Very Musically Yours

Out and About: I speak according to the BO-OK!

2011-02-02T13:55:00.000-05:00

On Monday, I got really lucky and scored a free dress rehearsal ticket for Nixon in China at the Met!

Out of all the dress rehearsal raffles that the Met did this year, this was the one that I HAD TO go to. The set was astonishing, the costumes were amazing and the singing was great! I loved the choreography that Mark Morris did, it was so Mark Morris! He's probably the most recognizeable choreographer to me because I've seen a ton of his works. So I was thrilled that he did the Peking Opera scene!

And Peter Sellars' direction omg! Watch out for Act Three because it is Rated X! Loved it!

The best surprise was that John Adams himself was conducting the rehearsal! It was so cool! I could only dream to perform an opera by a living composer...at the Met...with the composer conducting. Actually, that might be scary. Haha!

Thanks for reading!

Very Musically Yours,

Hello? Is this thing on??

2011-01-29T17:40:00.001-05:00

Hello Dear Reader!

I have been away for a while blogging as my alter ego LazyGirl over at my book blog while I've been dealing with sickness/the real world/figuring things out with my voice etc. things like that!! But fear not, noble reader, I am back!

I'm slowly getting back into gear and hoping to make this year my best opera filled year yet! So far, I have some auditions on the horizon as well as a recital series. The first will be Feb. 27th. Full details on that very soon!! I've actually just finalized my program and I'll post it when it's super duper finalized :)

Short updates:
I was featured in O Magazine in January 2011 as an opera singer who needed a makeover. Because I mean, why not? It was so much fun. We shot it in October on the day of the first rehearsal for my gig with Light Opera New York!

I met Roberto Alagna at a CD signing of his, and as you can tell from the picture, we totally hit it off haha!

Thanks for reading. I look forward to blogging to you all again soon :)

Very Musically Yours,

Der Doppelgänger, Schubert, Heine

2011-01-03T20:48:00.000-05:00

What would I have done if I were in the audience while this GORGEOUS singing happened?! Ooh em geee!!

Opera filled weekend

2010-12-05T16:11:00.007-05:00

Today, I wanted to see my friend Kevin Ginter perform in Carmen at the Walt Whitman Hall at Brooklyn College. But, my cold isn't quite done with me yet. It would've only been a short jaunt on the 2 train to familiar territory, as I've been to that theater millions of times in my days growing up musical in Brooklyn! I'm sure did a superb job as Jose as well as the rest of the singers.

So to make up for the disappointment of not seeing a live show today, I'm doing one of my favorite things ever...watching an opera dvd that I got from the library and following along with the score. ::Opera Geek Alert!!:: The other day I watched a 1973 production of Faust with Scotto, Kraus and Ghiaurov. Since I'm shut in today, I'm going to re-watch!!

Happy Sunday everyone!

Very Musically Yours,

Inspiration: "Simple Song" by Bernstein

2010-12-05T00:29:00.002-05:00

Such a *gorgeous* rendition. I bet this would be an amazing encore in a recital! Hmm..note to self...

Thanksgiving Wishes from La Toya

2010-11-25T09:33:00.000-05:00

Wishing the Happiest Thanksgiving Wishes to all who celebrate!

Very Musically Yours,

Open Discussion: How often do you practice?

2010-11-23T19:57:00.004-05:00

It's a question I bring up to my singer friends all the time: How many hours PER DAY do you practice?

The most popular answers that I get are:

Maybe once every few days to give myself the time to let it all sink in.
I never practice, seriously.
EVERY FRIGGIN DAY ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? YOU DON'T??

I'm not sure which category I fall under. When I'm in production for something, I find that I do most of my wood-shedding and coaching in the weeks prior. When it comes down to rehearsing the opera itself, I tend to save my voice a bit and do minimal daily practice.

Since I have a bunch of time off from solo singing (will be doing a lot of Christmas caroling but not necessarily Grand Operatic singing) I'm wondering which would be a good schedule for me!

So singers, what's your practice sched like??

Very Musically yours,

Night at the opera

2010-11-22T19:13:00.001-05:00

It is very rare that a struggling artist like myself gets to indulge in an opera at the Met (sad but true!) So when a friend called me hours before curtain, I jumped at the chance!

I was lucky enough to see the opening night of Don Carlo! I didn't get a chance to see who was playing whom so I was presently surprised to see Marina Poplavskaya as Elisabeth!

I had previously seen Poplavskaya's Liu and I remember being so incredibly inspired by her choices for the role! Seeing her in a completely different role was a treat. I also got to witness the sheer power and force of her brilliant voice. At times, she appeared to sing directly into the wings and I could still hear her.

All in all, it was a very cool night. My first viewing of Don Carlo! The only thing I wished was that there were more younger people there.

Very Musically Yours,

Stephanie Blythe: Wesendonck Lieder "Im Treibhaus"

2010-11-20T00:36:00.000-05:00

Oh my!! ::swoon::

I sang at a burger joint.

2010-11-14T19:52:00.005-05:00

You read that right. I did a concert in a hamburger place tonight.

Now before you start asking a million questions about that (what kind of burgers did they have? did you try the onion rings?) let me just say that it went really, really, surprisingly well!

The deets:

Opus Opera NY is a singer created company that I sing with occasionally
They are re-vamping a little bit and decided to through a fundraiser (Arias & Shakes)
It happened at Stand 4 a deeeeeliiiiicious burger place around Union Square
The guests in attendence received an entree & shake from a specially formulated menu for the event, as well as entertaining arias from us.

None of us knew what to expect when we got there. The entire place was packed to capacity with excited burger eating non-opera lovers. Would they close down the restaurant? Were they going to make an announcement that everyone who didn't buy a ticket had to leave so we could sing?

We ended up singing in a reserved space for our excited audience while the other burger patrons either sort of paid attention, ignored us or watched the football game. I sang Signore, ascolta & Sull'aria. Somehow, all the noise helped me to focus and really get into character!

Check out Opus Opera NY here: http://opusoperany.com/

Very Musically Yours,

Nixon In China: Act II Scene 2b - I'm the Wife of Mao Zedong

2010-11-08T19:47:00.001-05:00

I heard someone sing this for the first time back in July. What a crazy aria! I tip my hat to the Sopranos who can pull off these vocal acrobatics.

And now for something completely different...

2010-11-04T15:58:00.005-04:00

What's up everyone??

My most recent perf was "The Desert Song" with Light Opera of New York [or LOONY which always makes me giggle!]. I played Clementina, the very spicy Spanish girl that opens the 2nd act with song and dance. I also did some stuff in the first act ensemble [including marching in as a solider]

We worked in CAP21, a space with which I was previously unfamiliar. There were a lot of musical theater and straight play actors that used the space. So it was really cool to get to be around that again.

Since this is "Light" opera, there's LOTS of dancing and dialogue. The prospect of dialogue was thrilling because I got to recycle my West Side Story Spanish accent. How often do I get to use that?? I told them they're gonna be sorry if they give me too many complex dance steps, however. I like to get down on the dance floor like any girl but as soon as you start counting step, I grow two left feet! Fortunately the director Gary was brilliant enough to keep everything simple to do but interesting to watch.

The rehearsals were spaced out until "Hell week" which consisted of 3-4 hour rehearsals Mon-Wed and a quick run through the day of the show. We didn't get to walk in the space until the day of! This isn't uncommon but, we had to dance!!! Haha! Luckily the process wasn't stressful or tedious. I think that everyone was so happy to be singing that there wasn't time to worry about anything.

We performed in the lovely church Landmark on the Park at 76th and Broadway to a full house! I had a great time doing something a little different for a change. I also felt like I learned a lot more about acting and how your acting can serve the music. An eternal student, I am!

Check out LOONY's site to check out the rest of their season: http://lightoperaofnewyork.org/

Very Musically Yours,

Götterdämmerung -- Hagen's Watch (Salminen)

2010-10-15T12:25:00.001-04:00

I have a friend who loves Wagner and suggested I watch it. Have been obsessed with this clip ever since!

Night at Carnegie Hall!

2010-10-13T20:23:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine called me last minute with tickets for Brahms Requiem at Carnegie Hall tonight! It was the Collegiate choral with Eric Owens as the Bass soloist! I had no idea that I was going to get to see Stephanie Blythe sing The Alto Rhapsody beforehand! Was completely blown away with how effortlessly she is able to fill a hall with her incredibly lush voice.

I had only heard the Requiem on recording a few times so it was definitely a treat to hear it in person! Seeing choruses perform always remind me of the good ole days in High School where I sang in chorus for 4 years. This was also my first time sitting in the orchestra section of Carnegie Hall. I think my friend had been there plenty of times so when I began marveling at how absolutely gorgeous the space is up close, it was pretty funny to him!

Very Musically Yours,

Inspiration: Senza mamma, Veronika Dzhioeva

2010-10-10T20:45:00.000-04:00

Yow! I love this woman's voice!! And this aria!

Opera Singers Initiative: Fall Fete

2010-09-30T20:01:00.000-04:00

Tonight, I sang in a concert put on by Opera Singers Initiative . It was held at The Van Alen Mansion on the Eastside. About a year ago, I joined Twitter and started following someone named "Opera Singers". This person (who I now know and love) is the volunteer coordinator and asked if anyone wanted to help out at a benefit for young opera singers featuring chocolate. I love opera and I love chocolate so it was a no brainer that I take her up on the opportunity to volunteer. Once I arrived, I was excited to see the level of talent and professionalism that this unknown (to me) organization held. I immediately looked into auditioning to be part of their year-long program of concerts & mentorship. A year later, here I am performing in the same space that inspired me so much!

We got to meet and greet the guest and snack on some of the delicious food. Afterward, we went upstairs to begin the concert portion of the evening. I sang "Ne poj krasavisca pri mne" by Rachmoninov. Some of the funnier comments that I got afterward were different variations of "I was hoping my wine glass wasn't going to break". HA!

After the concert portion, in a culmination of the entire year's worth of working with them, the organization gave various award to some of us. I WON the Vocal Recording Award!!! I will keep everyone posted on when and where to hear what I end up recording.

It was a fantastic evening. I am so glad to have found this company and look forward to being part of their growing Alumni base.

Check out this wonderful organization here: http://www.operasingersinitiative.org/

Very Musically Yours,

Inspiration: Madama Butterfly 1962 Act I Butterfly's Entrance

2010-09-05T20:06:00.003-04:00

Oh, I just about died when I heard this. Brillance! Viva la diva!!

Mother Butterfly

2010-08-16T19:59:00.005-04:00

This month, Bleecker St. Opera put on a production of Madam Butterfly. I played her Mother, who, in my opinion, is the glue of the entire opera. Let's face it, if there was no Mother, there would be no Butterfly. End of story.

All jokes aside, this was a very cool opportunity to work with another local NYC company. The small places fascinate me. You get to see all of the behind the scenes work that goes into an opera that you might not see otherwise.

We put this opera together in a very short time with very limited resources. It reminds me of something I heard on the Willy Wonka Documentary where the guy says something like: "We just had a vision that we wanted to portray, not a fancy budget. So we rolled up our sleeves and said 'Let's get some cardboard & some tape and let's put on a show'".

The leads and the production staff were brillant and so fun to work with. I had a fantastic time in this opera. It is a great company.

The above picture was taken with a really crafty person's Iphone. Not the most flattering picture of me, but I thought it was kind of funny to see me looking at the conductor for my cues.

Someday I'll read this blog and laugh at how silly I am. Maybe tomorrow.

Check out Bleecker Street Opera here: http://bleeckerstreetopera.org/

Very Musically Yours,