Sing Sing Sing

What a couple of weeks! First, appropriately on the first day of the new quarter, after voice auditions and the voice department meeting, Ben Brecher (head of the voice department) got us in to the dress rehearsal for the world premiere of Stephen Schwartz's opera, Seance on a Wet Afternoon. Amazing! So creepy. Wonderful set and passionate singing. Very dramatic even if reminiscent of musical theater. Very enjoyable.

Second, 5 days later, Kim Jepherson gave a masterclass at UCSB. He was in Seance and was fantastic.

Third, 2 days later, Stephen Schwartz came to UCSB for an interview/Q&A session for the theater and music departments. I'm not a huge fan of most musical theater (Wicked included) but, he was very interesting. Not only did he write Godspell and Pippin :( but Prince of Egypt! :) As well as the lyrics for Pocahontas, Hunchback of Notre Dame and Enchanted. He said that he realizes that 98% of new operas never get performed after their premiere. He also said that he might write another in the future but doesn't have anything on the horizon.

Fourth, 6 days later, Thomas Hampson, world-class Baritone gave a lecture in association with the Library of Congress on American Song and a masterclass at UCSB that I was lucky enough to participate in. My friend Daniel Tuutau filmed it on his cell phone (is filmed the right word?) and I might be able to get it posted. Mr. Hampson talked a lot about hearing it like you want it to sound before opening your mouth, breath technique, posture, and balance, and having a clear understanding of what you and the music are portraying.

Fifth, that night, Thomas Hampson gave a recital for UCSB Arts and Lectures in Campbell Hall. Because I sang in the masterclass I received two tickets to that night's recital. They were front row center! He was wonderful! I've been to a lot of voice recitals but I had never been moved more. The highlights for me were 1, a setting of Lincoln's letter to Mrs. Bixby. So amazing and moving. 2, the setting of William Blake's Tiger, Tiger. I have heard many settings of this text and love to hear the different interpretations. This composer used heavy dissonance throughout until the stanza where the poet asks, "did He who make the lamb make thee?" Here the song became piano, lyrical and reverent. Of course, Thomas Hampson handled it beautifully. 3, Our new baritone teacher, Paul came up to sit by us (snuck up to the good seats) and pointed out to me on the program which pieces he thought I should look at. I was pretty stunned since he's only heard me sing twice, and flattered when I heard the songs and immediately knew I wanted to study them. and 4, the last highlight of the evening for me was when as his first encore he sang Shenandoah. The moment he started singing my tears started falling. It was the most amazing audience moment of my life. (Corny, I know. But true.) When he finished we leaped back to our feet and I realized that the 4 of us, Rebecca, Annie, Alyssa, and I were all crying! Too funny. What is this a Beetles concert? In Italy I shared a room with Blythe and Rebecca and one evening as we were getting ready for our concert we sang. One of the songs we sang was Shenandoah. I sang the melody and Blythe and Rebecca would improvise harmonies. I first learned Shenandoah back in vocal technique class at SBCC. Along with Danny Boy and The River is Wide I had the opportunity to study these American folk songs and have been able to sing them since. All of this adding to the experience of hearing Mr. Hampson sing such a hauntingly beautiful tune.

Sixth, the next night, (tonight), Rebecca and I went to the METs live broadcast, at the Music Academy of the West, of Puccini's Tosca. You know I love Puccini, and you know I love Tosca. This opera has three solid gold arias that you will find on any and all best of opera recordings. Puccini knows when to bring these achingly strong and gut-wrenching melodies back at just the right moment to remind us why his operas never left the standard repertoire and why Tosca is "the opera of operas."

I don't think I missed anything but it has been a great few musical weeks. I've seen some of the top singers in the world and have been a part of history in the making. And it all makes me want to hit the practice rooms and practice.

M.M. Voice

As my first week of grad school comes to a close I am finally getting my schedule set and an idea of what my quarter will look (and sound) like. A graduate student, in order to be full time, is required to take 8 units. I will have 23 units. Keep in mind that the performance courses are one unit. This means that choir, that rehearses 4 hours a week not to mention the outside time I will need to spend on my solos, is one unit. Opera scenes, that meets 4 hours a week and I will need to memorize and perform, is one unit. Who decided that opera production is one unit? Only twice the amount of credit as say jogging! What kind of wacko system is this? In opera production you still have to commit to memory the material, and be able to present it back learned. How is this less work than any other course? I digress.

I am taking the dreaded 200A course that all previous grad students have warned me about. Bibliography. I am exploring research sources and thinking about what topics I would like to focus on for my paper. It's a bibliographical paper, so basically a paper of every source on the entire planet, regardless of language, that discusses my topic. I was able to test my German and French reading skills this week when searching for articles in Le Grand Larrousse and Grosse Broeckhause encyclopedias. As voice majors we are encouraged to sing a variety of composers and a variety of periods. I find it hard to pick a favorite when I only work on small amounts of their repertoire. Now I have to pick a topic to focus on. Then yesterday, in class, she's going around the room and having each student share their topic. I've been trying to think, what musically do I love and would want to learn about above all else? Then it hit me... Mozart's Requiem. I absolutely love this work. It is one of my earliest introductions into sacred, choral music. I've performed it with the Santa Barbara Symphony and the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra with the Quire of Voyces. I realized this might be a little specific, so I started thinking about other settings of the Requiem text. Verdi's Dies Irae is AMAZING! I'm also thinking about the settings of the Gloria. Vivaldi's Gloria is THE reason I decided to major in music.