So much for one-a-days

I know, no daily update---how did you all ever get through the day?

The masses were crying out in protest, I'm sure.


What did I do this weekend/yesterday?
2 lessons, one coaching, one more offer to sing in 2009.

Issue of the week/coaching:
What to sing at competitions.
OK, so there are the "artsy" competitions, where you're singing for established people in the business, or heads of opera companies that do a mix of standard and non-standard rep. IE- people that would appreciate the fact that I can sing the crap out of Zerbinetta as a starting piece in competition.
And then there are the competitions that have a panel of judges who are donors or board members from the opera companies who are budgeted to do Traviata's, Elixir's, Boheme's and the likes--their favorite arias being Violetta, Una furtiva, and O mio babbino, and Carmen.
You know what I'm talking about. It's not about smart or supid, it's not about budget or low-budget. It's simply about the bottom line. You have to know your audience, and regardless of how well I sing Zerbinetta at a competition, it will sound like a mess of modernity that goes on for 8 minutes to someone who hasn't heard it before and doesn't wake up in the middle of the night DREAMING of the day when the opera company will have enough money and support to mount the non-standard pieces that they love.

And the more competitions I do this season, the more I realize what a factor that plays into it all.

So out of this coaching, my best "showpiece" that is "for the masses" right now is Glitter and Lakme, followed by Queen. But I'll always let the panel ASK for Queen, I won't offer it, knowing that the preference for many is for the truly dramatic and dark sound PLUS the high F's.

Just thinking about the music to Candide makes me smile. The overture can brighten the crappiest day, and when my ipod is on shuffle and ANY song from the show comes up I'm automatically transported to a happy place.

And that is what I'm hoping comes across in competition when I offer this piece for the next few upcoming comps.

Things I still have to do and am completely putting off:

-Pay the MAN his Taxes (to support a war that has already put us in gazillion dollar debt and is being fought by 'government contractors' ie, armed blackwater terror-izers who are considered neither civilians nor military personnel and pretty much can't be accountable for whatever horrors the media will ONE day decide to report after this whole mess is over)....ooops, sorry for the tangent.

-Buy THREE new scores and mark them up (yissssss, I love the smell of hi-liter in the morning).

-LAUNDRY (and pack for competition 2008/v.2 this weekend)
More laundry (and pack for competition/audition2008/v.3 next next weekend)

-set up three or 4 more coachings in NY, one of them being a dramatic coaching (yay- finally the time to do that), before I leave for comp/aud/v.3.

I'm sure much more---but for now, it's off to do laundry.