In the Words of my Cynthia...

I see that the month is almost over and I have not written anything.  Actually, this is a good sign.  I tend to write either when I am unhappy, or when I have some sort of news, and neither has actually been the case.

Choir season has started and I can really see my new technique in action.  We are singing a Handel piece for Reformation Sunday and I really hope that I can get to sing the soprano part, as I can sing it really well (I don't know if that would have been the case even two years ago). It only goes up to a G and it moves around.  On the other hand, there is a top alto part that may be underpowered (or maybe not - it doesn't go very high so they should be able to pull some of the seconds).  I will sing it if asked, but would rather not (I am always happy to sing top alto parts that are peppered with Es and Fs but that's another story.)

Our star violinist has moved to another job at another church.  Maybe Little Miss will go with him?  I know when I heard choral singing there, the choir director's wife sang all the soprano solos, and he is still there, so probably she is so you never know.  On the  other hand, Little Miss will probably be spending less time in our neck of the woods.

I am continuing to work on Carmen.  The A flats that seemed so high a year and a half ago, that sounded great, but took so much work, are now effortless.  The B in the Sequidilla is manageable.  I usually have been vocalizing up to a high C sharp but yesterday I had trouble, probably because I had had a cold for two days.  As a result of all the toddlers at the church (this was what my doctor told me) I have started getting colds of the sort I got as a child but never as an adult: intractable stopped up nose (does not respond to the Neti pot and in fact using it is dangerous) and runny snot.  Fortunately they don't last more than two days.

I still don't have a definite date, but my voice teacher has gone back to singing tenor and wants to sing Don Jose.  I am staying on top of trying to get everything in order for this and my birthday concert.

Lastly (which comes to the title of this post), thanks to a nudge from a woman in the choir who is also a playwright, I have finished the draft of my Cinderella play.  I don't want to say too much, as it is not copyrighted, but at the end of the final scene, suddenly my protagonist just blurted out something that explains my continued involvement with the Lutheran church, which seems strange to people considering that my Unitarian blend of Christianity, Judaism, and Paganism isn't going anyplace soon.  High church Christian houses of worship have the best theater.  It's that simple.  I'm playing a role and the choir robe with the cross on it is my costume.  And what glorious music!!  Unitarians just don't know how to do that, even with a different theology as a starting point.  The women's Moon Circles that I go to are good theater, but I couldn't make them my only spiritual nourishment because there's no music, only chanting.

Well, for what it's worth, here's what Cynthia said:

You can make theater anywhere, now that I think of it.  That’s why I like singing in church services.  I am not religious .... but if you want to hear glorious music and colorful stories while sitting in a magnificent historic building, a church service is the best bargain around. And when I sing (in a choir robe, or in a black dress) as a soloist or choir member, the issue isn’t what I believe, but what the people listening believe; that I am bringing to life something profoundly moving and meaningful to them, just like being in a play or opera, only on a smaller scale, and without having to be in a decidedly un-spiritual and snarky cutthroat environment (you should hear some of my former conservatory classmates talk about other people; you wouldn’t believe it). 

I think this will stand me in good stead for a long time.  And I have made some wonderful friends.

The Heroine of My Own Blog

I have been needing to make a post for quite some time, but have been very busy with my health issues (an eye infection necessitating a trip to my ophthalmologist in Brooklyn), new glasses (see photo), my partner's health issues (taking her to the dermatologist), and work (booooring).

Of course I am still singing!

On Sunday the 23rd I sang both the "Laudamus te" from the Bach Mass in B Minor and "Domine Deus" from the Vivaldi Gloria.  Because there was no air conditioning in the church (they need a whole new unit, which is very expensive, so they have been taking bids) I was excused from singing at 9 and just sang at 11.  The "Laudamus te" went really well.  We even got applause!!  "Domine Deus" went less well; we hadn't rehearsed it enough, and at one point the violinist seemed to be fumbling for the right note, so I ended up doing that also (which I am sure no one noticed) so I didn't get enough breath for the longest phrase at the end.  I apologized afterwards to the pianist (who is also our new Director of Music Ministries) and he said there was no problem, because I had made it work.

So now there is nothing on my calendar - which means I need to fill it up!!  Tomorrow I have an appointment with my partner's caseworker at the LGBT senior services center, which is where I also sent in a request to put on my pocket version of Carmen.  When I am done with my appointment I will see if I can talk with the woman who coordinates the space usage, and see what the status of my bid is.  I will need to set a date and line up other singers (and a pianist) before the year is out, so I want to get this moving.

I have gone back to working on the "Seguidilla" (never an ideal fit for my voice) and I am solidly able to nail that B (I have been vocalizing up to a C sharp every day), but staccati are just not my thing, so I have to sing the scale legato, then take a breath, and portamento from the F sharp up to the B.  As I said, this is just not my style of singing.  My teacher and I discussed the fact that a lot of it is low, but light, like a pop song, but I have to be careful at some point to get back on task with my low larynx position and strong support or I will not make it up to that B.

One disappointment is that the woman who used to produce the September 11 concerts and who helped me produce Carmen really isn't doing anything with classical singers any more.  She posted something about a series of Christmas concerts, which I said I would be interested in, and she emailed me back and said that she really only wants pop or folk singers, as well as people who will help her organize the whole process of finding venues and booking the group into them.  "Planning and organizing" (ah, yes, that was a category on the 100s of performance evaluations I administered when I was working, as well as on my own) is something too tied in with what I did for a living for me to ever want to do it on a volunteer basis, other than as the sole mechanism that enables me to sing anywhere, which I resent, but that's a waste of energy.

I suppose the last thing (and no doubt what prompted me to decide to write) is that I see that Little Miss's performance with The Opera Company That Said I Was Not A Future Investment has been reviewed by a well respected opera blogger.  It was not reviewed in the TIMES (although another opera in that series was, probably because it was something new and different), but this blogger has a wide readership and he gave her the highest praise for her singing and acting.

As it is unlikely that I will ever even be noticed by anyone of that ilk, I have to content myself, as did David Copperfield, by being the "Heroine of My Own Story" here in this blog.