I won the Nebraska Met auditions!

I can't believe I haven't posted for nearly two weeks - so much has happened! Top of the news is that I'm back home in Minneapolis after winning the Nebraska district Met auditions in Lincoln on Saturday, less than 24 hours after arriving back in Omaha from an exhausting week of touring Nebraska, South Dakota, and Iowa.

Prior to touring, we performed at a couple of events for donors to the opera. On Friday night, we sang arias and songs during a silent auction/wine and scotch tasting in a large, CARPETED hotel ballroom. Oh, and with a keyboard instead of a piano. That was an interesting experience! I have sung for events like that before, but never with a keyboard or in a carpeted room. It's challenging to perform while people are mingling, but I really had to be mindful of the way I was singing this time. It's tempting to 'push' the sound over that din in a room already muffled by carpeting, especially when you aren't supported by an actual piano. It was a good event, though, and I think it was a nice benefit for the opera - there should ALWAYS be scotch tastings at benefits and fundraisers! The next evening was in a similar location, but featured a six-course dinner with wine pairings, followed by a live auction. I was seated at a table with the owner of Omaha Steaks. Fancy!

We started out that week of touring on Sunday night, the 16th, driving to a hotel in Yankton, SD, which would be our home for three days. We did two high school or college shows every day Monday through Wednesday, fortified by the grilled and fried cuisine of South Dakota, nary a vegetable or fruit in sight (sad, sad, SAD - singers do not appreciate acid reflux, even if some of them do rather enjoy the occasional onion ring or grilled ham and cheese). Happily, our hotel not only had an excercise room, but racquetball courts! Darren (the baritone, remember?) pretty much kicked my arse, but at least we worked off the pounds of grease and cheese.

On Wednesday night, we moved our home base to Sioux Center, Iowa, where we gave a concert on Thursday night and our final education outreach show (at my alma mater, Dordt College!) on Friday. It was a little sad, but our voices were pretty exhausted by that point. Then on Saturday, I sang the competition and everyone else went home!

Within the next day or two, I'll write something on what I learned from my experiences, and I plan to continue blogging about auditions, gigs, and making this opera career, so keep reading! I probably have some more pictures hanging around somewhere, too...