Brand Working on a Monday

Wow...I haven't blogged in a while.  So sorry about that. :/

I'm here nursing my second cup of coffee, listening to some Gregory Porter (OMGEEE...I adore him.) and working on the brand. (Thanks La Toya for that term.)  Working on the brand in so many different ways.  First, I'm planning a concert on the 16th of March with some wonderful singing women.  Second, I'm working on a concert series with a dear friend.  We're trying to get our name together...LOL...what a feat for artists.  Third, I'm working on updating the website and all of the bells and whistles that go along with that.

So, where have I been?  Working my tail off in the World Premiere production of Harriet Tubman: When I have Crossed that Line to Freedom.  The opera was written by Nkeiru Okoye and Harriet Tubman is being amazingly sung by Janinah Burnett. (If you're in the NYC area, please make time to come.)  It has been an honor being a part of the first cast to sing the complete version of this opera.  I participated in an abridged version of Act I a few years ago...now here I am able to see the full version get on its feet.  Honor, I say...honor.

Okay...time to get back to this brand working.  Making sure your brand is always on point is a very difficult and time consuming thingy.

Have a wonderful and peaceful Monday....

Saturday Thoughts....

Today is one of those days where I just needed to chill and rest.  It is raining and in the 50's in NYC.  I chose to stay in and give my body time to be...itself.

Since I've had a busy week, I can't complain about doing nothing today, but vegging out.  Earlier I listened to the Met Opera broadcast which was Die Flederaus.  That was a bit of a treat for me because it was the first mainstage opera I was allowed to participate in at school.  I sang Rosalinda and I know what a beast of a role that can be.  Susanna Phillips did a marvelous job as well as her colleagues.

Now that I've gotten through my alma mater's basketball game, I'm watching last years Tucker Gala that honored Ailyn Perez.  Her Gavotte from Thais...yeesss.  I love great singing.  Great singing gets me motivated to push longer and harder....cause baby this career is NOT for the faint at heart.

Anyway, last week it was my goal to write a post on always being prepared.  I usually try to keep up with my arias and doo.  That's what as singer should always do.  You just never know when a call is going to come in and you have to grab that audition binder and bounce.  That's just what happened before Christmas.  A friend of mine who is directing an opera for a contemporary production called.  He said, "P...we haven't really heard any mezzos, would you come and audition for this company.  Bring whatever English stuff you have."

What I didn't know, he was sitting with the composer who asked if he knew of any mezzos.  So I obviously did my thing.  I got an email last weekend saying I got a part in the opera that they were casting, which is actually a friend's opera.  I'm pretty amped about that.

Ok...I've rambled a bit so I am going to get back to concentrating on all of this beautiful singing....and plotting and planning that I need to do for the next week.

2014 is around the corner....

my monday....

So how does one who is an opera singer gear up for the new year?  I don't know.  LOL

I'm here with #PrivatePractice on Netflix and I'm plotting and planning for 2014.  Resolutions....naw.  Plotting and planning.  That's my motto...to plot and to plan.  I plot and plan and 75% of the time things happen as planned or more things come flopping in and throw a monkey wrench in the plotting and planning.

My 2014 goals are really specific in terms of my career.  I want to plan a few (yea a few) recitals (one or two with friends), throw a recording up in the midst, record some new stuff for my website, some new head shots and learn a 3 or 4 new roles.  My plan is to also...prayerfully...gleefully...get a manager.  I had one, but his wife is ill and he decided to close his company.  :/  That's always frustrating, but everything happens for a reason or so I suppose.

What are your plotting and planning goals for 2014?

Reviewing 2013....

2013....was magical in so many ways...I just can't describe.  

I've been singing consistently every month.  Every month.  Do you know how rare that is for a struggling singer? Rarer than rare.

January....I sang with some friends some repertoire I thought I may never do, but now I'm contracted to do it.  LOL  I tested my chops on Mira o Norma in public and it was fun.  Really, really fun.

February...in the midst of a blizzard I traveled up to New Paltz, NY (2 hours north of the city) to sing where a friend teaches.  I sang with some great kids from the Newburgh Free School District.  They are talented and were very prepared.  What a joy!

Then in the middle of the month, I present some songs with other friends at St. Paul's Chapel at Columbia University.  What a treat sharing the music of African American Composers.

March....The most psychotic...neurotic month of my life.  LOL  Literally.  I had 4 concerts, a recording and a 3 hour rehearsal for an upcoming gig in October.  This did not include all of the rehearsals for Women's Day at my church job and all of the things surrounding that.  

Concerts/Opera: I did this fabulous Women of the Bible concert with 2 other friends.  One more talented than the next.  Then, I did a presentation of A Gentle Lark: The Ellabelle Davis Story (google her)....and the next day I did an concert with my dear friend Alison McConekey on crazy women.  By 6 PM on 3/18 my voice had enough of me and went into epic fail.  EPIC FAIL.  It was no bueno because I was doing a concert suite version of Paula Kimper's Truth on my bday (3/24).  

March 24th came and I did the best that I could do, but I was not very pleased.  (If Truth comes to your hood...go see it.  Very beautiful music and an important story in history.)

Sidebar: March 28th....I got to see Lawrence Brownlee.  Yea...if he comes your way, go see him.  GO.SEE.HIM.

April....It started out with a bang.  LOL  I did my first Handel opera with Sing Through Central.  Rodelinda.  Lemme talk about how singing Eduige makes my heart soar.  That coloratura makes me very happy. (Oh yes, I love singing TONS of black notes.)  

In the midst of all of this, I was learning Marthe Schwerdlein from Faust.  LOL  It might be the shortest part in opera history, but I can't tell you how much I love the role and this opera.

May...Marthe came to fruition....

with Bryce Smith for Amore Opera

June....pretty stale....

July....I did my first Nuits d'Ete.  Let us talk about the gloriousness of that music. (Yea I made up that word...)  It is just exquisite from beginning to end. It is 30 minutes cover to cover of glorious music.  When I heard it in college, I couldn't appreciate the poetry, the music, the way it touches your soul....  I'm so glad I've grown up, fallen in and out of love and fallen in love with this music.

with Mark Coogley for Empire Opera

August....A week in Szeged, Hungary...  Talk about a beautiful place that I got to spend more than 6 hours in.  LOL (I did a drive by in Buda and Pest in when I was working in Vienna one year.)  Antywhooo, I was there in a production of Porgy and Bess singing Strawberry Woman/Ensemble.  

I had a week off, then my friend Ali and I did a Benefit Concert up in Saugerties, NY.  I love singing with my friend Alison and we sure are working up somethings for the future.

Yea...this is a be continued post.......Cause September led into October, which was a life changing moment in my life musically.  Wee...stay tuned for the adventure.

Hiiiiiii-eeee!!!

*waving*  I'm sitting here trying to figure out how I was convinced to blog again.  LOL  I blogged for years and years when I worked a 9-5.  It gave me something to do, to get my head wrapped around the ups and downs of life.  When I got laid off, I found time to have a life outside of a job and I also started plunging myself head first into singing.

So, opera, how does one really get into this?  I don't know.  I know nothing else.   Seriously.  I come from a family of musicians and artists.  I know nothing else.  I'm lucky that my family supports my choice of work.  Most singers I know are constantly trying to explain what they do, why they do it, etc.  My issue..getting my family fan club to lay low sometimes.  They mean well...and I'm blessed.

Anyway...take some of my musings with a grain of salt.  I love life and the prospects of being in a better place next year.

Welcome all!!