Once everything IS fixed, I get to put my new technique to work...this time in a new recital with Kyra, my kickass cellist in Chicago. We are doing a similar program to the one in September, in that we want to find rep that doesn't include the Baroque period. Personally, I'd like to find as contemporary a program as possible while still making sure the music is Tonal, ie: pleasant to listen to. I think that will open up our venue options once the recital is ready to perform. This challenging parameter is making me listen to A LOT of cello and soprano music these days, and I can't think of a more pleasant way to spend my time.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Sloooow time
I haven't written much lately because there isn't much to report. Now that auditions are over and I'm 50% rejected, 50% waiting, and my tour doesn't pick up again for a couple weeks, I'm stuck in Cincinnati limbo.
My nanny job went well. And I just turned down a show (one of the first times ever :( ) because of financial instability.
In order to keep myself from being COMPLETELY deprived creatively, I'm planning another recital with Kyra, my cellist, this spring (very exciting!), hoping to do some woodshedding on my technique with my new teacher, and, as my new year's resolution, dancing at least twice a week down at Cincinnati ballet.
Writing more in here would probably be good too. We'll see.
My nanny job went well. And I just turned down a show (one of the first times ever :( ) because of financial instability.
In order to keep myself from being COMPLETELY deprived creatively, I'm planning another recital with Kyra, my cellist, this spring (very exciting!), hoping to do some woodshedding on my technique with my new teacher, and, as my new year's resolution, dancing at least twice a week down at Cincinnati ballet.
Writing more in here would probably be good too. We'll see.
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