Recording Day 1

Today was a good day.

Amanda and I recorded "Eve Song" by Jake Heggie in 4 1/2 hours and 80 takes (roughly). 

I had dreams all last night about recording engineers and producers, my anxiety making itself known as I slept.

Last night I received a text from my dad.

 

I am fully aware of how lucky I am to have parents who support my artistic endeavors. Not only do they support me in their role as proud parents, but also as fellow artists. Without them, today would have never happened.

Amanda and I came into this day fully prepared, yet nervous about what to expect. What we discovered is that we have an incredible team which is made up of our engineer and producer who are committed to getting the best performances, while creating a comfortable and easy going atmosphere. Our producer is from PARMA (the company producing the album) and the engineer is a local Kansan.

We're in good hands. And as a result, I'm enjoying the luxury of focusing on my artistry. 

As I write this, reflecting on the day, I am amazed at our combined stamina (Amanda and me) and at the unflagging response of my instrument. The biggest worry I had going into this first day of recording was if those tiny, supple vocal folds in my larynx could hang in there for 4 hours. Well, they rose to the occasion.

I think there are definitely two factors that have contributed to my vocal stamina. One is the Estill Vocal method I've been studying and implementing into my teaching and singing. Having a scientific understanding of my voice has enabled me to sing in a healthy way, while still achieving many different colors. The other is that I have completely cut out sugar from my diet for about 5 weeks now. I never considered myself to be a mucus-y singer or one that has inflammation, but after being sugar free I've noticed a huge difference.

Tomorrow we will record "Too Few the Mornings Be" by Ricky Ian Gordon.

Thank you all for your encouragement and support of this project. This album belongs to you as well.

 

T-2 days

I've been singing these songs everyday since we got home from vacation. I alternate song cycles each day, focusing on trouble spots, making sure my diction is clear, training my instrument to do what I ask of it.

Today Amanda and I had one last rehearsal, in the space where we will record. We are both ready and excited and a little nervous about what the sessions will yield. We've been working together for almost 3 years and have performed so many times together, it's hard to count.

There's not a moment I take for granted, having a collaborative partner like Amanda. At this point, I feel like we're just an extension of each other. She's right there with me if I chose to spend a little more time on a consonant than is typical. Her consistency allows me to play with interpretation and color. I'm so grateful that Amanda has been on this journey with me and that we get to experience this together.

Recording this particular CD has been a dream since grad school. I've been singing some of this material for a decade (!) and I've been actively working on making a recording for the past two years. All the note learning, text study, research, fundraising, rehearsals, scheduling, first recording sessions, babysitting, recitals, family sacrifices, budget pinching, it's all culminating on Monday.

And of course, this wouldn't even be happening if it weren't for the village of people who have supported me financially and emotionally. It's humbling, to say the least.

I can't wait to share with you how this whole process unfolds. I'll try to post some pictures of the set up and sessions next week.

Can't wait to send these out in March along with the album!

Great Bake Off: Showstopper

I know you've all been waiting with bated breath for our final Sternfeld-Dunn Bake Off challenge and a proclaimed winner.

Life became extremely busy and we kept putting off our final challenge. Honestly, I wasn't hopeful that we would actually get it done.

However, my mother in law had a birthday last week and we figured we'd take the opportunity to celebrate her with two "chocolate cakes that show off our chocolate work" while we are visiting.

The girls were very hopeful that our cake creations would take the shape of something other than cake. Knowing my limits, I decided to attempt a vase made of layer cake, with gum paste flowers coming out the top.

I decided to make cake balls out of the scraps and use as decorations.

The candy melts were ok for coating the cake pops, but I think the ones dipped in regular melted chocolate looked prettier.

I experimented with gum paste for the first time and definitely need more practice.

The final product doesn't really look like a vase, but by the end I was so over the entire project and more stressed than the experience merited that I'm just happy it didn't fall over.

The girls kept saying "it looks like the leaning tower of Pisa!"

Aleks made an "ice cream truffle" using layers of cake, ice cream, whipped cream, and ganache. He also made chocolate leaves from a mold.

The girls were very specific that they needed to taste every component.

The inside does look pretty and you can see where I attempted a crumb layer of frosting.

The inside of Aleks' was very pretty too.

The girls took their judging very seriously and took one bite of everything before moving to a different room to confer.

After much deliberation and heated debate, they came back and declared me the winner! Danni, was very diplomatic and said they both tasted and looked good.

So to recap:

Signature Challenge- Emily
Technical Challenge- Aleks
Showstopper Challenge- Emily

Overall best person/baker/champion of everything- Emily

Maia has decided that this will be an annual challenge. Aleks thinks we should do meat next year...

The Great Sternfeld-Dunn Bake Off

A few months ago I became a fan of the Great British Baking Show and binged on season 2 through Netflix.

And then one day a few weeks ago I was feeling run down, needed a break from my demanding children, and so I suggested we watch an episode of the show all together.  A special treat because TV! and it's an hour long! The girls loved it.

As a family we've watched a total of three episodes and just last week Maia had an idea that the two parents should have a bake off. I mean, it's a total no-brainer. Who wouldn't love to be a judge of baked goods? They came up with challenges and presented them for our approval.

Signature challenge: French pastry (we talked them out of making puff, I'm not ready for that)

Technical challenge: chocolate macarons

Showstopper: chocolate cake and as Maia said "it needs to show off your chocolate work."

For the first challenge I decided to make chocolate eclairs. Instead of filling them with pasty cream, I used chocolate whipped cream because I know my judges and I know they wouldn't like pastry cream and I wanted to win.

Filling them was a bit harder than I anticipated. Having the correct tools is essential and I think I needed to use a thinner and longer tip in my piping bag (the middles aren't filled with cream).

Aleks made a crepe filled with nutella.

The girls had a friend over to play that day, so she got to be one of the judges as well.

Unsurprisingly to me, the girls voted that my eclairs were the winner. I mean, I am basically the baker in the family. Although, anything with Nutella is pretty divine.

Two days later we had the technical challenge. Now in the real show, the judges are supposed to provide the recipe, while leaving out a few critical instructions. However, the girls couldn't find a recipe in the cookbooks we already had, so I found one online for us to use.

So. Chocolate macarons. I had made macarons one time before. On this day, Aleks had made his macarons while I was out, and so I came home to see them cooling on the stove top.

There was definitely a bit of pressure as the day was almost over and I needed to get them done. Because I listen to the advice given by Paul Hollywood, I know that resting time for macarons are important.

Instead of baking the sheet trays one at a time, I decided to put them both in and just rotate the pans halfway through. When they came out, I thought they looked pretty good, even if they hadn't risen too well. I'm thinking I over mixed them.

Well, womp womp. They were totally under baked and wouldn't come off the parchment paper easily. I think first of all, that I piped my macarons too big. I should have taken the time to draw equal sized circles on my parchment so that I would have a guide while piping. I think my second mistake was putting both trays in the oven at once. I suppose recipes have instructions for a reason.

The macarons were filled with chocolate ganache. Aleks and I decided to half the recipe, since we only had so much chocolate to melt. The directions said to stick the ganache in the fridge for a half hour and then it would be solidified enough to spread on the cookies. Well, mine was in the fridge for close to an hour and it was still liquid. It was at that point I realized I had only halved the chocolate for the ganache, not the cream or butter.

I was ready to throw in the towel and admit defeat, but Aleks made me put something on the plate.

So, as you might guess, Aleks won the technical challenge. Ruby felt really bad that I didn't win and told me several times that she had to go along with Maia's choice. Bless her little heart.

I'm currently in WI for a performance at the IDRS conference this week, so our show stopper challenge will have to wait until I get back. Ruby is really hoping for a chocolate bear on one of our cakes. I've got a few days to plan something that will knock their socks off.

It's a cliff hanger... who will be crowned the winner?!

Stay tuned.

Father's Day 2017

There was this one summer that I was home from college and my parents had borrowed a car from some friends. My dad was getting ready to return it, but wanted to be sure to give it back in better condition that we had received it.

The year before, I had endured my first summer job as an adult, cleaning cars for Enterprise rentals at the Denver airport, so my dad enlisted my help as an "expert" car cleaner.

We got out the vacuum and the hose attachment and went under the seat and between the cushions. We cleaned the dashboard and the door handles. We got out the windex and cleaned the windows inside and out.

In a half hour, the car looked pretty good to me. It was hot and sunny in the driveway and I was ready to be done. But my dad wasn't finished. He took paper towels to the vents and slid them between the thin slats to get rid of the dust that had gathered. He popped the trunk and vacuumed that as well. He found the spot where loose change gets thrown, took the money out and cleaned the container before putting the change back.

My dad just has a gift for doing more, for always going above and beyond what he's asked to do.

Ask him to take out the garbage and he'll break down the piled up cardboard boxes in the recycling. Put him in charge of dinner and he'll make pasta from scratch. Ask him to take the kids swimming and he'll clean the filter while he's out there.

My dad's servant heart is one of the things I appreciate most about him. And it has shaped my interactions with the world.

Happy Father's Day Dad. Thanks for investing in me and always giving me more than I deserve. I love you.

-----------------------------------

10 things I love about the father of my children:

1. His quickness for laughter.

2. His patience.

3. The genetics that gave him great legs and a tight butt. (My girls are so lucky to have inherited those.)

4. The ability to go along for the ride and have an adventure.

5. His unabashed ability to show affection to his girls.

6. The importance he places on family above everything else.

7. His understanding of the limits and limitlessness of our children.

8. Cooking skills.

9. I have an equal parenting partner.

10. That he really truly enjoys our children. He really likes them. 

Happy Father's Day, dearest husband. How lucky I am and our girls are, to have you in our lives. I love you.

Make it work

The thing I miss most about living in California and Washington is the weather.

Here in Kansas it is often too hot or too cold to be outside, and then when it is nice, it's too windy.

But the past week or so has been heavenly. I feel like I was given a gift and as quick as I am to complain about Kansas, I then must also be quick to sing it's praises and acknowledge the cool temperatures and outside dinners we've been enjoying.

My parents just happened to visit during this week of temperate weather. It was a nice break from the 100+ temps in Arizona.

We sat outside one night after dinner, enjoying our pergola, bellies full of pork tenderloin cooked on the grill.

"A. My name is Alice. I come from Alaska with a basket full of apples."

The girls had joined us from their game on the swings. Something called "elements" that looked a lot like swinging and talking.

When we get to May, I'm usually frazzled and burnt out. Every year, I question my life choices, until I remember I always feel like this, during this month. Then after a week of wandering around my house, wondering what I'm forgetting to do, the fog begins to lift and I start having creative impulses and can stay awake past 9 o'clock.

"M. My name is Maia. I come from Minnesota with a basket full of mangoes."

These last few weeks I've been trying to be mindful of experiencing each moment. Not living in the future, filled with anxiety and list making.

Noticing the gentle rocking of my patio chair. Feeling my hair lift off my neck as a soft breeze comes across the yard. Appreciating the weight of my youngest as she sit in my lap, inhaling the smell of sun and dirt and childhood.

Summer is not without its challenges. Changing schedules and bored kids top the list.

However, I'm determined to enter this season fully in the present enjoying the life I'm creating for myself. Even if it is in Kansas.

"W. I come from Wichita with a basket full of wishes."

SHE

Every since I was a little girl, I can remember wanting to be a mom.

Throughout high school I made most of my money babysitting and would spend time volunteering in the church nursery, VBS, and as a counselor for outdoor ed. In college, the discipline and practice time required for a music major became my focus, but I never lost my desire for a family.

When Aleks and I decided to have kids of our own, I knew raising children would be one of the most creative things I would ever accomplish.

And even though we're told otherwise, we can't really have it all. Or maybe we can have it all, but very rarely can we have it all at the same time.

As a performance major, I was shown a common path for aspiring singers. This path includes many years and dollars put into auditions, summer festivals, young artist programs, resident artist gigs, and if you're lucky, finally a career of principal roles in a large opera houses.

When I had children, I knew that my journey as a performer wouldn't follow that protocol. It was a choice that I willingly made and one that has brought me peace and contentment. Consequently, each audition and possibility is weighted against the cost to my family and role as mother and wife. This has led me to take far less auditions than many of my contemporaries, which in turn has limited my performing opportunities.

As fulfilled as I am by being a mother, I was first an artist and still have a deep desire to create. Recently, I've decided to take an opportunity to advance my career that comes at a low cost (with regards to time) to my family.

So here's the exciting news:

I've signed a recording contract with PARMA productions to release an album in March 2018!

Releasing a CD has been a dream of mine for a long time. Even more specifically, I've wanted to record and release one of these works ever since I first performed it during my graduate work, 10 years ago.

This summer, I will be recording Jake Heggie's Eve-Song and Ricky Ian Gordon's Too Few the Mornings Be in collaboration with my friend and pianist Amanda Pfenninger. Both works are near and dear to my heart. I am drawn to the feminist texts by Philip Littell in Eve-Song, which tell the Adam and Eve story from Eve's perspective. In Too Few the Mornings Be, Ricky Ian Gordon has brought to life, eleven poems by Emily Dickinson, conveying a narrative of hope throughout the work.

I am beyond thrilled to team up with PARMA productions for this project. They are a company that supports contemporary music and makes it their mission to create quality recordings that will stand the test of time. As a result of my contract with PARMA, they will be a part of the recording process, post-production work, manufacturing of the physical product, and marketing of the finished album.

This is a large investment of money, but one that I am excited to make. Not only am I looking forward to advancing my career by making a mark as a singer and advocate for contemporary American art music, but also as a way to contribute to the existing cannon of recorded contemporary classical vocal music.

As a way to help make this project a reality, I've launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fundraise a portion of the costs. The funds raised through this Kickstarter will directly help to cover the costs of my recording session including the hall rental, recording engineer, producer, pianist, and piano tuning.

I'm extremely excited about this investment I'm making in myself and career, and now, I'd like to ask you to consider being a part of this project as well.

Donating to the creation of this album is a tangible way to help support the arts. There are not a lot of grants available for projects like this. Many of the existing grants require an affiliation with a university or a school. Many other artists raising money for projects like this, might turn to city or state arts councils. Kansas is one of the few states that does not have an arts council. The city of Wichita does have an arts council, but they don't fund projects like this.

So, this is where you, Support of the Arts, can step forward and make a difference in the life of an artist. This is what supporting the arts can look like at a very personal level. Would you consider investing in this project, and me, and help reach my goal of $5000? 

You can visit this link below to donate.


There are some fun incentives at different donation levels, so please give the site a look.

Even if you can't contribute money, sharing this link with your friends and family on Facebook or email is wonderfully helpful as well.

SHE will be released March 2018.

I'm beyond excited to share it with you all.