Had a VERY productive visit to NYC. Sang for 2 agents, 1
competition AND a callback!
The suitcase and I certainly get around a lot. It might be a
little worse for ware, but I’d be lost without it….literally! Day 1 in NYC, the
suitcase and I rolled our way to a coaching at the shinny new Opera America
Center. It’s a BEAUTIFUL building but…. I found it a little intimidating. Maybe
because I probably looked so worn from too much travel it looked like I was
there to beg for change. I might have looked like a homeless person schlepping
my suitcase, garment bag, & backpack full of sheet music in the cold New York
winter mush. Note to self: Try better to not look like you crawled out of a sewer
when in possible professional interactions are looming.
After a fabulous coaching, the suitcase and I rolled onto a
voice lesson and eventually to a friend in Inwood to spend the night. A friend
who lives not too far off the A train. A friend who I’ve stayed with so many
times that her doorman thinks that I live there. I wait at Columbus circle, I see
a D come by, I wait, and get on the next express train and start reading the
paper. I look up 175th street, sweet, one more stop and I’m home!
Next stop: Teleman? What? Teleman? Oh Hell. I was on the D express train!!!! I
jump off. I am now in the Bronx. I have never seen the sun shine in the Bronx.
I’m too scared. But now, me and the suitcase are on the wrong platform, so I schlep
up 2 flights of stairs around to the other platform and then down 2 more
flights of stairs to the downtown D to change at 145 where I get to lug my
suitcase up another flight of stairs and down another flight of stairs back to
the uptown A. By the time I reached my stop, I must have looked even worse,
because an angel appeared in the form of a short, dark, hairy gentleman who offered
to carry my poor suitcase up the last flight of stairs. I must have thanked him
too much because he took me by the arm, looked me in the eye and asked me if I
was gonna be ok. Yikes.
Over the next 2 days I sang for 2 agents and a competition
back to back. In between auditions I found myself thinking about the feedback I
had received and took it to heart thinking to myself “Why didn’t I show my best
for these agents? Why did I hold back on the music making?” I was a little
miffed at myself. I walked into my next audition singing for the Zachary
Competition and used that energy to give one of the best performances of my
life. The kind of performance where you’re magically better than you are, the
kind of performance where you become a conduit for the music and really get to
say something about the piece and character your signing. The kind of
performance that the character of Maria talks about in Master Class
“Do you know who created the role of Annina? ... Pasta.
Giuditta Pasta…. When you sing this music I want to hear all the links that
take you back to her. I want to hear Callas, I want to hear Ponselle, I want to
hear Lehmann, I want to hear Pasta. I want to hear you. A strait line. From you
through me to Pasta.”
That happened. It’s something I hadn’t felt in a really long
time and I’m glad I finally remembered how to do it. I was just really proud of
my performance. I sang the Jewel Aria and Come Scoglio, two arias I’ve sung a
million times and love more each time I sing them. It was a great experience.
Then I hopped back on a bus to Philadelphia, no sooner had
we crossed the Lincoln Tunnel when my phone rang to schedule a callback for the
next day.
Maybe this is a sign that I should start paying attention to
Finals and Semi-Finals and callbacks so I don’t have to flush money down the
toilet on unnecessary travel. As I sat on the bus, I started to wonder; Could I
do it again? Could I step through the
music and repeat my performance? I thought about a recent TED talk I watched
from Elizabeth Gilbert.
I love this talk. I love how she separates the work from
herself. And I am happy to report that after a goodnights sleep in Philadelphia
and another day on the Bus, I was able to give a performance that I was equally
as proud of. Still waiting for the phone to ring, but I won’t hold my breath. I’ve
already won.
