Good news

[unbound_spirit]

I've been accepted to OPERAWORKS in Los Angeles, California, for July of 2007.  They auditioned hundreds of singers in every major U.S. city, and only chose about thirty, so, I'm honored.  This program is supposed to be pretty innovative, doing a lot of exploration of performance through improvisation and experimentation, so all that is definitely right up my alley.  (You singers will also be excited to hear that my audition for this program was the first audition I ever did wearing PANTS!  Yes, the joys of being a mezzo!) 

I'm still waiting to hear back from a few other programs.

Tomorrow night, March 1st, I'll be at Merkin Hall in NYC to see the Bang on a Can All-Stars premier three new works by composers Lukas Ligeti, Joshua Penman, and Stefan Weisman, as well as performances by Meredith Monk.  I can't wait.  If any of you are in the area, you should check it out.  http://www.bangonacan.org/

Comments

[pinkstiletto510.livejournal.com]

thats awesome! big congrats

say... do you know much about CalArts? they're very much into their new and experimental music there and that seems like one of your things hehe

[unbound-spirit.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Unfortunately I do not know a lot about CalArts, as I don't know too much about West Coast schools in general. However, I checked out their website, and there are some names I recognize that are good (haha, my teacher Phyllis Bryn-Julsen is listen under people who CalArts students have participated in Master Classes with) and they seem to have a really comprehensive program. Honestly, if I were just now looking into a masters program, I'd totally be all over this one. (I didn't even know they had a voice program back when I was looking at grad schools, and I think I had pretty much resolved to stay on the East Coast anyway.) But seriously, one specifically thing I like is that they seem open to all possible ways in which someone's career as a vocalist could develope, and that is SO important. There's way more than one way to have a career, and people seem to forget that. The whole cookie-cutter school-apprentiship-program-bigger-role-opera-career thing is not how it works for everyone, and in fact, some people who have had the most successful careers have gone in a totally different path. The important thing is to find your niche, and this school seems like a place that would allow you to do it. They seem really open to all kinds of music and performance, including "world" music and improv, and honestly, that is the direction of the music of TODAY. That is the cutting edge, NOW thing in performance.

The performance/composition combined program also looks cool. Damn, why didn't I know about this school?

So congrats on getting in! This school, in my humble opinion, gets a thumbs up!

[pinkstiletto510.livejournal.com]

oh good :) i'm really leaning towards this one.... hopefully i'll get over my fear of singing more contemp. ('abstract' as i like to call it) music...i'm slowly getting there but chromatic-ness and tricky rhythms scare me

[unbound-spirit.livejournal.com]

Haha, I'll let you in on a little secret... I suck at tricky rhythms. I took a class at Juilliard Evening Divison that really helped me a lot, but if you ask me to clap two against five, I think I'll look like a mentally challenged person trying to do it. Its all about practice, doing it more often, and constantly being exposed to music that forces you to figure out more complicated stuff. You get used to it. And in the end its definitely rewarding.

[pinkstiletto510.livejournal.com]

oo! it looks like the girl that showed me around CalArts a bit (Alisha Conroy) got into the program as well but in the 2 week session

[unbound-spirit.livejournal.com]

Cool! Too bad I won't get to meet her though, but, hey, that reflects well on the school!

[singerperson.livejournal.com]

OMG how exciting! Plus your going to be closer to me (i live in the bay) I'll have to go see one of your performances when I visit cuz I have freinds and family down there! I recently finally saw my first opera, La Traviata at Opera San Jose. It was really impressive! I'm learning, "O Mio Babbino Caro" and Ach Ich Fuhls" for my voice lessons and I decided that when I go to a 4 year I want to get more serious about the whole opera thing, I love it! :) yay!

CONGRATS!

[unbound-spirit.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Awesome on the opera-studying! Definitely go for it. Its a very rewarding profession. People will tell you its a lot of heartache, but don't listen. If it weren't incredibly rewarding, no one would do it, so, go for it!

[zurcherart.livejournal.com]

Very good for you. You are an impressive person.

But don't tell me. Soprano's really can't wear pants? Is it so the can see whether or not they have the ankles for Tosca?

[unbound-spirit.livejournal.com]

HAHA!!! Yeah, well, there are certainly a few sopranos whose ankles you might NOT want to see, but...

Yeah, its "tradition" that only mezzo-sopranos can wear pants to auditions, because they have the correct voice-type to play "pants roles", which are basically roles of a man sung by a woman. (Usually they are from Baroque operas and were originally written for castrati, but not always.) Since sopranos usually don't have reason to wear pants onstage, they are expected to wear dresses to auditions.

[juliatorgo.livejournal.com]

Go Pam!! Congratulations! I haven't been on livejournal in ages but now I finally checked out what my friends are up to and I'm so happy to hear things are going well for you! I actually also auditioned for OperaWorks but I didn't get in =(. I did get a nice letter from Ann telling me that she'd like me to reaudition in a year or two; she just thinks I'm too young (or maybe she's just being nice? Who knows). It would have been pretty awesome to be in the same program as you, though! Regardless, we must meet up when you're in LA. Cal State Northridge is practically in my back yard (well...25ish minutes away from my house so close enough) and it has certainly been long enough.

Congrats once again and I hope to finally meet you in several months!

[unbound-spirit.livejournal.com]

Thanks Julia! Sorry about you not getting in though, that sucks. But you should totally audition again! Do you know a lot about the program by any chance? I'm actually totally out of the loop when it comes to all West Coast things, and I honestly don't know that much about it other than what's on the website. Do they put on actual productions? I feel kind of like an idiot having gotten in and not really knowing what its about, but I applied to so much stuff and auditioned for so much stuff this year, sometimes you just gotta mail out the application before you have all your questions answered. :/

Anyway, it would be way awesome if you could stop by and we could meet up! And if not then, maybe I'll have to swing by Boston some time. :)

[juliatorgo.livejournal.com]

No worries; these things happen. I don't believe that they put on any actual productions; from what I understand, if you got into the month-long program (which is what I'm assuming) you're going to perform in an original opera that consists of a bunch of arias; everyone gets an aria. I don't know, but it sounds pretty interesting to me! A large component of the performance is improvisation so that should be fun. The 2-week program just does a recital-like performance at the end. I don't know very many details about the program but I've heard nothing but good things about it from a number of good sources. If you do a search for OperaWorks on nfcs.net or classicalsinger.com, you'll get a LOT of very helpful (and very positive) information about the program from people who have gone in the past.

I hope that helps! Thanks for the invite to your recital on facebook. I really wish I could go but I can't get away =( I'm sure you'll be fantastic, though, and I can't wait to hear the recording. In bocca al lupo!!!

All the best,
Julia

[kvschwartz.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for the invitation to your recital! I hope it goes splendidly.

Alas, I won't be able to make it. I really wish I could. :( But I'm in Madison, and I rarely leave my condo, much less the city.

But maybe I could buy a recording of it, if you record it?

[unbound-spirit.livejournal.com]

Haha, thanks Kevin, and you may have a recording, as it will be recorded, but you don't need to BUY it, as it won't be for sale. But I am very flattered that you would think my recital recording would be good enough to sell. :)

[divamelisande.livejournal.com]

FANTASTIC! Congratulations. Sounds like things are really taking off for you as a mezzo and I'm really glad.

[unbound-spirit.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Yeah, life as a mezzo is AWESOME! :)

[laperleprofonde.livejournal.com]

i'm not sure where the post you sent me me went to? From what I remember you said you were trying to network from MD.. That must be so rough.. I thought it was hard from NJ.. So are you up here the next few weekends?

[unbound-spirit.livejournal.com]

I am preping for my Masters recital right now, which is going to be on March 20th, and then after that, the opera scenes here at Peabody, on April 3rd. But as soon as those things are over, I basically just have to finish my classes and do a few other small performances, so I will be in NYC much more. We should meet up one of these days!

[wannabediva8221.livejournal.com]

Congratulations Pam!!!!!! That's wonderful news!!!! Keep me posted on that NYC recital I read about earlier, I will so be there, I cannot WAIT to hear you sing again!