Opera Singing in Germany and other adventures....

My favorite practice room in Henderson Hall, # 308B (and me in the mirror-lol!) Since I didn't get a chance to post these photos on here while I was actually in Blacksburg, VA at IVAI, I will post them on here now, so that you guys can see after the fact what things were like there.  I honestly should and would have taken more photos of more people and places in VA while I was there, but you know, as you can see from my photos here- the majority of my time was spent in this lovely little practice room (which amounted to something like 3 hours a day) and then the rest of my time was spent in lessons (something like 4-5 hours a day) and then the rest of my time was spent sleeping, eating, or some other uneventful but necessary thing like that.  However, I do resolve to take more photos when I am in Bad Orb (and have done so already - yahoo!) because I do realize that I am sorely in need of photos with people in them from my time at IVAI. More of my favorite practice r...

So, for my reintroduction into musical adventure blogging of new pieces with which I'm not familiar, I am taking the opportunity to highlight two pieces in particular which were part of last evening's concert here at IVAI and were performed wonderfully by my colleagues at the festival here. (Call me sentimental, but I am still so affected by the performances from last night that I am posting this practically 12 hours early, AND talking about the pieces that I just heard last night AGAIN!) Therefore, without further delay--on to the music! (And what wonderful music it is- you're in for a treat here!!) 1. Ravel's "Introduction et Allegro" can be found here on YouTube, and these are my thoughts on this piece: I love the addition of the harp to this ensemble instead of the piano--what a different and more mysterious sound world it gives the whole ambience of the piece!  I also really enjoy the way that Ravel creates such distinct changes of mood with the harp...

Because I sang in a Masterclass tonight, which I will post the video of on here tomorrow, and I am preparing for a concert on Friday night here again at IVAI, where I'll be singing a lot of repertoire, and that means I have to practice my music until then! So, please forgive me for not writing blog entries tonight, tomorrow or Friday night, but I will be back on Saturday and Sunday, so enjoy the break, and go check out your own new music! (That's a challenge, just so you know! :) )

Okay, so I've got some exciting things to listen to this evening, and a few from suggestions from colleagues.  Here they are in no particular order. 1. "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen", sung by Waltraud Meier, composed by Gustav Mahler, and found on YouTube here .  My impressions were as follows: what a beautiful poem, and quite simplistic, but also very poignant.  Waltraud Meier sings wonderfully here in this song, but boy---it seems as if anyone could sing this song well because it's so beautiful! 2. "Mountains Beyond Moutains" by Arcade Fire: This song was recommended by a string player colleague this evening, and I listened to it and liked it a lot. It has a rather lulling experience since it almost sounds like a bunch of tiny fairies singing (because of their voices...) but, I actually really really liked it. It was almost like an adult lullaby. 3. Brahms' String Quintet No. 2 can be found on YouTube here .  My thoughts were: what a really...

Okay, so tonight's new music for me and my thoughts thereupon were as follows: (And--I'm posting this entry right ON TIME as promised in the entry before last---I'm quite proud! ;) ) 1. "Betterman" by the band, Pearl Jam was a song that I found after typing into Pandora as my channel "Counting Crows": catchy tune, loved the guitar playing which made it seem almost like music you'd hear at a blues concert, and good moral to the story of the song. Definitely a classic tune, too. 2. Jacqueline du Pre performing the first movement of Edward Elgar's "Cello Concerto" was found on YouTube and can be listened to here by you: I like the really strong and heroic sound of the orchestral accompaniment on the introduction of the theme and the recurrence of the theme throughout, the thickness of sound that du Pre can get out of the cello on each and every note is amazing and I am really captivated by the expression of the sound that she makes- i...

Because of a wonderful chamber music concert that I saw last night during the second half of the opening concert for our IVAI program here in Blacksburg, VA, I have been inspired to re-evaluate my musical knowledge and make a few resolutions to better my overall musical palette, and musicianship in a broader sense. To give a bit of background as to what spurred this train of thought in the first place, I must begin with the specific repertoire which was performed in last night's concert.  The concert featured the music of Schumann, whom although he's in the typical Western Classical music canon, is not a composer with whom his less popular works are well known to me, as well as the music of a very little-known composer named  Ernő  Dohnányi (pronounced [doch-na-nee])  whose compositional style resembles that of Brahms, and was a Hungarian contemporary of Bartok and Kodaly.  Interestingly enough, Sir George Solti was even a pupil of his. At any rate, after li...

Upon arriving in Blacksburg, VA on Tuesday evening of this week, I was excited and astonished at being able to have this wonderful opportunity to spend a few weeks at such a prestigious program, surrounded by highly-lauded Opera professionals, with whom I was able to work on music that I would like to perform or prepare for upcoming performances. And, these first four days here have not fallen short of my elevated anticipations, I can happily say. Thus far, I have gotten to meet everyone in the program who is a fellow singer, and I have met four new coaches in the disciplines of language (4), stage direction/acting/interpretation (1), and conducting/collaborative piano (2), and I am excited to become acquainted with the entire faculty by the conclusion of the program's activities. To give a brief description of what I've been up to since arriving here, my days have basically been comprised of the following elements in different quantities of time each successive day: coachi...