A junior?

I'm done! All final exams and juries complete. I'm officially a junior now. Wow. It is so crazy to think that I am halfway thru my Bachelor of Music degree. Time really does go by so fast. It seems like yesterday and also like a century that I've been here. So today I had my voice jury. I was a little worried because I wasn't sure it was going to go very well, but I was so wrong. It went brilliantly!! It didn't matter...I just let it be, and for those few moments, all that existed was the music. I sang "Hans und Grethe" by Gustav Mahler as my offered. (That is such a fun song!) Then they chose "Eterno amore e fè" by Gaetano Donizetti. Bel canto! I LOVE Bel canto! It is meant for me! Anyway, it went quite well. I actually did a real piano, which is a very sophisticated technique. YAY! (Sorry I'm tooting my own horn a lot...I am just really excited!) Later, I ran into Elise and Brian (the husband and wife on the voice faculty...Elise is the one that helps me with my French) in the hallway on the way to my audiation exam (more on that later!). Elise just looked at me with a dropped jaw and gave me a hug, and Brian kept saying, "I can't believe you are a sophomore. Frightening. I'm so glad I'm not a soprano." over and over again. haha! Then Elise said, "[Virginia] Zeani (a famous Romanian soprano who taught both Lynn and Elise) is in Florida saying, 'What is that I'm hearing?'" Oh, they make me smile! They really made my day. =D I am very thankful for them.

*random tangent*

Counting my blessings...

God

my precious gift

Elise and Brian's comments

a house! (more on that to come, too!)

Hungary...in 121 days

laughter

smiles

lovely and sunny days

pretty flowers and blossoming trees

my little university

sweaters

eyeglasses

water

Halls Fruit Breezers

greeting cards

sales and clearances

book buybacks

accomplishing a task

smoothiesdressing up all pretty

cell phones

Okay, tangent done, although I could really go on for a long time. Thank-yous are so important. I am actually writing some thank-you cards right now. :) Makes me smile! Okay, so...audiation exam...AAAAHHHH! It was awful! I pretty much wanted to cry. I am sure I did better than I feel I did, but it wasn't good. I'll find out tomorrow. I am so bad at that stuff. That is why I am going to Hungary (even if Brian thinks I should be going to Zeani in Florida and just forget Hungary!). I need to improve my audiational and musicianship skills. It's so vitally important for my career. After that exam, though, Karly, Courtney, and I had an appointment with Max, our landlord! Well, not officially yet, but he showed us around an apartment one street over from school. It is a townhouse and so cute! We are filling out our applications and turning them in tomorrow. YAY! It is pretty much ours! We have a house! :) I'll probably get the super small room (yes, it is really small), but doesn't matter. I am going to be away for four months, so I guess that's only fair. Well, off to practice some piano and loaf. (Yes, even though I am all done, Chad and I are going to have a piano lesson Friday afternoon. Well, and choir owns my soul Thursday night thru Saturday afternoon. Oh, boy!)

Breathing...

Yesterday was the last day of classes. It's kind of weird, actually. This semester has seemed like an eternity, yet, at the same time, like it happened in a blink. Dr. Ryan, my music theory professor, took us to Graeter's, the local ice cream shoppe, for class and bought us ice cream! Mmm! He's a really cool guy. He was the faculty representative that visited Hungary this past year. Another theory professor, Prof. Zilincik, will be the one to visit while I'm there. Everyone was so excited about no more theory...unless they go to grad school. Then, Dr. Ryan looked at me and laughed, saying, "Well, certainly not for you! haha!" Yes, it's true. Hungary is so much theory and solfege work, but it's alright. I know I subjected myself to it. I need it, and it will be so good for me. In recital hour before theory class, they announced that I had been chosen to attend the Kodály Institute of Music in Hungary. :) They also announced other awards and honors. I apparently got a scholarship that I didn't know anything about. Cool. I have an inkling that it has to do with the scholarship competition I was in earlier in the semester. Another scholarship is completely cool with me! While I'm thinking about scholarships, I applied for a study abroad scholarship last month...I wonder when I'll find out about that one. One more week left here at school...a few days of exams in the first half of the week, then choir stuff the second half. (And as Lynn keeps reminding me, in a week's time, I'll be a junior....and halfway thru my Bachelor of Music degree. Wow! It's hard to believe!) I have to stay longer because choir sings at graduation stuff. Speaking of which, choir concert was last night...longest concert of my life! It was three hours...standing onstage the entire time! Oh, well. It's done. Okay...so this week. This week was much better than last. First, the opera was terrible! Brian was fabulous, though. I'm glad we went because he was worth watching it for. And...he's bald! He shaved his head! Everytime I see him, I giggle. He normally has a whole mess of crazy hair, so at first it was startling, but it's cool. Sunday was spent with SAI stuff and homework. Monday was consumed by the Bach Magnificat that we sang last night. Also, I met with Jen Adams in the International Education office to talk about my visa application and such. Murphy's law is following us apparently because now we cannot get ahold of an updated application, but it'll be fine. We'll get it somehow. I am not applying until I go home anyway because there is a lot of financial stuff I have to take care of for it. Thursday, I had my last lesson with Lynn. It was good and bad. I sounded awful, but besides that detail, it was good. I'm just really tired, and I get so frustrated. It's been this way for a few weeks now. There has been no time to rest; it's been constant going. My voice jury (kind of like a final exam for your lessons) on Wednesday...I am not so sure how this is going to go! *Breathing* It was bittersweet, though. I left there almost crying. I didn't think this was going to be so tough. A semester without Lynn is going to be so difficult. I feel that some things are meant to be, and I know working with Lynn is one of those. I can do it, though. Hungary is also one of those things that is meant to be. She is the one who has gotten me to this point and has been an undying support. By the way...I leave in 126 days! =D Yay! I'm not excited, am I? Well, I am procrastinating yet again. I have one last SAI thing at 1pm for Dr. Mathias. (She joined during her undergrad, too.) I also kind of have an entire novel to read because the exam is Monday afternoon...on that novel. It's my fault because I procrastinated. (It's for a gen. ed., so it wasn't exactly top priority...and I don't really care for the book.) I'm only on chapter four. I'm not going to stress about it, though. It's all good. :)

SAI Formal and other craziness of Sam's life...

Yesterday was quite a day! It wasn't all bad, but the first part was the same as the rest of the week....stress and frustration! I held it together, though. Well...until my piano lesson (at 9am!). Chad is so great. He let me rant and say whatever was on my mind. He's so supportive. And always checking in on me and how I'm doing. It has just been really rough for me lately. And it sucks! I'm the happy-go-lucky girl that tries to shrug off the stress. (Yoga and being a camp counselor last summer has done me a ton of good. I am so much better about not letting stress overcome me. Last year, I was a walking time bomb of stress! Plus, it was freshman year in the conservatory, which is enough stress for your lifetime...or so it seems at the time!) This week, however, it just invaded my life full throttle. I was just really upset with so much going on. My lesson yesterday was awful, I only have one more lesson before summer and two before I fly to Europe, my voice is tired and I have barely been doing any singing...mainly because I've been so bogged down with homework that I haven't had any time left for practice, it has also decided to step about ten feet back into my not-so-great technique from before, juries are in less than two weeks and I'm so far from ready, choir nonsense is irritating me, I have gen. ed. projects, a final singing exam for audiation next Thursday I haven't even began preparing for, the list just continues like that. (Sorry if I'm stressing anyone out just by reading this...it stresses me out to read it!) But Chad listened to every bit of my nonsense and kept assuring me everything would be okay. I know it will be. I'm am just deeply overwhelmed momentarily. It probably doesn't help my stress levels that I am trying to finish this year and plan for the whole year ahead of me at the same time. (It'll be so worth it, though!) On the bright side, it was a beautiful day out, again, today. Last night, my fraternity had our formal with our brother fraternity (Sigma Alpha Iota and Phi Mu Alpha....both music fraternities...mine for women....other one for men). That was a blast! and a much needed stress reliever from this week! My date was a good friend of mine, Clinton. We had a great time together with a tons of my friends who were also there. Joking, laughing, dancing the night away. We danced and switched partners all night long, making our rounds. Somehow, the guys started to try and show each other up by spinning us girls around and doing crazier moves than the other. I wasn't complaining! If they want to spin me around the dance floor, I'm totally okay with that! It was so much fun! The evening ended with Clinton throwing me back into a big dip. Umm...so cool! Formal was at a country club, so we even took a stroll along the golf course.

Clinton and me

my friends Abby and Alexa

my dear friend Karly and me

my friend Kristin and me

my dear friend Rachel and me

When we got back, Abby, Alexa, and I hung out and watched Will and Grace until 2am. It was such a nice night. Tonight, I am going to see the opera Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) with Karly and a couple others. Elise's husband Brian, who is also on the voice faculty here, is in it. I have never seen this show, so it'll be fun. :) (Elise said she didn't know how good the production will be through some giggles, so we shall see! I told her we'd "experience" it together! hehe!) As for now, I need to spend the other part of the day (until we leave at 5:30) finishing my laundry and doing homework. Oh, boy!

Oh my goodness!!!

This week has been clouds for Miss Sunshine. It has been so unbelievable. I'm not even sure what to say. It's been gorgeous outside, but life has made me grumpy. If something could go awry, then it has. I have had barely any time to practice...and I have my lesson in an hour. As for piano, that's been almost pushed entirely to the wayside, and that lesson is tomorrow morning. Ugh! I spent Sunday AND Monday writing papers. Monday night, I was in the library for almost FIVE HOURS!!! I have no place to live when I return from Hungary. Everything with the housing lottery (random selection of when you can go choose where you want to live next year) went wrong. For one, I don't even get to have a place because I'm going to be gone, and apparently, that means I have no rights. Needless to say, that leaves me in ambiguity for how things will actually be. My friends were going to get a university-owned apartment, and I was going to move in when I returned. BUT they weren't any left when they got to go. DUMB! So they unhappily signed for a couple of dorm rooms in one of the last available spaces. And I'm in the dark. What's new? We have no idea what we're going to do. Yesterday, I got a letter from the Kodály Institute. Of course, I got really excited. I opened it to find papers that must be submitted with my visa application, and then I opened the second folded paper to find in bold print the dates "September 6th or 7th" and "September 15th" before I even read anything else. I pretty much freaked. Apparently, I'm not supposed to be there until September 6th or 7th and classes begin September 15th. HOWEVER, I already purchased my plane ticket for August 29th because they told me I needed to be there August 30th or 31st! Argh! I was frustrated to tears. (There have been quite a few tears this week actually.) It was the final thing that just pushed me over the edge. I really shouldn't be complaining because it's a whole week in Europe to do whatever and go wherever I want. It's no one's fault, but it is still really frustrating. It was simply a miscommunication. I went back to my room, did my best to calm down so I could think rationally, and then began making phone calls. First, I called the airline and explained the situation. The lady was really kind and felt really bad but unfortunately said she couldn't do anything. Next, I called the agent through which I booked, and the response I got was: "That sucks!" That was all they had to say. Oh, and that it was a nonrefundable ticket. Finally, I called Jen in the International Education office (she and Dr. Mathias are the advisors for this program) and explained what had happened. She couldn't believe it either. We talked for probably almost 20 minutes, and she really calmed me down and revived my spirit. We discussed options, and I decided to get in touch with Katrin and see if I could just hop a train to Vienna for the week. So that is what I'm going to do. I'll fly into Budapest and then catch a train to Vienna and spend the week in Austria. (Maybe a side trip to Salzburg for a couple days, too!) It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Obviously, God meant for me to book that ticket and arrive early, so I could go to Austria. Maybe it is the only time over those four months I'll be able to go to Austria. And maybe it means I'll get to visit more places that originally thought because of the free week before. Maybe I'll get to go to Rome and Switzerland and England after all. Who knows. It's possible. Plus, whatever jet lag I experience will be said and done with by the time I go to Keczkemét. This is going to be amazing. So good really can come from bad. I know everything happens for a reason. Sometimes, it's just hard to remember that in the moment of frustration. Yesterday, I was also supposed to practice with Chad in the afternoon, but that ended up as me sitting outside his office waiting while he talked on the phone with the organ professor. It's fine, but I could have actually gotten something done had I known. (Plus, I have sounded awful the past couple days! My lesson today shall be interesting to say the least!) He told me to come by that evening, and we'd practice. He was so slap-happy. He'd worked way too much yesterday. His brain was fried. I kept apologizing for his ears, and he kept cracking up and playing absolutely random stuff. There was one time when a page was missing, and he didn't realize it, so he started playing a whole different song in the middle of the one we were doing! So ridiculous! Then, I went to try and practice a bit of piano, and out of nowhere, I realized that this Saturday is not the 25th. The 25th I have something for SAI, so I called my grandma a few days ago and asked if she could make some cookies and send them for the event. Well, she sent them already, and I realized that I don't need them this week. I need them NEXT week. I called her, and we just started laughing. Unbelievable! Now, I am going to have four dozen cookies. I'm sure I can find people to eat them without a problem. (Everyone loves "Grandma cookies" here.) So now, I she's going to send more next week. Geez! This morning was going great. I had an exam that I didn't have time to study for (gen. ed...math ...gross!), but it was fine. I'm not really worried. But then, things took a turn. Choir...the biggest stressor of my life!!! I'm just going to leave it at that. It'll be okay. I'm just really mad about what happened and find it completely uncalled for. Whatever. Hopefully, life will get sunny-er soon! Off to my lesson. Oh, and I found out my sister is going to have a boy, so I'll have a nephew.

Being a soprano...

Some times good, sometimes bad. I love "Soprano Land" (as Lynn calls it) and wouldn't trade it for any other voice. My voice is me; who I am. However, being a soprano certainly has its downfalls. Why do there have to be so many freaking sopranos in the world?! (No offense to any other sopranos out there...I love sopranos...and I am one. The competition is just so frustrating sometimes!) So...yesterday, I sang on the general recital. (I think I explained how recital hour works in the conservatory before...generals are the whole conservatory.) It went splendidly! I sang Hans und Grethe by the brilliant Gustav Mahler. It is such a fun song. Very playful. And so good for my voice. There's a sprinkling of high C's in it, too! Fun! :) And...I got the "Eubanks seal of approval," too. (There's this one professor here who is absolutely off his rocker. He is crazy. But brilliant. He pretty much just goes by Eubanks, or Ray t0 some...Yes, he's that good that his whole name doesn't need to be used. Kind of like Sinatra. Well, this guy's played with some of the greats. Ray Charles, Judy Garland, Pavarotti, the list goes on. I remember in class one day last year (he teaches music literature) he was playing a recording and said, "I remember that night..." Crazy ridiculous! Needless to say, he's got a lot of impact around the conservatory despite his craziness and certainly knows enough people to do good or bad to your career, so getting on his good list is a good thing. I was quite honored. Sure his opinion is only his opinion, but it's still nice to know what other people are thinking sometimes.) Anyway, It is so funny to think how easy the top of my vocal range has become for me to use when only a year ago...even only months ago...it was such a struggle. What else can I say than my teacher is absolutely amazing and that working my butt off is, in some aspects, actually starting to pay off. (In reassurance to the ones aspiring to pursue singing as a career as I am, singing has not always come easy to me. I struggle daily on technique dos and don'ts. We all have our singing woes, but we work through them and come out stronger in the end. Look at Renee Fleming's book The Inner Voice. She doesn't just sugar-coat her abilities; she tells the story of how she got where she is!) Anywho...back to recital hour. (Yes, I frequently go off on tangents!..and tend to ramble...sorry about that.) I was really happy with my performance. I was a little worried because my voice was extremely tired on Thursday (and for good reason, but I'll get to that in a minute!) and I didn't sleep much. It's amazing what hydration can do for the voice...and the body!

*Soap box moment: DRINK WATER!!! AND LOTS OF IT! It takes time for the water to get to the mucosal membranes of the throat/larynx, so hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!

Today, I went to NATS (a singing competition). Besides the conservatory scholarship competition that I have competed in for the past two years, this was actually my first competition. I'd say it went quite well. I had to get up at 5am and drive two hours to get there, though! Ugh! It's okay...we rode with my accompanist Chad...fun times! I was first to go in my category....9am. :( Singing in the morning...not so much a fabulous idea for me. Never liked it, never will. However, even for the early time, I feel pretty good about my performance. Yes, I could have done some things better. I could probably tell you exactly where and what I did wrong in the music, but I'm not going to dwell on my mistakes. I know I sang a few notes sharp and had moments of "What the heck was that that just came out of my mouth?," but I say "How fascinating!" about my mistakes. A 500-lb cow will now fall on my head! (Thoughts of which are compliments of The Art of Possibility...good book!) I'm human and still in the early stages of my learning/singing. I am, after all, only 20. I've got plenty of time before me. Must not peak too soon, as Lynn says. I, again, did not sleep well last night and did not at all feel warmed up (I had minimal warm-up time.), but performance pressure must be really good for me because when I sang for the judges, I sounded warmed up. Weird, I know. My judges gave me some really nice and constructive comments which I am very thankful for. However, I did not place, and I won't lie, I am really bummed. I shan't go into details. It's not worth it...we'll just leave it at I'm really frustrated. But I guess it really doesn't matter. The placing is entirely subjective, and my teacher and I know what I can do (and how I sing when it's not 9am!). It'll all be okay. I try to always look on the bright side of life. It's more fun that way, and life is about the journey, not just the destination. I truly am blessed just to have my gift and to be surrounded by such wonderful people. :)

*One last note: I had peanut butter and jelly for the first time today! MMmmm! It was quite tasty. I always thought it would be gross. :) OH!!! And I had a singing exam for audiation (singing scales and pitch sets and such), and I got a 93%!! Woohoo! My ears are working! :D

Counting Blessings...

Today was a good day for the most part, but a few little things kind of put a damper on things, so I thought I would remind myself of some happy things. The other day, I was reminded of my gratitudes. My mom has pestered me my whole life about gratitudes and being positive, but being an obstinate daughter, I tended to shrug her off even though I gave my thanks. It wasn't really until Lynn and I were talking one night in my first year here at school that it really became vitally important to me. She said that through all the trifles, we must always remember to count our blessings. (I, of course, asked her if she'd been speaking with my mother!) I certainly do my best to be of good cheer, look on the bright side of life, and say thank you. (I believe 'thank yous' are very important.) However, as of late, I have forgotten to count my blessings. Sure, I have been so thankful for the opportunities that have been set before me in the past months (aka Hungary), but I mean truly counting my blessings...especially the littlest of things. So...I am going to do that right now, and do my best to keep up on it.

I am thankful for...

clean laundry

my ipod

febreeze

post-it notes

water

Halls Fruit Breezers

hand cream

reflux medicine

tape recorders

working with Elise on French

Lynn (big shocker!)

feeling confident

singing

sunny days

wearing a dress/skirt

cinnamon toast crunch

opera

the fact that I am going to Europe!!!

curly hair (despite its unruliness)

crossing things off of my to-do list

prayer labrynths

my dear friends

the Bexley library

purple (my favorite colour)

listening to great music

fun accessories

smiles

stickers

colouring

tea!

ice cream

The Art of Possibility

laughter

pictures

...to be continued! :)

The lovely Ms. Crystal!

This weekend my dear friend Crystal dropped in! :) She goes to grad school in Cleveland now, so I don't always get to see her anymore. She graduated last year (also a vocal performance major...and also a soprano...and a lovely one at that!...She sings so pretty!) She's become one of my dearest friends. Anyway, she had to go to a wedding on Friday night, so she camped out in my room all weekend. It was fabulous. We pretty much goofed off all weekend. (She is ridiculous and crazy like me...) Good times! And we did a lot of much needed talking. Crystal always makes me feel better about life. She's part of my support system. We took a road trip to Wittenberg University on Saturday to visit some friends from summer camp. (Oh, yeah...I worked at a Lutheran day camp last summer in Florida...one time only deal for me!) I found out that my friend Rachel from camp is going to be in Finland while I'm in Hungary! How cool! So we decided we are going to meet up while we are there. YAY! She had to leave today, though. I didn't want her to go because that means that I actually have to get back to work and be "serious" again (hahaha! like that's going to happen!).

(This picture is actually from summer camp...I'd put up one from this weekend, but oh yeah...my camera is broken, so I don't have any! argh! Crystal is on the far left, then that is Rachel, and then moi!...and yes, we are in a liquor store BUT we are holding the "just-add-rum" cocktail mixes...no alcohol allowed for "minors" like Rachel and I...and for no one on camp rules.)

There's a time for fun and a time for work. I get to see her next weekend at NATS competition, though. AAAAHHH! I am kind of freaked about that. I don't feel ready for this week, but I guess I'll have to figure out how to be. I am supposed to sign Wednesday night on SAI musicale, and I turned in a form to sing on the general recital Friday morning (every Friday, we have a recital hour in the conservatory...we alternate between areas-voice and instrumental separate and generals-the whole conservatory.). I am singing stuff I have to sing Saturday...I just really need to memorize! Ugh! I can do it, though. I was in the conservatory earlier today and ended up ushering for a show. Lynn stepped in, too. The girls that were supposed to usher weren't there, so we got stuck. It was nice, though. We got to talk a bit. I love our friendship...and how supportive and caring she is...especially about Hungary. I really need that. This is such a big step. I kind of freaked out the other night. I am just kind of stressed out right now (and frustrated with my voice! I am really struggling with my support and singing "full voice," so I am kind of overdoing it. ugh!), so it all kind of hit me. I have plane tickets. This is the real deal. And they are going to kick my butt over there. Not all fun and games, that is for sure. But it'll be sooo good for me. Here's a picture of Lynn's "Lovelies." That's what she calls her girls in her studio. We designed shirts, and they are pretty sweet.

(Left to right; back row: Diane, Jennie, Alexa, moi, Lynn, Aani, Courtney, Katie; front row: Kristen, Melody-she designed them!, Rachel, Karly)

Lynn was joking around saying that maybe she'd be the faculty representative to come visit the institute in Hungary in the fall, but I have heard rumor that they aren't sending anyone because only I am going! :( How sad! I hope that isn't true. It'd be nice to see a familiar face while I'm there. And if it was Lynn...that would be A-MAZING! I told her that she needs to so she can get her Samantha fix. She keeps saying how she doesn't know how she'll be able to go four months without seeing bubbly me every day. All the same, she knows how terribly important it is that I do this. Oh, and I got to play with Aani's (in the picture above) niece today. She was so precious! Three months old. Oh, yeah...I don't think I ever mentioned this, but I'm going to be an aunt! Except the baby's going to be born while I'm away. :( Oh, well. What can you do? I see them at Christmas, which isn't much off from if I stayed in Ohio. I wouldn't be home to see the baby then, either, except for the week of Thanksgiving.

AAAAHHHH!

I NOW HAVE PLANE TICKETS! Oh. My. Goodness. It was quite a ridiculous feat to book them actually (the company had me doing the phone call run-around!), but I have them. This is so crazy! Only 8 months ago, Hungary was just a formulating idea. Even at the turn of the year, it was still an idea in progress. Now, I have booked tickets to actually get on a plane and fly over the big pond. It is so official! Kind of a scary thought but all the same super exciting! Everything will be great. I just know it. Plane tickets are expensive! (especially international flights) However, I found some great fares on a student travel site, so they were reasonable. With gas prices, though, everything is a lot more expensive than before. BUT...I found one of my third-party scholarships (not given by the university I attend) that will not cover my tuition and whatnot for next semester. SO...I gave the foundation a little call and asked if they could give me the money instead of the school so I could put it towards the cost of my airfare to study abroad. WELL...they called me back today (left me a message while I was in my voice lesson, which was AMAZING, but I'll get to that in a minute!) and said they'd be sending me the check (and a quite hefty one I might add!). Needless to say, my tickets now cost me practically nothing! Just a little bit comes out of my pocket. How cool! I was pretty excited. Now...onto my lesson. I normally have my lessons on Thursdays at 2pm (this semester anyway...changes every semester because of scheduling), but today it got bumped up to 1pm which was fine. I have been having some trouble with my voice as of late, so I was weary about how it would go today. (What? My voice being temperamental? Who would've thunk it! haha!) I told her in the beginning I'd been having issues, so we set out and tried to work some of them out. And succeed we did! On some anyway. Singing is far more complicated than it seems. It's like the famous artist Edgar Degas once said,
"Painting is easy when you don't know how but very difficult when you do." So true. The more you know, the more complex it becomes and the more your brain likes to interfere. Someday, though, everything will line up and be excellent. Someday. I swear Lynn and I share a brain. She admits to it, too. We have the most off-the-wall random metaphors, mental pictures, etc. when it comes to singing and different aspects of technique, yet we are almost always on the same page. It is quite absurd! Throughout my lesson, my voice had its shaky moments but overall was fine. Then came the moment of brilliance! We had a little time left to run through one last piece, so I chose one we'd spent awhile one in the beginning of the semester but hadn't touched for a long time, Eterno amore fé by Gaetano Donizetti. (Ah! Donizetti! Gotta love the Bel canto era! They were sheer geniuses then!) I am not quite sure what actually happened, but I was making sounds I had never heard come out of me before. It sounded and felt so cool but weird and slightly foreign. Lynn says it was my full voice, it was Samantha's voice coming out. My support was better than ever, and I could begin adding advanced dynamic contours. It was almost as if two worlds were colliding. I am somewhat confused about the two and what the collision is yielding, but I know it's going to be something good. You can picture the piece as a very melodramatic love and death scene from an opera because that is pretty much what it is. (Oh, melodrama! hehe!) With each stopping and starting that we did, she kept telling me to pull out more of the melodramatics. After about two or three times, we burst into laughter (Me? Lynn? Chad? Laughing? No! haha!), and then she bounced to the other side of the studio, grabbed a sprig of silk gladiolas, and handed them to me saying, "Wave your glads, Dame Edna!" (Lynn has this reference to Dame Edna for placement and resonance...it's fabulous!...and it really works.) It was hilarious! And the sounds were so cool! I had apparently accomplished what she was after. Now, I just have to figure it out and recreate it...all the time! (Choir always messes with that, though. Ugh!) I'm sure it'll take time, but it'll come. :)