Hello all!

I'm sorry it's been so long sing my last post and I've had a great deal going, so here's a quick catch up for you all. Last week I went to go study with Alan Held in Philadelphia!!! It was an amazing experience and I learned so much!!! I had two 2 and a half hour lessons with him and I can definitely say I was exhausted after each one of them, but in a good way :) We coached/ worked on my audition package and also talked about graduate school possibilities for me. All in all a fantastic experience and now have a lovely contact for some opera help, alright!

I'm currently still working on my audition package and getting ready for WSU opera auditions in a few weeks. I'm reworking my Despina material a bit and also learning the role of the story book princess from L'enfant et les Sortilege for the audition.

I really don't have a whole lot to share...I could have gone into some crazy detail about my work with Alan, but I guess the only person who would find it interesting would be me, haha. But on a random side note, I just came across this commercial the other day, I just about fell out of my chair laughing, hope you enjoy!

So I finally had my wisdom teeth out yesterday....both of the lower ones were impacted, joy and rapture. It went surprisingly well...I was in there for less than a half an hour, which was amazing! I woke up this morning with hardly any swelling and only a little pain on my lower left jaw side, but that was the hardest tooth to get out apparently, so all in all...I AM SO GRATEFUL!

Even more on the upside of things, I should have my jaw completely recovered in...get this....5DAYS!!! God is good, need I say more? So I should be able to literally get right back to practicing in about a week or a little more :)


I made the decision to have my BM recital in April instead of the initially planned October. I need to be running my entire program memorized by early September if I want to have the recital in October. I know I'm capable of putting it all together in a mere 2 months. But...I love the music I'm doing so much, and they aren't simple pieces what-so-ever, thanks to Schubert/ Respighi/ Cannon/ Jake Heggie/ Menotti and/or Floyd. If I "threw" this together in 2 months, the quality of my work would not be at it's best. I decided to dedicate more of my time to these, as we call them, white dead guys, haha. The legacy they've left in their music demands time to explore the emotion, the notes, and the musicality. I want to do them justice, so I'm giving them the time they deserve to have spent on their music. AND I'M SOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!

That's pretty much all I have, I'm off to finish my liquid breakfast of slimfast, wah wah. I've also been watching some fabulous Strauss opera productions via WSU DVDs. Can I just reiterate how much I LOVE Strauss?!?!...hope you all are doing well!

Well, I have to admit that I completely stole this link from Joyce Didonato's June 29th blog post, but I absolutely have to make sure that as many people hear this speech as possible!

Robert Levin's speech at the Curtis Institute of Music commencement:
http://instantencore.com/MusicDetails.aspx?PId=5037339

Please take the time to listen to this, fellow aspiring musicians especially!!!

I've been working on new audition arias as well as new literature for my upcoming BM recital in October. Sometimes I feel so lost as to what to do to better the piece, to make it stand out...the answer is simple, make it new! Have something to say with every note and rest! This speech was just the kick in the pants I needed to get my pieces in gear. We have to make our music relevent to society today, otherwise it dies. We have to share our love of this art and show how much it has to say. We have to make it matter! So many people do not understand the magic of Mozart, Schubert, Bach, Handel, Respighi, Josquin, Ockagham, Brittin, Offenbach, and the new composers such as Jake Heggie and Mark Adamo.

As musicians, we are translators. I'm not talking about the language of the literature. We translate the situations, plots, and poetry from these memorable composers by expressing them with the same emotions that have been shared by all mankind in past, present, and future. No the social situations, classes, and structures will not be the same, but the passions felt by all people will still remain. They are forever preserved in these great musical works. Now where do we come in as musicians? Music and performing arts are unique art forms. Our art is expressed in something that cannot be stopped...time. In visual art you can still look at the painting or sculpture years and years after it has been formed. But with the perfoming arts we are given a small amount of precious time. We can not live in the past or in the future, but only in the present. Time is fleeting and those precious moments where we are given the priviledge to share these wonderful works, we must make them meaningful to our audience. It is a challenge to us all....are you up to it?

Buonjorno!





Life is, big surprise, ridiculously busy!!! Ahh! But it is fantastic at the same time. I have set all of my literature officially for my recital in October, so big yay for that being done! And most of my music is already learned, I just need to memorize it...ha ha. The only set that will take lots of time, although it will be completely worth it, is my Respighi set, Deita Silvane. It's gorgeous! I have one piece down, 4 to go for that set. I have to finish learning 3 arias for my trip to see Alan Held and then one other aria and a duet for my recital. Shouldn't be too bad all in all.





Ballet is still whooping my butt, but the time now flies, which is a huge plus for my aching quads and calves! I decided to put off the lap swiming until July when my class is over. But I am working on my own little opera project. I am desperately trying to expand my knowledge of opera literature this summer, so I have been hitting the WSU Library and checking out videos to watch at home...so far so good :) I have 2 more to watch from my last expedition to the library, Le Rossignole by Stravinsky (Natalie Dessay in the production, yea!) and Peter Grimes by Britten. It should be a fun weekend :)





I've been baking in Wichita. It's been in the triple digits and it's only June! Plus the humidity has been insane too!

So I've now officially started my ballet class....needless to say my skills are still the same....can't balance, can't straighten my legs out all the way, not flexible in the least! And did I forget to mention that I kinda look, for lack of a better phrase, like I'm taking a dump when I plie? I've decided that I will be the comedy relief for the others in the class, ha ha. I know that I'm not a dancer, I just have to take this class for my degree. I'm a singer, but hopefully taking this class will improve my posture and "gracefulness" on stage. But I'm the short "curvy" girl in the class in comparison to all of the tall twigs that are in there.



I've been working out lots thus far in the month of June. My ballet class is for 2 hours and then I lap swim for about an hour directly afterwards. So hopefully by the end of the month I will be more toned and loose a little of weight too. I've also been refreshing my languages via The Rosetta Stone software. It's been helpful, but not quite what I was expecting. In other news, just learning new voice literature. I have a lesson with Pina on Friday, so big YAY! My lessons are the high points of my week, I just love 'em! I always feel better about myself after them.

It's been a little warm here in Wichita the past few days, but the evenings are beautiful! About 70 degrees with a cool breeze. I love sitting on my porch in my wooden swing and reading a good book with a glass of wine....it's the perfect way to wind down at the end of the day. I also am being eaten out of house and home, but love it at the same time. There is a family of finches that live just off to the left side of my porch. I bought a bird feeder a few months ago and it has to be refilled about every 2 days or so. They are so fun to watch hopping along the wire bars :) And I bought myself a shrubbery...okay, it's not a shrubbery, it's a vine to be accurate...a Mandavilla. It looks like it could have a few blooms any day now! I just love seeing and watching the beautiful nature around me. It the little things that I enjoy so much. They are God's little gifts to all of us, we just need to take the time to see and enjoy them. I'm off to bed because I have ballet tomorrow...eek!

Hi all :)

I have a few updates since the blog. Today was my last day of my summer presession in womens' studies, Women In Popular Culture. It's an entire semesters worth of material crammed into 9 days for 4 and a half hours a day...ew...I loved the readings, but as much as I hate to say it....not the brightest crayons in the box were in that class....for example:

The first day the professor always wants everyone to get to know one another/ her/etc. She is an African-American woman with an accent, so logically she could be from Jamaica or Africa. She asks the class, "So what do you want to know about me?". A girl in the back of the room shouts, "Where are you from?". The teacher repsonds, "Oh dat is a very good question. Where do you tink (not a spelling error, just an accent attempt in typing) I'm from?". "Well she thinks you're from Jamaica." says the girl as she points to a fellow female on her left. The teacher replies, "I didn't ask her, I ask you. Where do you tink I'm from?". "Well I don't think you're from Africa". "Why do you say dat?"....."I dunno, I just don't think you're from Africa." The teacher tells everyone, "Well actually I'm from Nigeria." and here's the kicker......The girl responds with, "See I knew you weren't from Africa!"...........Crimeny! I have never felt so intelligent in my life! I've also never had to struggle so much to keep a straight face.

So now that that is over, I have finished yet one more requirement for my degree, yay! Now I'm on to my regular summer course.....Ballet...dun dun dun :( I have absolutely no physical rhythm and I also inherited my father's hamstrings, so this could very well be a catastrophe. I have to go buy a leotard this weekend. The last time I wore one of those was when I was about 4 years old...yeesh.

I also had my first church choir rehearsal for St.Andrew's Lutheran (my directing job). I didn't know what kind of turn out I would have and I had been told that there was little to no musical talent there. All I have to say is that God is absolutely incredible! I get there and I have a fabulous accompanist, and 8 choir members....4 men and 4 women...2 basses, 2 tenors, 2 altos, and 2 sopranos.....HOW AMAZING IS THAT?! And a huge plus is that they can sing the 4 part music I picked out! I initially came to WSU as a music education major, but they changed it because I couldn't receive a scholarship unless I was a performance major...then I did my first opera and the rest is history. But I had forgotten how much I LOVED choral music, especially the idea of directing one. It's a wonderful opportunity that has literally fallen into my lap and I'm loving it thus far. As a musician, we kind of need to be a jack of all trades...and directing would certainly qualify as a trade. I think I might even be able to give them some more pieces in addition to the music they already have.

Other than that I'm going to jump into learning my new audition arias and senior recital material this coming week. Life is busy, but it's good!

...to quote a piece I'm currently working on....mer....



Sorry it's been a while, but life has been rather hecktic as of late. I'm still new to the whole blogspot concept vs my old blog location.



So I last left off that I had my first professional contract with Opera Kansas, yahoo! I learned the role in 4 days, had one week of rehearsal and then the show. That rate of speed was new, but I really enjoyed the process. I was the baby of the cast, but it was a wonderful learning experience to work with those more seasoned than myself. The show was a wonderful way to escape all that life has thrown on me and what I've stupidly decided to take on for the summer...ew...so here's what I've gotten myself into for the summer:



*Working 3 church jobs- one directing, one choral member, and one soloist job

*Teaching voice lessons at a local music store

*Working 24 hours a week at the Marriott

*Full time student at WSU this summer, including evil presession at the moment

*House sitting for one of my professors

*Still volunteering for Big Brothers Big Sisters

*Learning all my senior recital material, already picked out the music

*Goal of loosing 20 pounds this summer/ sliming down a bit

*Researching in detail my list of possible graduate schools

*Refreshing my languages

*Researching suitable roles for myself

*WSU opera audition material for next fall

*Also reading up on my Music History, Theory, Pedagogy, and Opera Literature




Off the top of my head, that's all I can think of that I've signed up for this summer....oh yea, I'm getting all 4 of my wisdom teeth taken out in July...ew...


Point being, this is most likely the busiest I've been in I don't know how long. And currently just incredibly frustrated and slightly depressed. As Debra Baxter put so elequently at the show yesterday..."Mandy, there's a word that you need to incorperate into your vocabulary. It starts with an n. Actually make that a capital N. N...OOOOOOOOO NO!" As funny as the woman is, she makes a valid point. Despite the fact that I'm just shy of being 22, I still have not learned how to say no to people, and they take advantage of it. And I think what makes this a vicious cycle for me is because I tend to be a very solitary individual. Not intentionally, but because I have become so accustomed to isolating myself. I bury myself in my music/ work/ and tasks that others ask of me. I feel guilty if I sit down for 2 seconds to myself, including writing this entry. So I fill up my time with work/school/ and other activities.


But sometimes I can't help but feel so alone, and I realize it's part of the business, but it still doesn't change those once in a while blue moods, ya know? I also realize that my lack of sufficient sleep does not help the blues either. At least I will be able to handle being by myself for a career. As far as usually handling it goes, I'm a pro.


In order to try and end this on a slighly happier note....I did get the grant I applied for from the Koch Cultural Trust....SWEET! This means that my trip to go study with Alan Held this summer in Philadelphia is COMPLETELY PAID FOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now isn't that fabulous! If there is one thing that has been made clear to me in my limited...almost 22 years....of experience, is that God's gift to me has been music. Music has always been there for me and speaks to my soul in a way that nothing else ever could. Music is what has carried me through every hardship in my life and taught me my most valuable lessons. That is why I perform. It is what keeps me whole and I want to share that knowledge and experience with as many people possible in my life time.



Here's my two quotes of encouragement for today.



"Women are like teabags. We don't know our true strength until we are in hot water!"

-Eleanor Roosevelt



"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" Philipians 4:13

Hello all :) Life has been ridiculously busy these past few weeks, but in a good way though.

As stated in my heading, I HAVE MY FIRST PROFESSIONAL CREDIT!!! A very exciting thing indeed for being a student who is trying to build her resume. I've been working my bum off to learn everything too with finals going on and what not. I'm performing the role of Miss Sweetsong (or in the original German, Mademoiselle Silberklang) in Mozart's The Impresario. I just got a phone call from the director of Opera Kansas and he offered me the role. I haven't auditioned for this company since my freshman year, so my voice has grown a great deal in 4 years! Aparently it was by word of mouth about my recent performances and my abilities that the director offered me the role...just goes to show that the realm of opera is a small community with a long memory...don't burn your bridges! But long story somewhat shorter, I was offered the role last Thursday, got the score last Friday, had my first rehearsal today, and the show is on May 26th & 27th, whew! I'm really enjoying it though. I get to do one last show with my friend Dru, playing Madame Herz, and I get to work with some of the faculty members. It's going to be a great experience and the best part....I GET PAID! Could it get much better than this...nope :)

Currently planning a few researching projects over the summer....first of all I want to research soprano operatic roles and sort them according to voice type...I'm more of a soprano leggiero or light lyric at the moment...so I'm currently enjoying the soubrette roles n' such...but I want to know what I should head for later on down the line/ roles to learn, etc....also the ever growing project of researching graduate schools, ugh.....I've got 7ish on my list currently and it will more than likely be growing. It's all up to where God wants me to go and what He wants me to do....so I'm sure He'll show me where to go. That is all for the moment, but more updates from this sarcastic soprano will be arriving soon!

So I've just worked with the head of the languages department, Dr.Baldridge, for an hour on translating a French set for my recital this coming October. All I have to say is WOW, I LOVE FRENCH POETRY!!! Between his help and Mme Roussel, I am getting such a better understanding of these poems.

The set is by Philip Cannon, a current Franco-British composer who is not very well known, unfortunately. He has taken 5 poems and created a set called Cinq Chanson de Femmes, set for a soprano/ lyric mezzo with harp accompaniment. The music is absolutely gorgeous! The text I've always thought pretty, but today I realized that I'm just beginning to discover the depth of their beauty. Several of them are from 13th century. Three of the poems have unknown authors, but the other two poets are Christine de Pisan and Olivier Basselin. The pieces came with "translations" for when they are sung in English, but they are not accurate in the French text in general or what the text emotes. Thus far I have loved translating the poems by Pasin and Basselin.

As an artist I feel that it is SO important to know word for word what you are saying, the flow of the language, and understand the deeper meaning of the poetry itself. I spent an hour on 3 of these poems today and I still feel that I have so much more to discover about them. It is my duty and responsibility as an artist to give justice to not only the composer, but also the poet when I perform these beautiful pieces. The amount of time, energy, and soul that these artists have poured into their work should not be shrugged off by the performer. I hope that as artists, we all can dig in and enjoy time spent on discovering the depth of our art. As Joyce DiDonato kindly reminded me/my colleagues last week, "Why are you doing this?" Why are we musicians, actors, and poets? What are we trying to convey? What message needs to be heard?

So I've decided to get on the band wagon and start my own blog. I have to admit that I'm not the most articulate author, but I will endeavor to try :).

Most exciting bit of my life in my recent history occurred 2 nights ago. I got to meet Joyce DiDonato! She is a fabulous person on an off stage. She is my biggest inspiration in the field of opera because she can simply be herself, have a successful marriage, and have an obviously amazing operatic career. Truly a night that I will always treasure.

On a side note I'm making some decisions about my repertoire. I've done some pieces in the past that I should just put away for another 5-6 years-ish. I'm currently looking for some new light lyric (soprano leggiero)/ soubrette audition arias to learn. I am really pleased to say that the role of Susannah fits REALLY well in my voice. I am refining "The Trees on the Mountains" and I want to go work on "Ain't It A Pretty Night" over the summer to coach with Alan Held. I'm looking at working on Silvia's aria, "Bester Jüngling! " from Mozart's Der Schauspieldirektor. I am liking all of these ideas, but while youtube-ing (can I make that a verb?) This was my favorite thing to watch! Natalie Dessay cracks me up! I love Offenbach anyways, but I wasn't familiar with his one act, Orfeo en los infiernos. As a soprano, I'm always eager to find a humorous aria to bring to the table to show my acting flexibility. I hope you enjoy this clip, and let's here it for Natalie and Offenbach for their genious!