Overall, I would say that the September 11 concert was a success. I enjoyed participating in it and I hope the woman who produced it will ask me to sing in her Christmas concert. (She said she would.)
Interestingly (or distressingly) I don't think I sang "Et Exsultavit" as well as I normally do. (I barely got through "salutari", which is usually a walk in the park for me, and took a breath before "meo", which I haven't done in a long time.) I realize that this is probably because I was at the end of the program and so was probably singing it at 8 pm or later. And that there was a huge lag time between my last meal (a cheese omelette at 5, because call was at 6) and when I sang.
There was a videographer there and they are going to put it on the producer's YouTube channel. So I will see what I look and sound like. If I like it I can post it somewhere. I also asked if there would be a CD or DVD so that I could show it to my partner, who does not use computers.
My aria was the first piece after the intermission and during the intermission I could feel my energy flagging. I had a protein bar with me but I worried if I ate it I would have too much phlegm.
In any event, I got a lot of compliments including from two friends whom I just recently reconnected with after over 20 years, so they had never heard me sing.
Mulling this over in my mind made me realize two things about why I love singing in church, which sort of amazes me as I was raised by two atheists, for whom atheism was a prominent belief system, not the result of being too lazy or too busy to attend worship services.
I realize that the reasons for this are twofold. First, unlike most singers, I sing much better at 11 in the morning than I do at 8 at night. I certainly wouldn't describe myself as a morning person, on the other hand I am not a night person either. On the one hand, when I worked in an office I usually arranged things so I could work from 10 to 6, but if I went to the theater or the opera I would always try to go to a matinee (which of course is not in the morning) so that I didn't have to stumble home at night when I was sleepy. (A dangerous thing for me, walking the short distance from Lincoln Center, which involves crossing six lanes of traffic.) Probably the time of day when I feel best is between 11 am and about 4 pm, after a healthy breakfast and/or a healthy lunch. So when I schedule a concert myself it's usually at 3.
Second, and this says a lot about me, I suppose, a church service is about so many other things besides me and my performance that I have spiritual tools right there at hand to keep me calm and centered. There are prayers to say and a great sermon to listen to. So by the time I have to get up and sing (usually the anthem or during communion) I know that God is with me. (Maybe I have such an affinity for church because when I began attending - in 2003, which is when I met the Mentor - I had already spent almost three decades in AA meetings?) And kidding aside, there is something comforting about looking at the stained-glass window depicting Jesus. Whether or not he was divine, or rose from the dead, he is a kindly presence.
Well, when all was said and done it was a good experience and a good connection to have made.
One thing The Artist's Way says is that if you go shake an apple tree, you might get oranges, and that you shouldn't throw the oranges in the trash.
So maybe my involvement with this woman has shown me that there are many thing one can do with a lovely classically trained voice that are not as demanding or as competitive as singing opera, but that don't require that you lapse into different vocal idioms (e.g. belting) that are not vocally or spiritually comfortable.
But I'm still going to fill out that application for the Ulrica audition. My artist's "date" for this week is to do that (and reorganize my audition binder) at 4 pm this afternoon.
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