Big yay! I found/chose one more fantastic Handel aria for my recital! It was the last piece I needed to finish my recital program, so yahoo!!!

I am also back into the swing of playing the harp again this semester. I'm working on a harp arrangement of 6 Russian Dances by Bartok (originally for violin). It's my first time playing Bartok and I have to say I love it :) The pieces have such wonderful tone colors and incredible chromatics in them...goosebumps! We have a Concert Chorale performance this coming Tuesday as well. We are singing Rejoice In The Lamb by Britten. Did I forget to mention how much I LOVE BRITTEN?!?! He's absolutely brilliant, enough said. I'm not sure if the concert will be broadcast on WSUIR online radio or not, but I will be sure to let you know if it is. I am still waiting to hear from University of Maryland, Rice University, and Opera North. I know that I probably won't hear from them until the first week in March, but that hasn't stopped me from stalking my mailbox.

I did have to make a decision to work less hours at the Marriott after the opera. Due to all of the things I have committed myself to for school/all the fun aspects of being a graduating senior, I just can't work my usual shifts and I would not have been able to have all those days off. So I'm working just 2 days a week instead of 3. I will have to find some house cleaning jobs or find a few more voice students. I know that it was the right decision to make and I just trust that God will provide me with what I need :) But it's been amazing this week, because I've just had a wonderful peace about all these things that would usually stress me out immensely.

Anywho, I need to get back to translating and studying. More news as it occurs later!

Well....my body is refusing to sleep, so I opted to try and research/find one more Handel aria for my recital.

I have tried to avoid singing Handel for as long as possible. It's intimidated me for years, and that part has definitely not changed! Mainly it's because I've thought I would ruin a beautifully written piece. I think that it one of my largest fears as a singer. The composer, Handel to be specific, has taken such care and beauty in writing the line and the orchestration, I just don't want to screw it up by not being prepared. I do have my favorites that I long to sing someday, "Da Tempeste" from Giulio Cesare and "I Myself I Shall Adore" from Semele are my absolute FAVORITES!!!!!!!!!!! But because I am still a young singer, I know I need more time to work on my craft before I take on these pieces. Which brings me to my current frustration...finding an upbeat Handel aria that I am vocally ready for. TOUGH TO FIND! But what should I find during my search - a Handel video/interview with a woman in the business I really look up to, Joyce DiDonato:




I took a break and decided to watch this. I love it when I come across things like this. It helps me to know that I'm not alone in my desire to be able to deliver as a performer. So for me, the struggle is worth it and ends up being the most gratifying part of the whole experience.


Well...I've liked the following I-think-are-doable-pieces after the past several hours of research: "Scoglio d'immota fronte" from Scipione, "Combattuda"/ "Un 'Aura Placida"/ "Mi Parto Lieta" from Faramondo, "S'adopri il braccio armato" from Radamisto, "La mia costanza" from Fulvia, "Di re sdegnato" and "Verdi Lauri, cingetemi il crine" from Giustino, and "Se giunge un dispetto" from Agrippina. Here's hoping I find more tomorrow back in the music library and will be able to pick one...ack! I think I'm going to try attempt #2 for going to bed.

Through this whole auditioning season, I've been thinking a lot about my strengths and weaknesses. Me being me I usually tend to focus on my weaknesses. But I revisited a particular scripture that will always speak volumes to me:


"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." - 2 Corinthians 12:9


In my experience, no one likes to boast about their weaknesses. However, it never ceases to amaze me how much more I depend on God because of them. Later in my life, I can look back and see His glory shine through my weaknesses and hurts. Here are some of my weaknesses:

-often take things too personally
-low self-confidence
-perfectionist
-selfish
-a long personal struggle
-often very hard on myself

These are just a mere few of my imperfections, but God uses them anyways for His purpose. Because I am so hard on myself and do have issues with low self-confidence, God enables me to remain humble with my singing. It's a daily reminder of how much more work and effort I need to utilize the gift God has given me. As my mother used to say, and still does, there will always be someone better than you. And it's true. Art is subjective and not everyone will like what I bring to the table, and that's okay.

My personal struggles and hurts have allowed me to be more aware of others' feelings and empathetic to their hurts. Sometimes they even find comfort in the fact that someone else has understood their struggle and hardship. Even though it will always be a struggle, I am thankful for the experience because I've learned so much and because I have been able to be useful because of it.


Anyways, I'm off my soap box, but it just really makes you think about things, ya know?


In other news.....BREANNA BROWN MADE STATE QUALIFYING TIME IN THE 500 FREE STYLE!!!!!!!!!!!! SHE EVEN TOOK OFF 5 SECONDS FROM HER BEST TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can we tell I'm a proud big sister?! Breanna goes to State Conference in 2 weeks. So proud :)

Also I have my performance dates for L'enfant et les Sortilege at WSU. I will be on the Thursday/Saturday night cast on March 4th & 6th at 7:30pm in Wilner Auditiorium. Other than that, not much to update on. Lots of ♥ to you all, especially with Valentine's Day just around the corner ;)

So as several of you know, I am a stress magnet. Some of it is self inflicted, and the rest I just seem to attract. My body has now decided to react due to that and I have some acid reflux problems :(

I noticed that for several days my voice was feeling pretty crappy and I wasn't sure why. My top and bottom parts of my range were the worst, which is not normal for me. Thanks to my fabulous voice teacher who knows so much about health and medicinal things I now am able to treat it. I did a search as to what foods I should stay away from for a while....it was like someone jotted down my usual diet and put a big NO on it...I miss my spicey foods, coffee, and citris fruits!!! I am trying to get a better handle on this before Tuesday because that is my audition for Opera North.


In other news, I received my acceptance letter from Florida State University today, yahoo! Now I just wait to hear about acceptance from the other 2 schools and see what scholarship offers happen.

Other than that, not a whole lot to fill you in on...just trying to decompartmentalize my stressful life one step at a time. I will be SOOOO much happier once mid March rolls around; most of the stress should be gone by then. Anywho...hope you all are doing well!

Hello all :)

I realize it's been a while since my last update and no I have not forgotten my promise to be better about updating. As proof, notice the lovely new template that I've added to my page and the new music player on the left. I came across this Christian artist, JJ Heller, about 2 weeks ago and absolutely fell in love with her work! I think what I love best about her music is that the lyrics incorporate her faith with her everyday circumstances. It just seems more heartfelt to me. Anywho...check her out and if you want to hear some of her other songs, just click the next button on the ipod screen.


So....I am FINALLY done with all of my graduate school auditions!!!!!! YAY!!!!!! I have to say it is such a relief that it is out of my hands now. I flew up to University of Maryland last Tuesday afternoon and had my audition at UMD the next day. I absolutely LOVED the campus, the music building and all of the students and faculty that I met while there. I felt that I had a great audition and they really seemed to enjoy it as well. Unfortunately they are only accepting 10 new graduate students: 5 men and 5 women, so basically 2-3 people per voice part....eek! So the only thing that I am still not sold on is I did not get the opportunity to talk to each of the voice faculty to see who I would work well with as far as finding a new voice teacher. But I will wait to worry about that if I am accepted.


Grad school audition #2 - Florida State University. I flew directly from Maryland the day after my UMD audition to Tallahasse, FL. I really enjoyed my visit to FSU, but it was hard to like anything as much as I loved the University of Maryland. However, there is a voice teacher there, David Okerlund, that is absolutely amazing! Pina had recommended him to me and man is he awesome! He took the time to meet with me for an hour and half to talk about his teaching style and get to know me a bit. That speaks volumes to me about how much he cares for his students and the school. I feel that I would learn a great deal from him if FSU is where I decide to go for grad school. My audition went really well and each of the faculty made it a point to tell me how much they loved my audition. YAY!


Grad school audition #3 - Rice University. I just got back from my Rice University audition on Saturday evening. I had one rough time getting down there that is for sure! I was supposed to fly out on Thursday evening to get there a day before my audition, on Friday. My AA flight was canceled because of weather...ice n' snow...eww.... The next flight the put me on was Friday morning at 6:35am. I don't like flying in the day of because it just wears me out and takes a toll on my voice. But just rolling with the punches...I ended up rolling with more punches because I sat boarded on my flight for over 2 hours due to power outages on the plane! I now know what it looks like when the flight attendents say that the exit signs will illuminate to show you your nearest exit. Got into Houston a quarter after 11am, took one expensive cab ride to the university and got there about 12pm. My audition was at 2pm...AHHH! But despite the travel issues, I felt that I sang really well and I did well on my exams the next morning. I had been freaking myself out about those exams for months, and I will say that studying for them DEFINITELY helps!


The next and last thing on my auditions list for the moment is my audition for Opera North on February 9th. It's a summer program and it pays a bit, so that is nice :)

At this point I am taking 12 credit hours this semester....it's a load off from my usual amount of classes. I am currently in the middle of opera rehearsals for L'enfant et les sortilege. The show goes up the 1st weekend in March. After that I have a voice competition, Crescendo Music Awards, in mid March in Tulsa, OK. After that I have my BM recital on April 9th at 7:30pm in Wiedemann Recital Hall. And last but not least the Naftzger Music Competition in mid April.....it's been a busy year!!!! Whew!


In other news:
* Breanna turns 15?!?! on February 4th!!!! Ack, she's making me feel old
But I can honestly say she is one of the most increadible people I
know :) So happy birthday squirt! She's done extremely well swimming for
Winnetonka's swim team. She is just literally about a second away from
getting a state qualifying time...she's working REALLY hard to make that
time within the next week. She's already a varsity swimmer as a
freshman...so talented!
*Frank and I are still doing really well :D 6 months together as of
today. I was able to see him during my layover in Dallas on my way home
from my Rice audition. The next time I see him will probably be my
spring break in mid March :( He is currently teaching 50 voice students
in the Dallas area and singing with a professional-traveling choir too!
So he's keeping pretty busy.
*Mom joined a bookclub!!!! I'm so proud :) I think it's been a wonderful
stress reliever for her and a way to make some new friends too! She has
taken up swimming this past year or so and has been enjoying it too.
*Dad is working a lot, but it's because he's having a great deal of
success building his business back up! He's still singing with the King
of King's adult choir, which he loves.
*Al (my hamster) is still alive! He's almost 2 years old, which
considering they only live to be about 2-3 years old is quite
an accomplishment! His new obsession....banana chips!

At this point my life is busy finishing learning my recital material before the second week in March. Wah...this was a really long update, but I figured that I would just wait to post a new blog until after grad school auditions were over with. I should hopefully hear about acceptance by March 1st and scholarship offers by mid March-ish. I have to go to opera rehearsal, but as usual, I would love to hear what you all are up to, so PLEASE leave a comment or shoot me a message with all the details! Lots of love from Wichita!