A Halloween Recital and NATS

My recital this year was Halloween night.

I fully anticipated giving the recital in an exhausted state as a result of being a mom.

However, Aleks was able to come home early and took the kids out of the house so I could rest.

He's the best.

The rehearsal before my dress rehearsal was rough.

I hadn't had a lot of time to work and things weren't where I wanted them.

I sweated and stressed and practiced for the next 2 days.

The dress rehearsal went much better.

A colleague of mine was there to give some feedback, which proved invaluable.

As a student giving recitalist, you're rehearsing with your accompanist weekly for at least a semester (sometimes an entire year) to prepare.

As a result, you know your music really well and it feels like minimal effort goes into memorizing.

I'm finding that one of the difficulties of being a professional is that you don't get the luxury of learning a recital in a leisurely manner. 

And rehearsing with an accompanist costs money.

Not to mention the distractions and difficulty children introduce.

However, I really love giving recitals. 

I love the repertoire. 

I love the intimate feeling between myself and the audience.

I always feel incredulous that people actual want to hear me sing.

And so honored to share my music with them.

I opened with Britten's "On This Island" and then a set of 4 Wolf lied.

Both sets went really well.

(I don't think I was really this red, greenroom lighting isn't the best)

After intermission I did a Handel cantata "Lucrezia" and a set of 4 folksongs for soprano, piano, and viola set by Alan Smith.

The Handel was giving me the most problems. I had spent the majority of my time memorizing the Wolf set and regretfully neglected the melismas in the Handel.

Thankfully, it all went well and the staging of the cantata proved effective.

My collaborative partners:

The audience was small, but full of important people: my students, colleagues, husband, and a few members of the community were there.

The was my first recital since having been pregnant and/or nursing and I really feel like my voice has stabilized. It's been really fun to get back in shape (vocally) with this project.

The day after my recital, I headed to Lincoln, NE for our annual Midwest Region NATS student auditions.

Basically, it was 2 days of listening to college kids sing and write comments about the breath mechanism, larynx, diction, etc.

It's an exhausting 2 days, but strangely gratifying.

I took 2 students, both made the semi-finals and one placed third in his division.

There were over 400 kids competing.

I am extremely proud of my kiddos.

Aleks held down the fort while I was gone.

I so missed my girls, coming home today was the best.

On the agenda for this week: cleaning house and voting.

And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the littles will get adjusted to the new time quickly.