All my good intentions to blog regularly in recent weeks have clearly travelled the proverbial road. Oh well.
The concerts last weekend were a wonderful experience. Following a satisfying week of intensive rehearsals, the performances were moving and deeply rewarding as a performer, and it was a wonderful week at so many levels.
Alas, I brought home more than the warm glow of a job well done, as I was laid flat by a bad upper respiratory infection almost as soon as I crossed my own threshold, and this week was basically crossed off the calendar even though it included my daughter's 11th birthday. I wound up on antibiotics and cancelled almost all commitments (except the birthday, which was thankfully a very happy one) until Friday when, fully recovered or not, I simply had to get out to teach my long-suffering students (finals and recital week coming up), attend a long evening meeting/rehearsal for my daughter's dance troupe (final rehearsal before they perform in NY at the Ronald McDonald house), turnaround the next morning to take said-same daughter to a girl scout event (I stayed long enough to watch some of the fascinating work this event offered the girls - more on that in a future post, I think) and then get myself out to the photo studio to take some pictures for some singer friends.
Today was a quiet Mother's day, but maybe that's a good thing! Rest was perhaps my most-required "gift" today. Ok, I admit it - a flawless clean house (engendered by somebody else, of course) wouldn't have gone amiss either, but I'll take what's offered and a day with no commitments anywhere except at home was a welcome luxury.
Welcome
After months resisting the blogosphere, I've finally caved; somehow, it just seems like the time to start writing a little more - and more publicly - about my life as an opera singer, voice teacher and mom juggling family life with a full-time performing career both on and off the road. I wouldn't give up either element of my "double life" for anything, but it does make for some interesting challenges!
I consider myself immensely fortunate in that my career is also my passion. Any love affair with the lyric stage is a very capricious and sometimes one-sided relationship, but I still love it, despite its unpredictability and difficulty. I love to get out there and perform, privileged to make some of the greatest music ever written with wonderful colleagues who never cease to inspire and amaze me. Those moments of pure joy are worth the frustration and hard work that often accompany getting there! Of course, exciting and rewarding as that may be, the greatest role in which I've ever been cast is mom to my daughter, now 11 years old.
Does it take compromises to make it work? Definitely. But I consider myself fortunate to have carved out a way of doing both, however crazy it may sometimes be. Welcome to the madhouse!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment