August 23, 2010: a Midwest Adventure begins!

I arrived 2 days ago in hot and humid Kansas City, MO. Today was the first day of a new program: working on my Artist Certificate at the university here. I was drawn to the wonderful faculty members and the wealth of performing opportunities. I've hardly had a chance to see the city, but I'm sure I'll do more walking around....I'm told that the weather will be less painfully sticky in about a month...I'll have to learn to love air conditioning in the meantime!

I'll have more updates on performances, and life lessons soon, and of course the travel will continue!

August 2, 2010: back in Colorado, colorfully?

It's been quite awhile since I've written, and it's hard to believe the summer is nearing its close! I've been very busy in Denver, settling in to a new house and taking lessons. I then ventured off to Fairbanks, Alaska for the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival. It was an exciting year for the festival's opera program- it was the first time they'd attempted not only an opera scenes performance, but an additional performance with orchestra. I got to sing Cherubino in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, and my cohorts and I received a wonderful ovation from the audience. We sang the ensembles in English and arias in Italian, a blend of understandability and artistry. Mozart's music is so clever and glorious, and it was a joy to make people laugh and smile.

The festival's faculty were fantastic mentors and the two weeks in Fairbanks were packed with rehearsals, lessons, master classes, and extra performance opportunities. I've never attended such a busy festival, and had only a few spare hours to explore the wilderness surrounding me. The Alaskan lifestyle is slower (except for the 2 weeks of the festival!) and friendly, and I'd love to go back for a visit without all of my music scores in tow. I did get a small window off, and drove partially up the Dalton Highway into the Arctic Circle. The silence was profound and magical, and the vistas of mountains continued as far as we could see. In the car, of course, my colleagues and I were practicing our opera scenes music and arrange 4-part harmonies of other songs!

I was able to work and visit with an old teacher, meet wonderful new colleagues, give a first performance of a new aria, revisit some familiar roles (Cherubino as well as Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte and Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus), and once again immerse my self in the world of opera. There's really nothing quite like it- a complete art form that involves a bank of knowledge about music, language, technique, stage presence, costumes, makeup, using props, set pieces, etc, etc. Needless to say, by the end of the festival, I was mentally and physically exhausted, but gleeful with the experience of performing.