Continuing the Journey

Today was the last day of the NYC trip. These last couple days have been life changing for me. On Monday we began the day with a Masterclass with Claudia Catania. I learned so much from her. She is such an open and encouraging teacher and she gave me some great tools. Prior to the trip I came down with mono, and unfortunately my throat started not feeling good again so this was the last time I got to sing on this trip. After that I went back to the hotel to rest some and collect my thoughts. We then went to the Village Vanguard. The sound was fantastic.
On Tuesday we went to Logan Tracey where we learned more about the business aspect of performing. After that I had my two interviews. My first interview was with Patricia Sheridan, who is a voice teacher.At first she talked about current opportunities in NYC and singers I should listen to. She then talked more about her experience as a voice teacher. She then talked to me more about opportunities for voice teachers and how to build your voice studio up. After that I went to my next interview with Beth Greenberg whom is a stage director here. She gave me advice on different opportunities and how to learn more about stage directing such as interning for opera company's, observing rehearsals, research history, and take business classes. It was helpful to learn about the different opportunities and ways to prepare myself. After that we then went to "Die Fledermaus" where we got to see Michael Fabiano perform Alfred and the set was amazing. Its so inspiring to see an opera performed at that caliber.
Today we began by going to the Brooklyn High School of the Arts where some of us performed for the students and we observed some of their rehearsal. It was interesting to see a high school devoted to the arts and to see how the professors collaborated with each other to teach the kids. After that I went with Leah to her interview with Ana De Archuleta who is the president of ADA Artist Management and Representation. It was a really great interview and I learned a lot about how to get a manager, what the managers are looking for in a singer, what their job is, and more about getting connections. After that we went to the Broadway show "Pippin". The performers were amazing and it was a great end to the trip.
This trip was truly amazing for me and I learned so much about myself. I still need time to really collect and process my thoughts, but I know that my lenses have changed from these experiences in this last week. This trip has been more of a challenge for me to face my fears and answer questions I had, and that is exactly what I did. My goal was to figure out whats next for me, and I plan to work as hard as I can on achieving a solid technique I can always count on, impeccable musicianship, and great acting. I want to be the best performer I can be. I realize how lucky I am to be able to study this everyday and be around professors that care about me. I look forward to figuring out more as I continue to process my experiences. I am still here in NYC for a few more days as I will be traveling to the Roosevelt Hotel tomorrow morning to attend the NOA conference. I'm looking forward to continuing this journey with all of these new tools I have gained from this amazing experience!

Kelly