Sing for the laughter, sing for the tears

Bam! The quarter has begun and we have hit the ground running- er, singing. It's only the second week but it feels like we've been back longer.
The opera scene I'm cast in is from Hoiby's Summer and Smoke adapted from the play by Tennessee Williams. I am Mrs. Bassett. It is a lot of fun though still in the rough stages. We're supposed to be off book (memorized) by next Thursday.
It was announced last Spring that the UCSB Chamber Choir will be touring France this summer! 18 days! Starting in Paris and singing in the choral school that Professor Gervais established in the Notre Dame cathedral! Then we're working in Tours for three days in a conducting academy. We are the choir in residence and student conductors will practice on us. This will be a nice reward for making it through the year.

We had opera auditions last week. The opera production for this year will be Aaron Copland's opera, The Tender Land. I was nervous because there aren't a lot of women's roles. There is the mother, a contralto. So I picked another contralto aria to audition with from another American composer. I was cast in and will be singing the role of Ma Moss. Having a fuller low range I tend to play the mother roles. (see above and Riders to the Sea 2008.) I don't mind playing the older women. They usually have a deeper outlook and their music is more soulful. Sorry sopranos.
This morning (October 7) I had my recital permission audition. I sang a couple songs of their choosing from my entire program and they decide whether I can give my recital. My teacher was on the panel and told me afterwards that that was the best she had heard me sing. And that the head of the department agreed. So, now I can give my recital. Yes!
With my practice time and rehearsals I'm singing, on average, 6 hours a day. It's a little nuts but the more prepared I can be and feel the better. It's a lot easier to think about technique if I'm not trying to remember words at the same time.

Left at Albuquerque

In July my parents and I made the long drive to Albuquerque, New Mexico to visit my sister and her family. Who'd have thought there would be some much great music to be found.
First of all my little nephew, Robby just sings all the time. He's the singin-ist kid that ever there was. It was so fun to get to see this musical expression of his joy.
While in Albuquerque we noticed there was a broadcast of the MET's Tosca production. My sister, mom and I went. Amazing! The crowd scene in act II, on the MET stage was incredible. The amount of people and the scale of the sets knocked our collective socks off. The music, Puccini, was beautiful and we were all sniffly by the end. It was so moving and I'm reminded again that there is quite an enormous difference between movies that try to make you cry and dramatic opera. No contest. All I can think in movies trying to make me cry is, "really? That's all you got?" But opera, hello! It is so moving. There's a reason Puccini was a master composer.

Who can visit Albuquerque and not make the quick drive to Santa Fe for the Santa Fe Opera? Especially when they are performing Madame Butterfly. (Puccini.) Luckily Santa Fe's opera season extends over the summer. Most companies take the summer off. The open theater is so simplistic that the sparse sets really fit and played well with the beautiful desert sunset seen in the distance. The singing was beautiful and once again there wasn't a dry eye in the house. Cio-Cio San's fantastic aria Un bel di vedremo can be heard on my play list. This aria is opera perfection. From a scholastic viewpoint, Madame Butterfly is noticeable in western music history as Puccini has taken Japanese melodies and incorporated those into his Italian style of writing. He didn't just copy their style of music but to blend it with his style. There are moments more Italian and moments where the Japanese melodies come through. He even uses familiar American tunes at times throughout the opera.

O Sole Mio- The Italian Tour

This summer the Santa Barbara Quire of Voyces toured Italy. There are about 32 singers and we ended up taking over 80 people! Beginning in Rome we sang at the Pantheon and High Mass at the Vatican!

Then on to beautiful Maiori on the Amalfi coast. I never thought I could be impressed by another beach town but... breathtaking!

We performed in Amalfi and on to Naples for another concert.
As co-founder of the Tower Climbing Club, I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't find one tower to climb. We definitely weren't in Tuscany anymore. I did hike to the fort above Maiori.
Before leaving for the trip I knew I wanted to see the Roman catacombs. I had toured Rome the previous summer and didn't want to do the same tourist destinations everyone else was doing. This meant I had to find my own way to the catacomb's. Our first hotel, in Rome, was within walking distance of 3 catacombs! It was meant to be. And I was not disappointed.

Keep Singing!

Another musically packed quarter marks the completion of my first year working on my masters. Here are the musical highlights.

UCSB Opera Production Cosi fan tutte. Hilarious! And I was so proud of all the voice students. What a great job they did. It was a little unclear why the double cast was needed. I saw both casts and the students did just as well as the professionals in my mind.

UCSB ECM (Ensemble for Contemporary Music) performed the piece I'd been working on for two quarters at the Primavera concert series. On Questions of Travel by Leslie Hogan is a song cycle setting of the poems of Elizabeth Bishop. You can read the Independent's review at http://independent.com/events/2010/apr/28/15183/

The Quire of Voyces were invited once again to sing in the Santa Barbara Art Museum as part of the First Thursday series. We sang selections that we will sing in Italy.

The Spring quarter holds the most student recitals and this held true for the voice department. I was able to attend Savannah Greene and Claire Danielson's Junior recitals and Rebecca Monroe's senior recital.

The UCSB Chamber Choir was invited to Pepperdine (in Malibu) to participate in the Ascending Voice choral Festival. The conductor for the festival was the established Robert Page. The festival also hosted workshops and a concert by Chantaclier. After our concert Robert page told Prof. Gervais he would love to work with such a talented choir.

UCSB Chamber Choir concert was titled Amazing Grace after one of the pieces we learned for the festival. It was a nice arrangement though a piece I would have never thought Prof. Gervais would select for us.

The Quire of Voyces concert was very exciting as it marked the beginning of our tour. We sang Michael Eglin's Mass. (We nicknamed it Missa Mikey.) There were some other works mixed in including Angele Dei by Giuseppe di Bianco. He's one of the composers we'll be meeting on our tour.

For the UCSB voice convocation I sang my biggest piece ever. Santuzza's Aria from Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni. It's not me, but here's an example of the aria. http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJIZGthwWLc

For voice juries I sang Charles Ives' My Native Land. I love the simple melody that Ives exhibits in this piece.

UCSB University Singers concert. The University Singers (men's and women's choruses) were combining to sing Mozart's Missa Brevis. I was asked to sing the alto solo. This work highlights the soprano part but it was fun to sing and an honor to be asked.

My gift is my song and this one's for you

This has been a very hard quarter. It's been difficult and long, but thankfully, working in the music department guarantees that through it all there will be music. If I try to pick a piece that has been my focus this quarter, besides the mega-hard, mega-modern Hogan piece, it would be In the Mornin'. Charles Ives' setting of the American spiritual. I sing it every time I'm in the car. It just pours out of my soul and is the perfect range. I love it! I love all my Ives' selections and had a hard time narrowing down the rep I wanted to look at to 7 pieces. Perhaps this is too many for a recital set. I might end up cutting one.

On a less personal note, here are the musical highlights for the Winter 2010 quarter:

No masterclasses this quarter and it wasn't until February 11 that we had our first vocal event. The voice Convocation was in Geiringer Hall again. It is the perfect venue for this scale performance. All voice students are required to sing in at least two convocations- one being held each quarter. My selection for this convocation was Charles Ives' There is a Certain Garden. I am falling in love with his art songs and this one is no exception. For a long time most of my rep just happened to be about death. But, this setting, of a beautiful poem describing a garden dear to my heart is introducing me to the world of songs about birds, spring, flowers, and love- but I'm a mezzo.

The March 5 UCSB Chamber Choir concert was titled Ecce! After the Victoria motets in the first half of our program. The second half was Martin's Mass. This is probably the most difficult mass I've ever learned and I had to learn it twice. The first time last year with the Quire of Voyces as a first alto. This time I had to learn the second alto. I already knew the progressions and was familiar with the work overall so it was easier than sight-reading a piece from scratch.
We performed the same program in the Santa Ynez Mission two days later. The woman at the mission that publicizes our performances in Santa Ynez has been ill so our turnout was a bit disappointing. But the performance went well and it's always nice to be able to perform a work, that you spent all quarter on, more than once.

The week of our choir concert Prof. Gervais told us that he had 10 comp tickets for the Sofie Anne von Otter performance at the Granada on the 9th. It turned out to be a performance of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France with the mezzo-soprano soloing in Sheherazade. The entire program, directed by Myung-Whun Chung, featured works by Ravel. His ballets are beautiful and moving. Moments reminding me os Stravinsky. I was a little disappointed when, after the concert, I got in line for a signature by the diva. I was excited to be first in line and I bought one of the cds they had. It's more than I like to spend on a cd when I can buy it cheaper on itunes. Then, 10 minutes later we're told she has already left for the evening. Grr. I would not have bought the cd for her to sign and I even had my camera. Maybe next time. You can watch a video of the performance at http://www.camasb.org/. Click on the 2009/2010 series then scroll down to the appropriate performance.

The end of every quarter is always marked by the Quire of Voyces concert weekend. March 13 and 14 we performed our Rachmaninoff program. This isn't my favorite of his but the audience just raved about this concert. Many loyal qv patrons proclaiming this as their favorite concert ever! And, riding the success wave, we have great momentum as we prepare to leave for Italy in a little over 10 weeks.

For all QV tour updates you can go to the choir's blog at qov-incantatotour.blogspot.com

The Song Also Rises

After the amazing first half of the quarter I would have never guessed that the second half could be half as great. Too much? But seriously, the last 5 weeks of the quarter proved just as strong musically. I hope the remaining 2 quarters can compete.
November 12 was the UCSB voice department's first voice convocation of the year. I hate to admit how ill prepared I was. I was still memorizing my piece the night before. I sang Stella del Marinar form Ponchielli's La Gioconda. This aria marks a mental turning point for me towards thinking of myself as a dramatic soprano. Though, technically a mezzo-soprano role, it has more dramatic tendancies than my previous arias. The evening was set in Geiringer Hall and was a full house. I was pleased with my performance while recognizing areas that need improvement.

November 20th was the UCSB Chamber Choir concert. We performed parts of 2 Handel Oratorios. Belshazar and Solomon. In Belshazar I sung the role of Daniel and in Solomon I was Solomon. I still sung in the alto section of all chorus numbers as well. We had an orchestra accomany us which added extra rehearsals but made the end result well worth it. We performed in the larger space of the First Presbyterian church and I was worried if we'd be able to fill the space but was pleasantly surprised at our turnout. Perhaps it was due to the increase of UCSB music students, but we also had more faculty present than usual.
November 23rd was our department's production of opera scenes. I learned so much this quarter working with the world renowned opera director Ned Canty. (nedcanty.com) I was cast as the Principessa in Pucinni's Suor Angelica from his Il Trittico. I LOVE Puccini, you know I do and was super excited to sing this role. Our scene was close to 13 minutes and was so much fun. Of course the opera is not a comedy-the fun I refer to is the exquisite drama in Puccini's music. He writes in the music all movement and action. Every emotion and realization is clearly composed for you. And he does it all brilliantly. Annie sang the role of Suor Angelica and it was great to be able to sing this scene with her. The performance was sold out about 15 minutes before we were to start. It was a great audience. I am also extremely grateful to Alyssa who pointed out that I sang all of the Pricipessa role and can claim so on in my bio. Thanks Alyssa!

The first weekend in December I traditionally sing at Disneyland in their Candlelight performance. The DP alumni choir has to audition each year but this year marked my 18th year participating. The narator this year was Jon Voight. I was touched when he choked up in rehearsal but found it a little less convincing as it happened again after each performance and followed byt he same comment about how being an actor should mean he can control his tears. I think he proved he's an actor. He did great regardless and I thought this year was one of the best musically. It's so amazing to be part of such a large production with so many people watching.

This year the Quire of Voyces was invited to sing in Santa Barbara's First Thursday of the Month series at the Art Museum. Just imaging how great the accoustics were. We did selections from our Christmas concert.

It was announced this quarter that the Quire of Voyces will be touring this summer to... that's right, Italy! We are not just going to Italy but have been invited to sing High Mass in the VATICAN!!! I am so excited. We are also touring the Amalfi coast, including Naples, Capri, and Pompeii, and of course, Rome. La Cita Eterna!

Towards the beginning of the quarter I had seen a CAMA flyer announcing that Renee Flemming was returning to Santra Barbara and would be giving a concert at the Granada. I saw her 7 or so years ago at the Arlington and knew I didn't want to miss hearing America's reigning soprano again. She was amazing. Her concert was flawless and beautiful. Her first encore was O mio Babbino Caro by Puccini. I have played this song on the piano so many times that I can give you an Ab on command and recognized the opening chord immediately. (It made me smile that a few measures later, as the audience began to recognize the introduction, you could here their collective sigh.) Being my favorite aria it didn't take much else for Ms. Flemming to reduce me to tears. My heart constricted and I found myself holding my breath throughout the aria and into the silent moments that followed. She was signing cds and programs in the lobby afterward and we quickly joined the line to meet and greet the great. I had a case of starstruck and said something eloquent like "me want sing." She did seem pleased when I told her she has inspired me to hit the practice rooms.

The Quire of Voyces concert marked for me the close of the concert season. Both nights we sold out the beautiful, even while underconstruction, St. Anthony's Seminary. I have realized this Christmas season how grateful; I am to have a knowledge and familiarity with the lesser-known Christmas carol tunes. The beauty in their simplicity is a welcome change to the generic, soda-pop tunes that have been corrupted into over-arranged monstrocities. I love Christmas music but some of the arrangements heard in department stores and on the radio border on criminal. I can only pray that everyone has access to truly beautiful Christmas music. It is the best way to feel the Christmas spirit and keeps the focus of the season where it belongs. Alleluia!
Here's a link to one of the great reviews the Quire received.
http://www.noozhawk.com/arts/article/122109_margo_kline_quire_of_voyces_brings_mysteries_of_christmas>

Week 5

Week 5 marks the half way point in the 10 week quarter. Midterms were this week and now the calm before the storm. With just a couple weeks until concert season, finals, and projects/papers are due.
Opera Scenes- I am in a duet from Puccini's Suor Angelica with another grad student. I am the princess coming to tell her niece, Sister Angelica, that I want her to sign papers forfeiting her inheritance. It is a beautiful scene with a lot of passion and drama. Classic Puccini. We have to have the entire scene memorized by the 5th. And the performance is later this month. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jqzz_gOsGC0
Chamber Choir- We are performing parts of two rarely performed, yet gorgeous, Handel oratorios. Belshazzar and Solomon. Prof. Gervais gave me solos in each and I am loving studying these great choral works. The concert is later this month in a larger venue than we're used to.
Quire of Voyces- This season we're singing Christmas music. But, not Christmas music most people are familiar with. Including a new Mass by our resident composer Michael Eglin. I love his stuff. He is very talented.
Voice Lessons- I am working on several arias. Including one from Ponchielli's La Gioconda, suggested by my instructor. Stella del Marinar. I love it. My teacher is more and more convinced that I am a soprano. (Probably because in the beginning of my lessons she typically takes me up to high Cs.) So we're starting to look at some higher material. I was always resistant to sing soprano because my piano (soft dynamic) is not the same as other's piano. I am loud and have always been loud. So that range that I was always scared of was more a fear of my volume at such levels. Well obviously I need to work on singing high and piano (a matter of support) but I am no longer afraid of those notes. They are actually easier than the 4-5 notes immediately lower, that I used to consider the top of my range. So throughout Stella del Marinar I work extremely hard at all the technique intricacies and difficulties... until I get to the high last note. I don't have to worry about this note because it's the easiest. Kind of strange, I know. Recital coming this Spring. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcCw8MWoBDg