Opera Singing in Germany and other adventures....

This past Saturday, a combination of nice weather and guilt (we've not been there once yet as 'tourists') inspired my boyfriend and I to take the train to Bonn and look around with inquisitive attitudes and wide-open eyes.  Well, in case you were worried, fear not- we certainly liked what we saw!  Bonn is a beautiful city located on the banks of the Rhein river, about a half an hour's train ride from Cologne (also known as "Koeln" when speaking German).  The charm and beauty of Bonn lies in the architecture of its buildings and their color palette.  I'd wager that 98% of the buildings were painted in pastel hues (light yellows, pinks, blues, greens, oranges, and various shades of ivory) and looked as if NYC's Greenwich Village was relocated to Germany- I kid you not!  Nearly all of the buildings in the center of the old part of the city ("Altstadtkern" in German) had large multi-pane windows, which were sometimes also arched or in the shape ...

The icon above represents something that I've worked very hard on, and something which I am very excited to present to all of you! I am in the running for $50,000 in the form of a grant from the Pepsi Refresh Project. The project is simple: -21 scenes in The Magic Flute , 21 auditions at 21 town/cities all across America -each town/city audition location will be held on college campuses but open to the public of that region -one scene will be rehearsed and performed and professionally video recorded in each location -(this means there will be more than one singer singing each part, and more than one orchestra playing each scene, and more than one conductor conducting each scene, and more than one stage each scene will be filmed on, etc...) -then, all of the film footage (from the rehearsed and performed scenes, as well as behind-the-scenes interviews and rehearsal progress, etc..) will be compiled into one cohesive whole performance of The Magic Flute -it will be posted...