Another Catchy-Uppy

Trying to get back into a regular blogging schedule, rather than this “1 post every 3 months” pattern I’ve fallen into.

Voice lessons are going well. I was supposed to sing at a concert in October but I was ill. Woke up with basically no voice. After discussion with my voice teacher she urged me to drop out, because if I tried to sing and didn’t do my best, I’d beat myself up. Then a few weeks later I got strep throat. Again, no singing. Then the subsequent concert was canceled because it was scheduled for right after Hurricane Sandy, which basically wiped out most of the electricity and half of the trees in New Jersey. So I missed about 3 weeks of lessons due to the storm and the infection. Didn’t sing when I was sick, obviously. So now I’m busy trying to work my way back up to where I was. Amazed at how quickly I’ve lost the placement and breath control. It’s coming back quickly too, but it shows me that taking that much time off from singing and from lessons is not a good idea.

For the concert I dropped out of, I was going to sing Sposa son Disprezzata. For the concert that was canceled, I was given the role of Iolanthe in a scene from Gilbert & Sullivan’s operetta of the same name. Yeah I’d never heard of it either. Sounds glamorous to have the title role, but actually it’s a pretty small part in that scene. I’m fine with that – I don’t have the mental energy to learn a huge amount of new music in a relatively short period of time. I’ve also requested (not quite begged, but that’s how I feel) if I could sing Sposa in that concert. I’ve gone over it with the vocal coach, I’m confident with it and am eager to sing it to an audience. They did have some art songs and arias in the program so hopefully they’ll let me. Fingers crossed!

Currently listening to Juan Diego Florez. I’ve written this about a thousand times before, but I must say it again. His voice. Sigh. It washes over me like a warm soft waterfall of happiness. Extremely excited that I’ll be seeing him in January in the same opera with Nathan Gunn. Speaking of Nathan Gunn...  I haven’t blogged about the Gunnster for a while. I do check his website for updates. He’ll be performing in Carousel in NYC around the same time he’ll be at the Met. Those tickets are tres $$$$ so I’m going to have to pass. That makes me sad but what can you do? He'll also be at Zankel Hall again in February but you know. Been there, done that.