Singing for my supper

Out of the blue. Coup de foudre. And with less than a week's notice ... I found myself on  a 10 day "tour de France". Normally, my last-minute travel is gig-related, but this particular trip required no singing on my part: I was invited to be a replacement-chaperone for my daughter's chorus tour.  Eighty adolescents, 6 of whom (none of them my own) were under my care for the duration. Despite some seriously cold feet before we left, it couldn't have turned out any better - the entire experience was absolutely wonderful at so many different levels.  I've enjoyed many trips to France before, but I can honestly say that this was among the best.  I can also say that it is unbelievably liberating not to have to worry about "the voice" while traveling!  For once, somebody else was doing the singing (all 80 of them :).  I didn't have to cast a single thought to allergy medications, air conditioning issues, what kind of water I was drinking, whether or...

I'm alarmed that I appear as the tallest thing on the stage (not true, and a trick of the perspective!), but still - what fun!  Truly a pleasure to sing with Maestro Walker and the team of talented musicians and singers on that stage! Concert Opera Rehearsal

It's another of those periods where I've had so many thoughts rattling around my head that I struggle to write them down in any coherent manner. This isn't helped by the fact that I almost always think of blog posts while I'm driving, and by the time I'm somewhere I could actually write it down, I've forgotten what it was. (No wonder businessmen love to dictate!).  In any case, this morning, a moment to try and pull these thoughts together.   The steaming race to the semester finish line has been a doozy.  Our scholarship auditions were earlier than usual to accommodate some staff schedules, which meant for the first time students had to be ready for this important performance before finals/juries/recital week, with necessary extra rehearsals and lessons; I had 5 in for that (and am delighted to say they all did very well indeed).  Immediately following that event, eleven students performed in our end-of term recital, by far the largest number of people I'...

I'm losing track of whether I'm living a double, triple, quadruple or other -ple life these days!  It's been pretty crazy - in a good way, I hasten to add, but crazy! Last weekend was singing what may be my favorite work in the entire world: the Verdi Requiem .  I'm a fan of most of what Mr Joe Green gave us, but the Requiem is extra special (and especially for the mezzo).  The schedule this time out was very compressed and singing a massive work like this (the equivalent of a full opera, and then some!) four times in three days definitely demanded every ounce of stamina I posess,  but so worth every single moment. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. This is the third time I've been privileged to sing this extraordinary piece, and each time I've discovered new things not only in the music, but in my own singing. I've found reserves of strength, stamina, colour and nuance I didn't know I had - could anything be more satisfying than that?  I only wish...

(Disclaimer: Mom, I adore you, and am grateful to you for everything you've ever done to educate me to this point, and for allowing me to continue to challenge things, to learn and to grow .... even when you vigorously disagree with my opinion!) It's been typically busy (seems like it's seldom anything else these days, with both the pros and cons which come with it!), but my parents somehow managed to find a date when we could all go and see a splendid production of Sondheim's Into the Woods together.  We all enjoyed it immensely - my husband and I have long been fans of Sondheim's work in general, and particularly this show - it was a treat to take our daughter to a top-notch performance of a work she hadn't seen before,  and even my Sondheim-resistant parents agreed that perhaps they had been hasty in describing him as "tuneless" and "not their thing" as they loved absolutely every minute of the performance as much as we did (kudos to the...

5 auditions, three photoshoots (that I took, rather than was in!), two headcolds, and a full production of Figar o. Talk about "feast or famine" (and that's before we include my husband's concert commitments, as well as our daughter's school play and charity dance performances.) It's been insane! It's also been fantastic. Figaro , as always, was such a joy to work on (Mozart's music never seems to pall, even after 11 productions!) - and it was rewarding that it was so warmly received by the full houses we garnered. With my lovely Figaro colleagues Olivia Vote, Zulimar Lopez-Hernandez, and Troy Cook at the closing party I love my job(s), but all that said after another audition and 350 miles of driving today, I can't deny that I'm very glad for a day off tomorrow without any set commitments!

The worlds collide. Again. Sunday, we opened the Poe recital. It went extremely well for a first outing, I'm happy to say: a momentary glitch as the page-turner grabbed 3 pages at once resulting in the usual flurry and slapping of paper that accompanies such things, but otherwise it went pretty smoothly. The Poe-settings were well received, and we can also now say that we have taken Erlkoenig and nailed it to the wall! Actually, if I'm honest, that was probably one of the most enjoyable pieces of the afternoon for me - I've wanted to sing it for many years but never had the right occasion or quuiiitte the courage to ask a pianist to learn it for me, so I'm thrilled to have done it at last! Similarly, it was a real pleasure to finish the program with Sondheim's A Little Priest from Sweeney Todd - while it is a memorizing nightmare ("Wait - was that verse vicar or friar? Is this the one about beadle or rear admiral?!"), it is an absolute delight to perfo...

Preview of "Telltale Hearts and Twilight Fancies" from The Baltimore Sun here

I had such high hopes for regular blogging while I was away. I figured I'd have enough spare time on my hands that I could write a little more than I do at home, and really consider some thoughts that have banging around my head for a while now. Well, to say that the gig was intense is an understatement. Absolutely wonderful, inspiring, stimulating, challenging (in all senses of the word) and happy, but more all-encompassing than anything I've done in many years. Most days I was simply too tired to write by the time I finished rehearsals, and with few breaks in the performance schedule (in Operaland, when things usually slow down a bit if only because there are often days between performances) I just never had the energy. It would be impossible to overstate what a phenomenal experience the 6 weeks were, in all ways. The cast was one of the most collegial with which it has ever been my pleasure to work; given that we were all housed on campus (some of us sharing apartments) an...

Well, I think as a working mom I'm always a bit of a split personality, but the past couple of weeks have taken it to new heights. The recital two weeks ago went far better than I could have hoped: I had set myself some particular goals and challenges, and I think that I achieved what I'd set out to do, which was very satisfying. Not to say that it was a "perfect" performance (what's one of those?!), but that I had given myself specific goals, and even in the heat of performance was able to follow through with what I had planned. I can't ask for more from myself, really, so even if had it been meaningful to nobody except myself, I'd have been thrilled! But it got better: I'd initially thought that these things were more significant as technical explorations for myself and would be too subtle to really have much impact, but apparently not - the audience responded quite strongly, even if they didn't know why something had particularly affect...

continuing in the same vein it began. Oy. The snowstorm which is passing over the Northeast has sadly snowed out my concert weekend - we made it through last night's performance of Messiah , but this evening's planned concert was a non-starter with 2-ft of snow falling overnight. I know, I know - in Minnesota, Alaska or even parts of Pennsylvania and New York this wouldn't so much have caused people to slow down, but down here in the officially-but-not-really South everything falls apart at the first hint of white stuff from the skies. Of course, this causes more than inconvenience to a musician: most gigs are "no play, no pay", so when something like this happens that's nobody's fault and legally "force majeur"... the cancellation takes the fee along with it. Totally understandable from the presenter's point of view, but still not good news! It's hoped to proceed with tomorrow's afternoon concert, but there's no way of knowing ...

It's been a fascinating month. My daughter was asked to join the chorus of a local light opera company, and watching her find her way through her first semi-professional appearance has been interesting and enlightening indeed. One curious thing is that everybody(myself and my husband included, I'm sorry to say!) has made an assumption of prior knowledge simply because she's our daughter: she already osmotically knows all those complicated staging processes, scheduling conventions and company protocols, right? Not necessarily....! For sure, she's had experience onstage in her childrens' groups and a great deal more exposure than many her age, but the specific nuts-and-bolts of mounting a full production in professional adult theatre.... she's never needed to know that before; in many ways, it's been a brand new situation and she has had to learn a lot. We've all had to remind ourselves that, like any other young person, she's needed certai...

I love the philosophy of song recitals: just you, your accompanist and the composer fusing to come together as (one hopes!) a coherent, expressive and trascendent musical whole. "Pure" music, without the trappings of costume, the multitude of musical opinions in the orchestra as many strive to become one... it's in many ways the apogee of singing to express at such a simple and heartfelt level. Achieving this, however, has proved elusive. My last few recitals of the recent years have often seemed to be a triumph of will over circumstances, battling everything from externally-imposed repertoire restrictions to less rehearsal than I would have liked to unexpected traffic delays to inadequate pianos, perhaps culminating in the one where I passed out halfway through the performance, scheduling an impromptu intermission! (I'd been struck by a respiratory bug two weeks before and, while my voice was 100% fine and I was for sure fit to sing, somehow the exertion of th...

There was something very special for me about last weekend's performances. I've sung Beethoven's 9th symphony several times now and, of course, known the piece for years as An Icon of Western Music. But (true confession) I've never liked it. Even the most die-hard fan of Ludwig will usually concede that the vocal writing is ungainly, but my detachment from it has been more complex than that: I have genuinely never quite understood quite why it has such a profound impact on people, because it has always - ALWAYS - left me stone cold. I enjoy other Beethoven, but the effect of the 9th has always been a mystery to me. Until Sunday afternoon. This was different than the excitement usually generated by the sheer volume, speed and frenzy of the work (particularly at the end): perhaps it's the uncertainy of the times and the underlying emotional tension that doesn't seem too far beneath the surface that made the sentiment more meaningful. Perhaps it was the ca...

The good: BEEEYOOOOTIFUL weather pleasant colleagues enthusiastic conductor despite having been to something like 35 of the lower 48 states, I had never before seen the Mississippi river, something I have now remedied. The hotel is practically IN the river, and I am completely seduced! I'm very sad that I didn't bring the big camera (oh, how sad!), but I'm having fun with the little point-and-shoot: The not-so-good: the hotel is comfortable, and in an area which is extremely convenient for the venue (literally yards away), but there's nothing ELSE around except some pricey restaurants. Nice for holiday-ers, but tricky when you need safety pins or a quick snack! Said hotel also does a "Sunday Jazz Brunch". In the atrium around which all rooms are situated. Which started at 10am..... Not so good for those of us who stayed up late after the concert... Still, beautiful weather, beautiful landscape to photograph and the opportunity to make good music are a lo...

Yet another black dress, but at least this is a pretty one! They aged me up again with makeup and wig (I'm trying to remember the last time I didn't have to be wrinkly for a show - seems to be most of the time!), but both gowns I wear are glamourous in the extreme, which is fun!

ex·pec·ta·tion 1. the act or the state of expecting: to wait in expectation. 2. the act or state of looking forward or anticipating. 3. an expectant mental attitude: a high pitch of expectation. 4. something expected; a thing looked forward to. 5. Often, expectations. a prospect of future good or profit: to have great expectations. 6. the degree of probability that something will occur: There is little expectation that he will come. 7. Statistics . 8. the state of being expected: a large sum of money in expectation. I would add 9. The high level of consistent achievement assumed the minimum base line after a great opening and lavish reviews. Once the glow had worn off after Sunday afternoon , I realised that we were faced with an interesting challenge for our our second (and final) performance nearly a week later: how to recreate the magic which had happened, even though I think we all knew that the "something" which had made it so exceptional was one o...

Yesterday's concert was the kind of experience we all dream of having onstage: it was one of those occasions where everything just took off. The chemistry was there not only among the singers, but between stage and pit (in this case, stage and stage since it was an operatic concert performance with the orchestra behind the singers!), and between audience and stage too. It was an honour beyond measure to share the stage with colleagues - ARTISTS - such as these, and to know that I was part of the small moment of musical history being made. The minute-long ovation in the middle of the performance was indescribable - I feel like a rank n00bie all over again admitting being intoxicated by an audience reaction, but I think this was pretty special, and certainly like nothing I've ever experienced before! Cheering, screaming, stamping, thunderous applause.... Even our leading lady said she was taken slightly by surprise by the spontaneous passion the audience returned to us at tha...

My cast was interviewed by the local paper last week, and I was surprised to find myself answering the question, "What are some of your favorite roles?" by describing with great enthusiasm my previous role, a role which at best could be called secondary (and at worst - and in a different kind of production- a complete throwaway). But, to my surprise, this small supporting role which before we started rehearsals I had expected be a "paycheck" gig (and little more) turned out to be a genuine inspiration artistically and, in some ways, a personal turning point. Since this show was uniformly good with excellent singers and an easy camraderie among the entire team it seems almost unfair to single anybody out, but one of my colleagues in particular demonstrated how important it is to go beyond "good enough"; to say it was a powerful reminder of just how important it can be is an understatement. This is a singer who plays leading roles just as often as not a...

So, last night was the opening. Really, it couldn't have gone any better, and the audience seemed to enjoy it. But it was a very curious experience as a performer, if only because the evening was so SHORT. This opera is usually paired with a companion and, without a "second act", it felt uncommonly truncated; I felt like I was leaving the theater after the first intermission rather than at the end of the show! Also, my (small) role does most of her stuff just before the curtain falls - this means that I put out my biggest surge of energy and dramatic angst at the END and then have nowhere for it all to go! It's definitely a different experience than tracing a dramatic and vocal arc across an entire evening's "emotional journey" onstage. But it all went fine and we now just have to keep our concentration and energy together for two more performances. Three in a row isn't so bad for my role, but I know it's hard for the tenor and soprano, sin...