My Poetry Has Been Published!

Attention all lovers of music, opera, literature, and poetry!

I’m very excited to announce that my book of poetry, The Songs of Orpheus, has been published by Amazon as an Ebook. That means you can read it on your Kindle or on your computer (you just have to download the Kindle application here). I would love for you all to check it out and maybe purchase it - it’s only $2.99 (you can spend that much on one latte at Starbucks). Not only is it about 50 pages of my poetry, but there are photographs dispersed throughout to add to the mood of the book.

The Songs of Orpheus is a chapbook in two parts: the first is a collection of 23 poems based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Narrated by Orpheus, it isn’t simply a retelling of the story. Instead, it’s an artistic view on the major themes of the myth, adding decoration to the basic scaffolding of the original plot. The second part is composed of stand-alone poems which all explore the artist’s view of the world, with a strong emphasis on music and culture. The first half is heavily influenced by Gluck’s opera Orfeo ed Euridice and the second half has many musical allusions, including Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, and Massenet’s (Goethe’s) Werther so you will really appreciate it if you’re a music lover.

I’ve worked hard on this little book and I’m very happy to see it finally published. I’d love to share my work and passion with you, so if you’d like to check it out, please do. Also, if you read it and have opinions about it, please leave a review. I’m trying to make my place in the literary world and every little bit helps!

You can buy it by clicking the title above or by clicking here. Even if you can’t buy it, I’d love for you to promote it to your friends. Also, here is my official Author Page.

You guys rock and I really hope you enjoy it!!

The Artist's Body

While I was rehearsing for L'elisir, the company brought in their choreographer from time to time to sit in on rehearsal. For the first time in my experience, the choreographer was watching every scene that we rehearsed, making comments on our body language and on how we moved onstage. I found this both extremely helpful and a bit intimidating.

Granted, I'm always aware of my body when I'm onstage. It's crucial not only for good stage presence, but also for creating character and bringing across emotion and mood to the audience. But when the choreographer was sitting in on rehearsal, I became hyper-aware of how I was using every single part of my body at every moment. I learned a lot from her comments and probably avoided even more comments simply because I was conscious of what I was doing all the time.

The best lesson I took away from this was to keep this hyper-awareness all the time. It taught me this new level of paying attention to my body, no matter how important I am to the scene at a given moment.

I just love how body movement can define a character. This concept has intrigued me from the very start of my love affair with opera. I love to see a singer play different roles and develop a completely different set of mannerisms for each one. It is this attention to detail that makes opera so rich and exciting.

Here is one of my favorite examples of the extremes that a singer can take to create a specific body language for a character. Here is a video of Joyce Didonato as Rosina from Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia and here is another video of her playing Isolier in Rossini's Le Comte Ory. Each character's movement vocabulary is determined by their personality, gender, social station, etc and that is very clear in Ms. Didonato's portrayals.

Personally, I love playing with different types of movement every time I'm given a new character to learn. I find this particular part of the process to be simultaneously challenging and fun. It's been a huge change to go from my character in L'elisir to Hansel. Although, to be honest, Hansel is one of my favorite characters to play because of his physicality. He has so much energy and youth in him; you can always find something new to do with the role. Besides, I find the pants roles to be a special challenge since a male body language differs so much from a female one.

Speaking of pants roles, there is a new resource out there now for pants roles. This website goes through all the basics and answers the questions that most mezzos encounter when they're preparing pants roles. It covers everything from movement to binding and it presents good videos and DVDs to study. I would recommend it to anyone who is preparing a pants role or will most likely have to in the future.



Just as an announcement: all the information for my Hansel and Gretel is up on the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts website. I'll be performing Dec. 10 at 2pm in Bethel, NY. It's going to be so much fun! Not only are we doing the show, but we're having a Q&A in costume with the kids after the show. I am really pumped for this production. It's a great cast and the production is simply adorable. It's going to be fun to have so many kids in the audience! I fully support exposing children to opera as early as possible and I think this is a great way to do it.

The Art of Storytelling: Opera for the Masses

Over the past weekend, I participated in a very interesting and different experience. I sang in Divaria Productions' L'elisir d'amore and we performed as part of a private party at the Tuxedo Club in Tuxedo Park. The people ate dinner and then watched as we put on an entire opera in the dining hall.

Not only did the venue interest me, but the response of the audience also intrigued me. There were no subtitles or English translations of any kind: there was only the music and the actors on stage, bridging the language gap and bringing the story to life with their actions and emotions. I could tell during the show that the audience was completely engaged. They laughed and gasped right along with the plot. We had the chance to mingle with the audience at a reception after the show and everyone mentioned that they'd completely understood the story. I know now, for a fact, that opera transcends language and time period and culture. It speaks to everyone. I guess the question is: are they willing to listen?

I'm always trying to get more people interested in opera. I think this is a great new way to reach yet another type of audience. It reminds me of the "olden days" when opera was a type of after-dinner entertainment. It felt like we were reliving some old pastime that has since been abandoned. It was simply exciting. I'd love to have the opportunity to do something like this again.

Super Update!

There is so much going on right now! I could just drown in music, but instead, I'll write this blog to let you know what I'm up to!

First of all, Eugene Onegin with Delaware Valley Opera was an incredible experience. I had the opportunity to collaborate with so many talented and experienced artists! I learned some very important craft (and life!) skills from my cast- and crew-mates.

Here's a picture of me as Mama Larina with my "daughters." They had to make me look old with makeup because apparently I "look like I'm 2." LOL. Like I said, I really loved working with them.

That's why I'm very excited to work with DVO again soon in their production of Hansel and Gretel. I'll be singing Hansel in their abridged, children's version of Humperdinck's opera. I adore the role of Hansel and I'm so beyond excited to be singing it so soon! That production will run in December and will be on tour throughout the Delaware Valley area (NY and PA).

But right now, I'm focusing on L'elisir d'amore with Divaria Productions. They mounted this production last Spring and they've been asked to revive it for a private dinner party in Tuxedo Park. How cool is that? It's like Ariadne auf Naxos without the Composer. I've performed in some really interesting places, but I've never before performed in a ballroom! I'm looking forward to the experience: it should be unique!

Besides all this opera stuff, I've been applying to grad schools and summer programs. Some programs have really streamlined their application process this year and I appreciate it. I mean, I still spend hours filling these things out, but it seems like less to me.

Well, that's all for now, but I'll keep you updated as things progress. I have things lined up for the spring, too, so there's tons to talk about!

Also, I wanted to let you know that I have a very active blog over at Tumblr. It's Operarox! and not only do I post opera-related things every day, but I host opera liveshows where opera lovers come to chat about opera. I show clips on a given topic and then we discuss them. Past topics have been: Love Duets, Best Sidekicks, Unknown Singers, Old School Heroes, and Scary Moments in Opera. It's a lot of fun and I would suggest it to anyone who enjoys opera. I'm also currently running a contest to boost my following and I'll be giving away opera prizes. So far, I've announced two prizes: a Don Giovanni DVD and a Susan Graham CD. So if you're on Tumblr, stop by and check out my blog! If not, you might want to check it out because there's a fun and vivacious opera-loving community on there that would love to have you!

I hope you are all well and I'm looking forward to all the fun stuff that's happening!

30 Miles to Civilization

Hello from sunny Nowhere!

I'm kidding. Kind of.

It's been fun creating Eugene Onegin out here in the middle of nowhere. Here we are, a band of singers, learning to live in a place where there isn't much to do. Most of us are from Manhattan or some other city, so it's been a bit of culture shock getting used to driving 30 miles to get anywhere.

And, yet, it's such great character research. The characters in Eugene Onegin have to stave off boredom and the mundane lifestyle of the country. In this way, every little social interaction becomes a really huge deal. Hence the tragedy of Eugene Onegin. Like I keep saying: this all could have been avoided if Eugene had just put a ring on it the first time around! (lol)

All kidding aside, I'm having a great time here at DVO learning and studying and just bonding with other singers. I'm basically the youngest in the cast, so there are so many people to learn from! I've definitely grown as a performer throughout this experience already, having been confronted with all new challenges. It's such a leap to go from school to this, but I couldn't love it more. I've been given the opportunity to be part of a professional production and it has taught me a lot about how to handle the ropes out here in "the real world," among other things.

One of the best parts of being out here in the country (besides being able to hear myself think!) is the absolutely gorgeous house where I'm allowed to stay. It is absolutely charming and I am so grateful for it. There's nothing like going back after a long day of rehearsals and being able to just relax in a comfortable, beautiful home. I'm sharing it with a Tatiana and an Onegin and we've been having so much fun together.

There is something special about being part of a cast: for a little while, they become like your adopted family. This sense of belonging, and of working to create something together, is one of the most satisfying elements of this art form. And when you hit it just right, it can be magic. :)

The Lesson of NaNoWriMo

For those of you who don't know, NaNoWriMo (or, National Novel Writing Month) is an annual extravaganza where many brave souls join together to try and achieve the impossible: a 50,000-word novel in 30 days. This lovely adventure takes place every November and I have had the privilege of not only participating, but of actually completing the task.

"But what does this have to do with opera?" I hear you all asking. This is not just a moment for me to brag about my extra-opera achievements (because, believe me, that novel was a piece of crap), but to use this idea to explain another.

NaNoWriMo was an adventure in every sense of the word. It had the thrill of starting something new, the frustration of getting stuck after a while, and the joyous exhaustion of falling across the finish line at the last possible moment. I finished with 50,003 words with 3 minutes to spare. But getting there was the most difficult part, because in order to finish on time, you have to write around 2,000 words (or roughly 4 Word Document pages) a day. That means you have to sit your butt down in that chair every single day no matter what and get those words written. NaNoWriMo taught me a new type of discipline and I haven't forgotten that lesson.

When I was given my first assignment with Delaware Valley Opera, I had to learn a 38-page role in 30 days. Not to mention, this role was in Russian, a language that I cannot speak or even read. I was learning it all by rote (aka, by IPA). That meant I had to sit my butt down on that piano bench every single day no matter what and learn/memorize that music. It was a new sort of discipline, but I already knew that I could do it because I'd done it before. I'd made it over that finish line just in the nick of time and I could do it again. It was a matter of discipline and focus.

And I did do it. I finished memorizing the role just in time, just as I thought I would. Every project brings new challenges and this one has been no different. I'm learning so much from rehearsals and from working with older and more experienced singers. I feel so incredibly lucky to be training in this way. But I'm also lucky for my non-opera experiences, because we can learn from anywhere and every lesson is important.

NaNoWriMo and Eugene Onegin together taught me that it's best to try as many things as you can, because you never know when one thing will help you achieve another. The world is a huge web made of connections that you can sometimes not foresee, but are grateful for in the end. I'm happy to be learning and growing and finishing things one day at a time.

The Announcement

I feel that I can now officially announce that this year, I will be part of Delaware Valley Opera's Professional Artist Development Program!

I'm so excited! This is such an amazing opportunity and I can't wait to get started!

My first opera with them will be Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. I'm singing the role of Larina (Tatyana's mother), which is exceedingly beautiful and rather challenging. The language itself is extremely difficult (for me), but IPA helps so it's not impossible. Besides, this is a great time to get better at it! And of course Tchaikovsky's music is just the right blend of beauty and complexity. It's not easy but it's so worth it!

Right now I'm just pouring over my score and carrying it everywhere (basically sleeping with it like a stuffed animal), spending every spare moment working on it. I sent in my costume measurements and realized, "This is for real!"

I have to admit that I'm rather nervous: the rehearsals start in a month and this will be my first real "professional" experience. I just really want to be über-ready. Needless to say, I'm pumped! And I'll be sure to fill you all in on things as they progress. Until then, no rest for the weary!