I just updated my performance schedule section! And there is still more to come! Keep your eyes peeled for even more news of the beautiful future!

...and sometimes it just isn't.

    I had a lesson on Wednesday in preparation for my audition later in the day. I was singing Mozart's 'Ach ich fühl's' from Magic Flute. Now, I had been working on this piece for a while; I had a lesson, a rehearsal, and a coaching on it all in the past week and I was raring to go with it by the time I got to this lesson! We started out working on a few little details and then moved on to some other rep while we awaited the arrival of my pianist. Once he arrived we ran through my audition material. We started with my second selection (which I didn't actually get to sing in the audition) and after I finished my teacher says "Um... yeah. I'm not gonna say anything. I could... but..." And of course I'm just thinking 'Oh greaaaat! Now you HAVE to say SOMETHING!!' which he then did and we just fixed a quick vowel issue. But then I got to run 'Ach ich fühl's'! I put on my best focused 'I want to kill myself because the man I love doesn't love me' face and sang my face off! After I finished the song he really didn't have anything to say! He just came over and hugged me and it was basically one of the most satisfying experiences of my life. That feeling that you've finally accomplished something you have worked so hard for. It's amazing. You should try it some time! ;) Of course then the task became replicating that performance in my audition.
    After my lesson I went to grab some singer friendly lunch and then headed to my opera class. Of course, I walk into class and about 2 minutes into class I start feeling incredibly nauseous and faint. I had a minor panic attack and asked my friend to let our professor know why I was running out of class. I made a beeline to the closest bathroom just in case but I managed to get myself feeling decently functional pretty quickly (thank goodness). I had no idea what had happened. It literally just hit me out of the blue and then even after I was in a lot of pain. I got myself back to class as soon as I could I observed the rest of the class due to the fact that I was a little afraid to move for fear of becoming faint again. And I still had to audition right after the class! Class ended and I dragged myself over to the audition room and the only thing I could think was 'Well, at least I'm singing a song about wanting to kill myself! That way if I look like I want to kill myself it's totally appropriate!' Fortunately, I was able to pull myself together to have, what I felt was, one of the best auditions I have ever done! 

Moral of the story:
Being a singer makes for some really weird experiences.

Peace!

    I've been in a bit of a 'slump' lately when it comes to learning new music. I finally had a breakthrough tonight (of course at about 10 PM) and I was really excited to practice and learn some new music. Alas, the people living in my building do not seem to express the same joys that I do in singing beautiful operatic music (quietly, I might add! I was TRYING to be courteous!) in the evening.
    About 20-30 minutes into my practice session I hear banging on my wall. Yes. Wall. I took that as a hint that I had had a minor brain lapse and was singing louder than I had intended so I chose to ignore it and continue singing at a significantly lower volume. I even sang most everything down an octave! Another 10 minutes, more banging. I thought about banging back but I decided that was not in my best interest. Instead I sent a message to my pianist friend and asked if he knew a place that we could practice and not disturb anyone. 
    I met him in a large room on the first floor of the church he lives in. Knowing the layout of the building, we figured that we wouldn't disturb anyone if we practiced there. We ran through a few songs until someone felt the need to actually come find us and tell us to be quiet. Needless to say, I was extremely unhappy with the untimely end of my practice session. Here's hoping the motivation will continue in the morning!

For now I leave you with a very important piece of advice:
NEVER tell a soprano to stop singing.

...I was going to try to keep a semi-functional blog. 

Now is the time! (I hope.) 

Yes, it is almost 2 AM. Yes, this post in particular may be slightly odd. But will that stop us? It certainly won't stop us from slipping into the royal 'we' now will it?