Golijov

One of my biggest performance assignments here at Banff happened this past Friday, at the end of our first week here. Osvaldo Golijov was the composer and residence here this summer, mentoring the young composers, and working on a cello concerto for Alisa Weilerstein (who was also here last week, and participated in several performances – what an amazing musician!), which will receive it’s premiere next month at the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center. I was given a piece for voice and string quartet, entitled How Slow the Wind. The text is from two short poems by Emily Dickinson and, like most of Osvaldo’s vocal works, it was composed for Dawn Upshaw. He wrote the piece after the death of a dear friend of his, in a car accident in Argentina. A young couple with their baby ran in to a tree, and the man and baby both survived, but the woman, Mariel, was killed. The piece represents the loss of someone that is completely sudden and unexpected, as opposed to the loss of a loved one from an illness, or other more drawn-out circumstances. Hearing Osvaldo tell the story at our first coaching with him last week, I had to fight back tears. He was so open in his sharing of the accident, and seemed to speak directly from his heart, and suddenly the piece, which had been beautiful before, became so much more meaningful and powerful. It’s one of the reasons I love working with composers on their pieces. We, as musicians, get so much information from our scores and program notes, but nothing can take the place of personal experience and interaction with the composer. Still, it can be intimidating to be in an intimate, rehearsal setting, trying to bring to life what the person sitting in front of you intended in a piece of music, and I was quite nervous for our first coaching. Luckily, Osvaldo was so lovely to work with! The next morning, sitting with him at breakfast, I knew I had done something right: he turned to me and said, smiling, “I emailed Dawn last night to tell her that everything is good with her piece.” I will take that as a stamp of approval!

Here’s a picture in the lovely recital hall at the dress rehearsal. From left to right: Emily (violin 2), Catherine (violin 1), me, Osvaldo, Indre (who sang his Lua Descolorida with the same quartet), Francisco (cello), and Marie-Eve (viola). A fantastic quartet!

breaking the silence

Long time no post! Sorry about that. It seems that the rest of my life has been taking up all my attention for the past couple of months. But, I arrived in Banff a week ago, and I thought this would be a good time to get back to the blog. More to come, but here are some pictures from the balcony of my dorm room. Suffice it to say that this summer promises to be an incredible musical and artistic experience. And the setting? Not bad either!

puppet opera recap

The puppet opera is done, and it was a lovely and joyous experience from beginning to end. Sometimes, I think experiences come in to our lives at the exact time and in the exact way that we need them, and this was definitely an example of that. Some thoughts on the process, in no particular order:

• Everyone involved in this project was so wonderful to work with. I realized close to the end that there had not been a negative word spoken since we had started the project -- no tension between the performers, no talking behind anyone's backs. It was very refreshing, and made for a really easy rapport between everybody involved.

• I realized how much I've been missing chamber performances. There were 12 people involved in this project -- 5 singers, 4 instrumentalists, and 3 puppeteers, and as we all became comfortable with the piece and each other, it was so fun to engage in play with each other in rehearsals, and in every performance. There were eight performances, which is a lot (at least, more than I usually get to do with the same group of people), but it never got even a little bit old and stale. The singers and instrumentalists traded ornaments, the puppets reacted to us, and vice versa, and there was a real sense of synergy. It's the same feeling one gets working with a great pianist on a recital, but the feeling is multiplied when there are more people involved. This particular piece was almost entirely recitative, so that allowed even more play between characters and with the continuo players. I'll get to do some chamber music at Banff this summer, so I'm really looking forward to that.

• Even an intense rehearsal schedule (we put the show together in one week, with about 6 hours of rehearsal every day) can be made pleasant with good colleagues, tea, and lots of high quality chocolate!

• There's a lot of change happening in my life right now. Most of it is good, but change is always hard. I think that being around so much joy and love and laughter every day has really opened my heart to allow some things in that I probably would have resisted otherwise. In a time when lots of things are feeling out of control and unsettled, it has been a real blessing.
  

• This has been a season filled with Baroque music for me, and the more I do the more I love it. I'm feeling more at home all the time with the style, I'd be very happy to have much more of it in my future!
  

• I got a great compliment from a friend who came to see the show. "I've never seen or heard someone act so much with just their voice!" The musicians were all dressed in black and sitting with music stands at the side of the stage, so the audience could see us, but the puppets (obviously) were the center of attention. Singing a role (well, 3 roles, actually) from a chair, with no staging, gave me a great opportunity to explore characterization in other ways, experimenting with different vocal colors, and really delving in to the text in a detailed way. We do this as performers onstage as well, of course, but isolating these elements was very rewarding, and something we don't often get to do. I felt like I grew a lot as a performer from the experience. What a great way to make a living, right?

Now, on to the next thing. I have an audition and competition at the end of the month that I need to prepare for, and hopefully assignments from Banff will be coming soon, so I'll have lots of music to dive in to. More on all this soon!

don't mind me and my split personalities...

I met with the music director yesterday for the marionette opera that I'll be involved in next month. My role has changed a few times since I became involved in this project. The opera is called La Liberazione di Ruggiero dall'Isola d'Alcina. First, I was hired to sing Melissa, who ultimately rescues Ruggiero from Alcina's island. Then, I was singing Alcina. Now, I'm singing... both! Alcina is a higher role, a magical temptress who can turn people in to enchanted plants, among other fun things. Melissa's singing lies a lot lower. She's "the good one" in the opera, and a much more grounded and earthy character than Alcina. She also has magical powers, but uses them only for good. In order to rescue Ruggiero, she transforms herself in to Atlante, and at this point she will be sung by a bass, so I won't be singing her entire role, but once she transforms back in to herself, she has a confrontation scene with Alcina, so I'll be talking to myself for a good 5 minutes or so. How fun! I guess I'll be experimenting with different vocal colors and characters! Of course, there will be different puppets onstage, so hopefully it won't be confusing for the audience.

In other news, apparently my Canadian envy has paid off -- I'll be spending six weeks at the Banff Centre this summer, participating in their Opera as Theatre Program! Woo hoo!!! I'm not exactly sure what my assignments will be there, but more on that as things develop. At the very least, I'll be spending six weeks in a great program in an absolutely stunning setting, so I'm excited!

Canada rocks my world.

I was in Vancouver this weekend auditioning for the Banff Centre. I have auditioned for them a few times before. It's always a good excuse to visit some great friends in Vancouver and indulge in lots of yummy tapas and sangria at our favorite restaurant. Generally, I think they prefer to hire Canadians, but the audition went very well, and I'm hoping that the fact I'm an alumna of a Canadian University might help me out a little. If only they knew how much I really want to be Canadian! Canada is so cool!

First of all, the spelling. I feel so much more sophisticated going to the theatre, or attending a centre for something. Secondly, it's great to feel like I'm getting a refresher course in French every time I go to the grocery store. Also, it (well, Vancouver and Victoria, anyway) really feels like home. When I went to Indiana after finishing my bachelor's degree in Victoria, I found that immediately I had met a circle of Canadian friends. I felt, still feel, I think, more of an identity as someone who has lived in Canada than I do as an American, in broad terms. Of course, Seattle, is probably the most Canadian of any major US city, so that probably has something to do with it.

Canada, like the US, has had new designs for their money in the last few years. The picture of the queen has been aged appropriately, and her picture is bigger on the front. I noticed a quote on the back (in English and French, of course!) by Gabrielle Roy: "Nous connaitrons-nous nos-memes seulement un peu sans les artes?" "Can we ever know each other even a little without the arts?" On their MONEY, people! I mean, come on! How cool is that?

In other news, I'm ready to get cracking on my spring projects -- the St. Matthew Passion and the first opera known to be written by a woman: La Liberazione di Ruggiero dall' isola di Alcina, by Francesca Caccini. I'll be performing this with the Northwest Puppet Center. I'm totally excited about both of these projects, and ready to dive in. There are some exciting things in the works for next fall (one having to do with Canada, even!), but more on that later when they solidify a little more.