Highlights of the past six weeks

Life:

• Got a dog! I finally wheedled Erik down and he let me look for a dog. We wanted something small-ish, smart, good with people and other dogs, and about a year old. And we found her! We’ve named her KD, short for Kennewick Dog (like the famed and much disputed Kennewick Man, but a dog. And not a fossil.), since we got her from a shelter in Kennewick. She is smart as a whip and so loving. I think she’s as happy to have us as we are to have her. I’m sure her antics will make appearances here from time to time…
  
• Readjusting to life at home after life away was easier this time around. Most things are easier the second time, so that’s part of it. But Erik and I both learned a lot about how to keep connected – to each other and to our lives – while we’re apart. All you military folks should be able to relate; I realized this summer that I was on TDY! But I’m home now, and only have a few weekend or weeklong trips planned this coming season.

Music:

• Two days after I got home I was right back to work, singing in a recording session at Benaroya. Movie and video game production companies often come up to Seattle to record soundtracks, samplers, and movie trailers, because our union is cheaper. It’s still great money, and a nice way to meet a bunch of singers. That was almost a month ago, and I had forgotten about the paycheck – until it showed up in my mailbox yesterday! A nice surprise.
  
• I took a big chance with a regional audition, and it paid off. A new regional company, Skagit Opera, is doing The Magic Flute in the spring. I saw this as the perfect opportunity to try out the Queen of the Night arias, which my teacher encouraged me to learn. Talk about a died-in-the-wool coloratura role! So I worked on them for three weeks, went into the audition with the panel aware of my greenness, and sang my heart out. Well, I got the part! I took it as a sign that my voice is truly fit for coloratura roles if I could pull that off. It’s given me a boost going into this year’s audition season.
  
• I’m in the middle of a two week run of performances with Pacific Northwest Ballet. I have a small singing part in their production of Romeo & Juliet; I’m a Gypsy Singer at the Capulet party. It’s been wonderful to be around dancers again; my early days in ballet were the starting point for my life in the arts. And, from the Small World Department, the assistant conductor at PNB used to conduct at the Chicago City Ballet. Twenty years ago he conducted a Cinderella, in which Yours Truly danced in the children’s chorus! (I was a little bug in the garden scene; I couldn’t wear my glasses on stage, so my memory is rather blurry, but I think I remember some of the choreography!)
  
• Had an exciting offer to go to Kiev, Ukraine, to participate in a new music recording project. Through Tanglewood connections, I was recommended to the composer for his work for Soprano and Orchestra. It would have been an incredible project, but my performances with PNB conflicted with the rehearsal schedule. But how cool that I’m getting offers like that!

So, that’s what’s what. Let me know if you’re still reading this! Time to practice…

The Entry

As you can see, it’s been six weeks since I posted last. In that time, I spent a last wonderful week at Tanglewood, returned home to a happy husband and a rainy city, jumped with both feet back into life as a freelance singer in Seattle, gotten a dog, and – this is the big one – experienced that moment dreaded by bloggers everywhere: the loss of the perfect blog entry.

My blogging mentor-of-sorts, Chiara, told me that every person who blogs long enough experiences this, that every blog she has read has an entry like the one you are reading now. You can imagine: you spend an hour or so putting your thoughts “on paper” (as it were), taking the time to really get everything right, so your reader will understand exactly how you feel (in this case, my joy at being home and my thoughts an another Tanglewood summer). Then, you click on the “Post” icon and… gone. Blogger has claimed another witty, perfect entry.

I’ve been encouraged now, by people who know these things, to write all my entries in Microsoft Word, then copy and paste them into the Blogger form. I did this all summer when I didn’t have internet at my disposal, and never lost an entry; I should have stuck with what was working.

I don’t really know who is still reading this, but I’m going to try to get back in the habit of posting. Even if the blog stays mostly in the “here’s what’s going on in my music career” vein, I think there will be some interesting things to write about this coming year.

I’ll keep you posted…