I am thankful for the brilliant master class that I got to take yesterday evening with Brian Cheney. He was "auditioning" to be an adjunct vocal professor at the conservatory beginning next year...that'll be slightly confusing having two Brians on voice faculty!
Lynn asked me at my lesson last Friday to sing at the master class. I was excited. :) Not only are master classes usually very enjoyable, but they are also so beneficial. I honestly wish we did more of them. It is good to have someone other than just your teacher telling you the same things, and sometimes, just one little word that is said different can be all it takes to make it click. Plus, it is good to get feedback and to learn how to handle taking criticism and/or instruction publicly. Brian was brilliant! My vote is a definite yes for him. From the half hour or more that he worked with me, he seemed to be a great teacher. Brian is really nice, too.
I sang my Rusalka once again. It just feels very comfortable in my voice right now. And it is a lovely piece. By the end of the class, the piece was so different. In a HUGE way. And singing in English, or any native language at that, poses challenges you don't expect would make it so difficult! Oh, how I hate the American 'R'!! He kept forcing me to use the 'R', and yes, it made a world of difference in the conveying of the text, but I still hate that 'R'! It sounds so awful to my ears!
(Also...the music director of the opera company I auditioned for was at the master class!! Just to add a few more nerves in there, right? haha! It was cool, though.)
After the master class, my friend Quinton (aka Q) and I tried out putting together the piece that he has written for me. (Q is a composition major, and he is writing two art songs to Hungarian texts for me to sing on my senior recital. How exciting! The first one is finished and just needs tweaking. It is gorgeous! And haunting! But crazy difficult!) Quinton loves to be ridiculous, however, and has given me many challenges in this piece....like the sustained high E-flats (above high C) in one passage! It is really sweet and actually much easier to create in my voice than I anticipated.
We were in the recital hall after everyone had supposedly left going over the piece. It was the first time we had put the voice with the piano. It was a little rough but not bad for a first run-through. Well, apparently Lynn, Chad, and Barb (the lady that accompanied me on my recital this past March...brilliant pianist!) were still in the Fishbowl, which is the lobby just outside the recital hall, and heard the E-flat passage soar through the doors because it was just that loud. Barb knew it was me and said, "That's Samantha." Lynn and Chad hadn't heard her, and when it happened again, Barb said that Lynn and Chad just looked at each other and said, "Is that Samantha?!" I guess Lynn had this look on her face that she didn't know if she should be amazed/proud or alarmed. haha! How funny!
After our little rehearsal, Tracy, Quinton, and I cooked a fabulous supper and took it to the conservatory for a picnic with Chad. haha! It was such fun! We talked and goofed off even after we had finished and didn't leave until nearly 10:30pm! We have dubbed it "The Lunch Club." We're just going to have random picnics in the lobby at lunch during the school year. haha! Amazing!
Besides all this singing and practicing (I never actually leave the conservatory! Lynn keeps seeing me and giving me this look of, "Why are you still here?" haha!...It is opera camp week for middle/high schoolers, so it's been crazy over there!), I have been babysitting Barb's daughters, Gretchen and Kate, every now and again. I am pretty much just on call for anytime she needs me. I have done quite a bit for her this week, though, and by the end of tomorrow I should have worked off my accompanist bill with Barb. (Instead of her paying me all the time, I have the option of swapping babysitting in return for coaching time. Sounds like a good deal to me! First, we're starting with my bill from my recital.)
Wow, I'm so jealous! You had a comp major write stuff for you! And in your beloved Hungarian. That's really special. :)
ReplyDeleteSustained Eb = no fun. Wow. Good luck with that. And major props. Composers are so mean sometimes.
You're singing the "Song to the Moon" from Rusalka? Ah, that song is one of the few (about 3) that make me want to be a soprano for two seconds. I LOVE that aria. I was wondering how you were handling the Czech but I guess you're singing it in English. That only makes it a little bit easier... I'm doing Fledermaus in English right now. I've decided that I really don't like singing in English...
You guys have opera camp for little kids?? That is so cool! What do you guys do?
Keep up the great work. Isn't it fantastic to basically LIVE practicing? I love it. :) And congrats on the master class!
I live high notes! At first, I told Quinton I wasn't so sure about that, but now I think it is so cool! As for "Song to the Moon," I want to sing it in Czech someday! However, when I began work on that piece, I was in Hungary and battling enough with the Hungarian language...let alone trying to add any slovak into that! But English is a pain to sing in! I don't know a whole lot about the opera camp because it is mainly just the opera company and the vocal professors that have a hand in it. I just get bits and pieces of chaos...and the occasional invite to sing at a masterclass. haha! ;) Actually, this is the first summer I've been near campus to see any of it.
ReplyDeleteSamantha,
ReplyDeleteYou are so immensely blessed to be able to have master classes, but why am I reminding you of this? You are the one who writes gratitudes into her every post so that she never forgets it!
I am interested to hear your rendition of the "Song to the Moon." Though it is in English, its melody is beautiful in whatever language. If I may ask a random question, why does English sound so ugly when operas are translated into it or when it is used in modern operas and yet so beautiful in the Baroque repertoire? Could it possibly have some connection to the difference in musical styles?
As for your new Hungarian pieces by Q., that sounds incredible! More than one high E-flat?! It is amazing that you have such talent! All of this makes me hope that I see you on the operatic stage soon.
Opera camp sounds like fun, and probably something I would like to participate in even though I am too old to do so.
I hope you have a fun summer while you are at your campus, and good luck on finding an apartment for yourself. Thank you for keeping us abreast of the exciting developments in your life.
-Tyler.