summer's over!

How did that happen? Suddenly, it's autumn. It's my favorite season. Every year at this time, I'm grateful that I have a job that is somewhat dependent on the school year. It ensures that every September, I get to have that "new beginnings" feeling. In the two weeks since I've been home from Banff (which continued to be an amazing experience -- more posts on that to come), I've been organizing my schedule of performances and students for the upcoming season. Many returning students, a few new ones, including three boys!

It's funny, I'd been working all summer under the assumption that this year was fairly light for me, performance wise, but as I was updating my website last week, I realized that I'm actually extremely busy! A nice realization to come to. Not a lot of opera this year, but the role I'm scheduled for is one that I'm really excited about -- Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni. I had been nervous about it, since it's traditionally sung by sopranos, but I had the good fortune to study this summer with fabulous mezzo Judith Forst, who has sung the role many times, and convinced me that we high mezzos can do it! I've been working on it, and so far, so good! I'm hoping to be able to coach with Judith on it a few times before rehearsals begin in the spring. It's the perfect setting to try the role out -- with the puppet opera! I can't imagine a more fun, joyful, supportive environment.

Most of my season this year is concerts and recitals, which is just fine by me. Next week, I'm headed to Victoria, BC to do a recital at my alma mater, with my piano professor at the keyboard! I was invited to come up as a guest artist, and it feels like I'm coming full circle in a way. I'm singing some of my favorite pieces -- Mahler's Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen, Debussy's Chansons de Bilitis, and Britten's A Charm of Lullabies. Then, my first Elijah in October, more recitals (Mahler and Brahms) in late October, and two different Messiahs in December. One is with a chamber orchestra and chorus, which should be particularly fun.

In the middle of all this are some pops concerts with the Seattle Symphony, previews of Seattle Opera's upcoming Iphigenia in Tauris (I'm singing Iphigenia), some film score work (listen for the Hallelujia chorus parody in the Shrek Christmas special this winter!), and two shows in the Seattle Opera chorus (Pagliacci and Tosca). I've never done any opera chorus work before, so I'm giving it a try.

So, I'm a busy girl! It seems like a great variety -- all of it fun!

a goal...

I've been thinking a lot lately about gratitude and being truly present in the moments of my life, and how that relates to singing and performing. I am so grateful to have this amazing job that brings joy and communicates to people on a deep level. It seems to me the best way to show that gratitude, and the best means to opening the most direct line of communication, is by being as present as possible, moment to moment, in performance. It's not that I'm generally un-present during performances (in fact, I've always felt very involved, mentally and emotionally) but it has occurred to me as I've explored these concepts in other areas of my life lately that a deeper level of awareness is possible, and the St. Matthew seems the perfect opportunity to play with this idea. At the dress rehearsal on Wednesday night, I experimented with taking a moment before my arias to focus my energy on the beauty of the music, the meaning of the text, and what I wanted to convey in my interpretation, and one of the arias in particular was a truly transformative experience. For me, that is. I can't speak for the audience, though the feedback I got from my fellow soloists was very positive. So tonight, at the performance, my goal is to be completely present every time I breathe to sing a phrase, aware of the power and exquisite beauty of this music and the message I'd like to convey.