I did something in my last post that I have been trying really hard not to do in this blog: assume non-singers know about dorky singer stuff. I totally didn't explain the Met auditions, so I'm going to remedy that right now!
First of all, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions aren't really auditions per se - it's really a competition. Unlike an audition, which singers do to try to get a job, the purpose of a competition is to encourage talented young singers with cash prizes and sometimes helpful comments on their performances by the judges, who are opera professionals. Winning competitions also adds a little prestige (or padding, depending on how you look at it), to a singer's resume.
The Met auditions are sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera National Council, which is basically a volunteer organization made up of donors and patrons of the arts. Their website states that the auditions serve to "discover promising young opera singers and assist in the development of their careers." The prizes are donated by philanthropists throughout the country, including regional opera guilds and private donors. Any singer who meets the eligibility requirements (between the ages of 20 and 30, US citizen, five arias in contrasting languages, demonstrate operatic potential, possess musical training) may compete in the district auditions.
There are forty-five districts within fifteen regions. Each district may send up to three winners to the regional level (but they do not have to send three - it is often only one or two), and one winner from each region moves on to the semi-final round in New York. Approximately ten singers are then chosen to compete in the final round, and up to five singers may be awarded grand prizes. At the district level, there are also encouragement awards and there may be various other donated awards. The amount of prize money varies greatly from district to district, and some singers decide where they want to compete based on the potential amount of prize money available.
Basically, it's just a competition, and it's nice to be able to win a little money to pay for the ever-mounting expenses of weekly voice lessons, paying a pianist several times a month for coaching and rehearsal, recording costs for audition applications, audition application fees, head shots, travel and lodging for auditions, proper clothing for auditions, music scores, and -- oh yeah -- the fee to enter the competition in the first place!
Have I skipped over something else I should have explained? Feel free to ask more questions in the comments section!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
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...
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...
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Touring in Nebraska, where the wind goes sweeping...oh, wrong state
Folks, we're leaving in less than an hour for two days in the heart of Nebraska - doing THREE SHOWS tomorrow and two on Friday. Actually, the second one on Friday is at a cocktail party to raise money for Opera Omaha, but the other is a school program.
At any rate, I haven't written as much as I wanted to this week, but it's been busy, and now we'll be gone! Well, when we get back this weekend, I'll share lots of thoughts and stories about hours in the OO van with three other singers, our music director/pianist, and the community programs director. Lots of card games are being planned, and beer has been already purchased! Not for the van, people, for the hotel...yeesh.
At any rate, I haven't written as much as I wanted to this week, but it's been busy, and now we'll be gone! Well, when we get back this weekend, I'll share lots of thoughts and stories about hours in the OO van with three other singers, our music director/pianist, and the community programs director. Lots of card games are being planned, and beer has been already purchased! Not for the van, people, for the hotel...yeesh.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Why I love opera
Doing this education tour has really made me think again about why I love opera and why I want other people, especially kids, to give it a chance. There are myriad reasons, but here are the things I love most about opera:
1. There are no microphones. Singers have to train their bodies and voices intelligently in order to sing in huge theaters without any amplification other than what happens in their own throats, chests, and heads. Yes, good acoustics in these theaters helps, but without vocal training, those acoustics wouldn't matter one bit when an entire orchestra plays and the hall is filled with thousands of bodies dampening the sound. It's amazing to me what the human body and voice can do - like athletes, we train every day, and we must do so thoughtfully and with intention. It's not as easy as it looks, and it takes years of study, practice, and physical development. This is the number one reason I fell in love with opera in the first place.
2. The music is sometimes beautiful, sometimes intellectually stimulating, and sometimes so passionate and emotional and thrilling that whether you are singing it or listening to it, you feel something that you can't put words to. It is that exact transcendent feeling that is why that particular music was composed in the first place - to give voice to something that words alone cannot express.
3. It's a take on our human tradition of storytelling that involves music, drama, movement, and visual arts (sets, lighting, costumes...) - everything - all in one spectacular live event. Oh, and that brings me to...
4. It's LIVE. Anything can happen on stage. When music is recorded in a studio, or when a film or TV show is made, there are all kinds of possibilities for editing, tweaking, changing things in the studio. In the live theater, you have one chance at that high note, one chance at that scene, and one chance to give the audience an experience that will take them into a different world for an evening. Maybe, if you're lucky, you get one chance to show someone who is experiencing their very first opera all the things that you love about it, and maybe that one night will inspire their love for it, too.
5. Every time you do a show, the same exact opera and maybe even the same exact production, it's different. You get a new opportunity to see into a character, perfect or change that character based on the way you are perceiving the music that day. You get to mold and play and create and take the audience along for the ride.
These reasons are the same for me both as a performer and an audience member. No matter how many times I see La Traviata or Don Giovanni or any other opera I've seen a number of times before, it's always a new experience. The notes on the page always stay the same, but the music and the drama are different every time they're brought to life, every single performance.
We might be in a recession, but that is why we need the arts more than ever - to take us away, just for a couple of hours, into something bigger and grander, more terrible and more wonderful. Get thee to the theater, friends!
1. There are no microphones. Singers have to train their bodies and voices intelligently in order to sing in huge theaters without any amplification other than what happens in their own throats, chests, and heads. Yes, good acoustics in these theaters helps, but without vocal training, those acoustics wouldn't matter one bit when an entire orchestra plays and the hall is filled with thousands of bodies dampening the sound. It's amazing to me what the human body and voice can do - like athletes, we train every day, and we must do so thoughtfully and with intention. It's not as easy as it looks, and it takes years of study, practice, and physical development. This is the number one reason I fell in love with opera in the first place.
2. The music is sometimes beautiful, sometimes intellectually stimulating, and sometimes so passionate and emotional and thrilling that whether you are singing it or listening to it, you feel something that you can't put words to. It is that exact transcendent feeling that is why that particular music was composed in the first place - to give voice to something that words alone cannot express.
3. It's a take on our human tradition of storytelling that involves music, drama, movement, and visual arts (sets, lighting, costumes...) - everything - all in one spectacular live event. Oh, and that brings me to...
4. It's LIVE. Anything can happen on stage. When music is recorded in a studio, or when a film or TV show is made, there are all kinds of possibilities for editing, tweaking, changing things in the studio. In the live theater, you have one chance at that high note, one chance at that scene, and one chance to give the audience an experience that will take them into a different world for an evening. Maybe, if you're lucky, you get one chance to show someone who is experiencing their very first opera all the things that you love about it, and maybe that one night will inspire their love for it, too.
5. Every time you do a show, the same exact opera and maybe even the same exact production, it's different. You get a new opportunity to see into a character, perfect or change that character based on the way you are perceiving the music that day. You get to mold and play and create and take the audience along for the ride.
These reasons are the same for me both as a performer and an audience member. No matter how many times I see La Traviata or Don Giovanni or any other opera I've seen a number of times before, it's always a new experience. The notes on the page always stay the same, but the music and the drama are different every time they're brought to life, every single performance.
We might be in a recession, but that is why we need the arts more than ever - to take us away, just for a couple of hours, into something bigger and grander, more terrible and more wonderful. Get thee to the theater, friends!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
A little bit about the arts and money
Well, since the concert is over, we're back to school programs. Today we did two of our middle school program at the Joslyn Art Museum, and we'll do two more there tomorrow. Apparently, our program is one of the workshops the students can choose in a whole day of art activities at the museum. Isn't that cool? The Joslyn is working with both Opera Omaha and the Omaha Symphony for us to be there. Apparently, there are a lot of grants available for collaboration between arts organizations, and now more than ever, grant money is crucial for the survival of arts organizations. Frankly, any money is hard to come by in the current economic climate. Just this week, Opera Pacific (out of Orange County, California) announced that it was canceling the remainder of its current season due to financial problems. Essentially, the company is several million dollars in the red, and its donors have had to pull promised funding. It remains to be seen whether this is the first of many to go under.
What does this mean for performers? Well, besides the obvious (companies closing doors = fewer performances = fewer jobs), it also means that companies are no longer able to plan their seasons several years in advance. Where opera companies used to plan three or four years in advance, they are now not able to do that because they don't know where the money is coming from. Not only are donors not giving as much, but ticket buyers are buying single tickets instead of season subscriptions, so it's even harder for companies to estimate how much money to count on. This all means that performers are not being contracted many years in advance. For someone like me, who is just starting out, this could be both good and bad. I'm sure you can connect those dots.
I could write more about that, but I won't right now. There are all kinds of factors, including unions, that I don't know enough about yet, and frankly, I am super glad not to be working in arts administration (or any other nonprofit, for that matter) at this point in history. I am VERY glad to be performing, doing outreach for kids who are still totally excited to learn, and working with fantastic people while at this particular point in a singing career, about which I am really optimistic.
What does this mean for performers? Well, besides the obvious (companies closing doors = fewer performances = fewer jobs), it also means that companies are no longer able to plan their seasons several years in advance. Where opera companies used to plan three or four years in advance, they are now not able to do that because they don't know where the money is coming from. Not only are donors not giving as much, but ticket buyers are buying single tickets instead of season subscriptions, so it's even harder for companies to estimate how much money to count on. This all means that performers are not being contracted many years in advance. For someone like me, who is just starting out, this could be both good and bad. I'm sure you can connect those dots.
I could write more about that, but I won't right now. There are all kinds of factors, including unions, that I don't know enough about yet, and frankly, I am super glad not to be working in arts administration (or any other nonprofit, for that matter) at this point in history. I am VERY glad to be performing, doing outreach for kids who are still totally excited to learn, and working with fantastic people while at this particular point in a singing career, about which I am really optimistic.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Concert with the Omaha Symphony, and VOTE
So, this is my name on the door of my very own personal dressing room backstage:
This is the first time I've had my name on the door without having to share! It's exciting, people! The occasion for this was our Choral Collaborative Concert with the Omaha Symphony on Sunday night. This is an annual event bringing together the Omaha Symphony and members of the Opera Omaha Chorus with several area high school choirs. The choirs get to work with conductor Ernest Richardson and OO music director J. Gawf during the rehearsal process, and then they get to perform with the Symphony and the Opera Chorus in the Symphony's beautiful new concert hall, the Holland Center. The four Voices in Residence were the soloists for the concert: on the first half, I sang Poulenc's Gloria with four of the choirs, and then on the second half, all four of us sang opera excerpts and solos with the other three choirs.
The concert went extremely well, and the 2000-seat house was full. Chandler, my parents, my aunt, my sister and brother-in-law, Chandler's dad and stepmom, two of their friends, and several of my girlfriends from Des Moines and Pella all came to hear the performance. It was fantastic! And did I mention how well the concert went?
Here I am after the concert with Chandler:
It was an extremely busy weekend, and I didn't get to see any of those friends or much of the family I had visiting, because I had three hours of dress rehearsal on Saturday, then a performance in a Barnes & Noble in the afternoon, and then another four-hour dress rehearsal Sunday afternoon before the performance. Now, this is not ideal, because all that rehearsal can wear out your voice and your body - it's really exhausting before a big performance. But, it was necessary to rehearse all the choirs together with the orchestra, and that was the only time. This is when you have to be really smart about your singing and save as much energy as you can for the performance even while singing enough to check balance with the orchestra in the hall. Poor Sarah had a terrible cold and still had to do everything we had to do - THAT is when your professionalism is really tested, and she rocked it!
Of course, then we went right back into two school programs yesterday - we were a bit tired, but we have today off. I hope you have all voted and realize how blessed we are to have this right! I'm realizing that more strongly than ever today, because I've been disenfranchised: I requested my absentee ballot a month ago, it didn't come, I called about it and the MN Election board said they would send another, but that never came either. I'm lodging a complaint, because THAT is ridiculous. So, yeah, I'm glad I caucused for my candidate and donated to his campaign, but I don't even get to vote today. I think this will really impact the way I feel about the importance of voting for the rest of my life - so, to all of you who CAN, get out the vote today!
This is the first time I've had my name on the door without having to share! It's exciting, people! The occasion for this was our Choral Collaborative Concert with the Omaha Symphony on Sunday night. This is an annual event bringing together the Omaha Symphony and members of the Opera Omaha Chorus with several area high school choirs. The choirs get to work with conductor Ernest Richardson and OO music director J. Gawf during the rehearsal process, and then they get to perform with the Symphony and the Opera Chorus in the Symphony's beautiful new concert hall, the Holland Center. The four Voices in Residence were the soloists for the concert: on the first half, I sang Poulenc's Gloria with four of the choirs, and then on the second half, all four of us sang opera excerpts and solos with the other three choirs.
The concert went extremely well, and the 2000-seat house was full. Chandler, my parents, my aunt, my sister and brother-in-law, Chandler's dad and stepmom, two of their friends, and several of my girlfriends from Des Moines and Pella all came to hear the performance. It was fantastic! And did I mention how well the concert went?
Here I am after the concert with Chandler:
It was an extremely busy weekend, and I didn't get to see any of those friends or much of the family I had visiting, because I had three hours of dress rehearsal on Saturday, then a performance in a Barnes & Noble in the afternoon, and then another four-hour dress rehearsal Sunday afternoon before the performance. Now, this is not ideal, because all that rehearsal can wear out your voice and your body - it's really exhausting before a big performance. But, it was necessary to rehearse all the choirs together with the orchestra, and that was the only time. This is when you have to be really smart about your singing and save as much energy as you can for the performance even while singing enough to check balance with the orchestra in the hall. Poor Sarah had a terrible cold and still had to do everything we had to do - THAT is when your professionalism is really tested, and she rocked it!
Of course, then we went right back into two school programs yesterday - we were a bit tired, but we have today off. I hope you have all voted and realize how blessed we are to have this right! I'm realizing that more strongly than ever today, because I've been disenfranchised: I requested my absentee ballot a month ago, it didn't come, I called about it and the MN Election board said they would send another, but that never came either. I'm lodging a complaint, because THAT is ridiculous. So, yeah, I'm glad I caucused for my candidate and donated to his campaign, but I don't even get to vote today. I think this will really impact the way I feel about the importance of voting for the rest of my life - so, to all of you who CAN, get out the vote today!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Choral Collaborative Concert this weekend!
I've been back for several days now, but the audition went well. Not great, but fairly well. There are so many variables that go into these things - but I'm not going to write about the torture that is the audition process today, because I don't want to bring you all down. Another time! I will say, however, that spending 20 out of 34 consecutive hours in airports and airplanes for a five-minute audition on your day off is saaaaad.
On the upside, I did get to eat a homemade empanada after my audition.
Anyway, for the past couple of days we have been preparing for the Choral Collaborative Concert, in addition to our education outreach schedule. This concert is an annual collaboration between several area high school choirs, the Omaha Symphony, and Opera Omaha. This year, the first half of the concert features four choirs in Poulenc's Gloria, with yours truly as the soprano soloist. I looooooove this piece of music, people - if you don't know it, it's worth looking for a recording. This is the one I own and enjoy.
The second half of the concert features three more choirs and all four of the Voices in Residence in various opera excerpts. There are a couple of things from the current Opera Omaha season (from Pirates and Boheme), as well as several familiar crowd-pleasers (the Hebrew slave chorus from Nabucco, the Pearl Fishers duet, Brindisi from Traviata, and "Sing to Love" from Fledermaus to name a few). I should also mention that twelve Opera Omaha chorus members join the high school choirs in both parts of the concert, so this is a collaboration and educational experience in many ways. The concert concludes with all the choirs and soloists singing the Easter Hymn from Cavalleria Rusticana.
I think I've said it before, but I love working with high school students because teenagers don't know yet what they should or shouldn't be able to do - they try anything, and as a group, they can be pretty fearless. It's amazing to hear how well they know this music. Of course there are things they still need to learn and changes to make during rehearsals, but they do it really quickly and well. This is going to be such a fun show! I'm going to have to keep reminding myself of that throughout the many hours of dress rehearsal on Saturday and Sunday (yes, dress rehearsal on the day of the show = insane). But the product will make it all worthwhile!
On the upside, I did get to eat a homemade empanada after my audition.
Anyway, for the past couple of days we have been preparing for the Choral Collaborative Concert, in addition to our education outreach schedule. This concert is an annual collaboration between several area high school choirs, the Omaha Symphony, and Opera Omaha. This year, the first half of the concert features four choirs in Poulenc's Gloria, with yours truly as the soprano soloist. I looooooove this piece of music, people - if you don't know it, it's worth looking for a recording. This is the one I own and enjoy.
The second half of the concert features three more choirs and all four of the Voices in Residence in various opera excerpts. There are a couple of things from the current Opera Omaha season (from Pirates and Boheme), as well as several familiar crowd-pleasers (the Hebrew slave chorus from Nabucco, the Pearl Fishers duet, Brindisi from Traviata, and "Sing to Love" from Fledermaus to name a few). I should also mention that twelve Opera Omaha chorus members join the high school choirs in both parts of the concert, so this is a collaboration and educational experience in many ways. The concert concludes with all the choirs and soloists singing the Easter Hymn from Cavalleria Rusticana.
I think I've said it before, but I love working with high school students because teenagers don't know yet what they should or shouldn't be able to do - they try anything, and as a group, they can be pretty fearless. It's amazing to hear how well they know this music. Of course there are things they still need to learn and changes to make during rehearsals, but they do it really quickly and well. This is going to be such a fun show! I'm going to have to keep reminding myself of that throughout the many hours of dress rehearsal on Saturday and Sunday (yes, dress rehearsal on the day of the show = insane). But the product will make it all worthwhile!
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