Friday, February 28, 2014

Reflecting

My professional goal prior to the trip was that I wanted to be more marketable by learning more about the different careers in the performing arts. I want to know what the process is to becoming a performer, a general director of an opera company, a stage director, or a voice teacher. My personal goal was that I want to know if NYC is the right place for me to live and if it’s possible for me to do. I wanted to be more independent and confident in my decisions and knowing I can be successful in the performing arts.

Prior to the trip, I got sick and could not sing for a really long time. I tried very hard to get better enough to perform while I was in NYC because I had voice lessons planned, and I felt like this was my one chance to get to sing for the teachers. I sang at the master class, and realized that I was not well enough to sing yet after that. I decided to cancel my lessons. But this turned out to be OK as I had more time to really reflect and answer my goal questions. I started to really look into myself and think of what I really want. Not being able to sing really made me realize how nothing is certain. There are no guarantees that I will make it as a performer. This made me really want to dive further into looking at other options.

During my interviews I asked about their jobs, what made them choose to be a voice teacher and a stage director, and what they do for their jobs. What surprised me most was that they both didn't originally plan on having those jobs. Their life experiences just lead them to it. I then had my eyes opened even further later when Patricia Sheridan gave me a call later in the week. She talked to me about why I wanted to know about the other jobs. When she asked me what I would do if I could do anything, my response was perform, and she said that that is what I need to do then. She told me to stop worrying about the other things because that will come later. Right now I need to focus on becoming the best performer I can be. 

After meeting all the people we met and talking to them about their experiences, I realized how comfortable I felt in NYC. Hearing their stories and how they made it made me realize that even though their are no guarantees, it is possible, and I need to go for it. I stayed a few extra days for the NOA conference. During that I gained more independence, and realized that I can get around on my own, and make connections on my own.

On the trip, I learned more than just what I was searching for with my goals.  One way the NYC Immersion Trip has changed me as a person was immersion through diversity.Learning to work with, communicate, and create relationships with people from diverse backgrounds has taught more about communication, networking, and understanding. I experienced immersion right away on the trip through the use of public transportation. I gained more independence through finding my way around, and I met more people by walking around the city. As the student assistant for the trip this year, I contacted many people in New York City for reservations and questions. My communicative skills have improved greatly because of this.

Getting my own interviews helped me with my communication and networking skills, and by attending other students interviews it allowed me to learn about the lifestyles of other people, how they got to where they are, what events impacted their lives, and also opened me up to other opportunities in my own life. This idea was also reinforced by the group interviews we had, which ranged from dancers to managers to performers.

I also grew professionally as a performer through the performance opportunities while there. Even though I decided to cancel my lessons, I still got to have a coaching, and participated in two master classes while there, which gave me a new perspective on my voice. This year we performed for a high school for the arts. The students were very encouraging and cheered for us, and we even got to see them do dance auditions. It was also very inspiring to go to the Broadway, Off Broadway, and MET performances. This was both humbling and motivating for me to see a production of such high caliber. It made me want to work harder to get there. This year we got to speak with one of the leads in the MET performance of “Die Fledermaus”. Speaking to the professional performers made me realize that they are human too and they had to work hard to get to where they are today, and even now they still work hard.

Going on the NYC Immerson Trip has been truly life changing for me. I will continue to take everything I learned and experienced, and apply it as I continue to further my studies on this journey.

Kelly

Reflection

Going into New York I had a very rudimentary professional goal: to find out how one begins to write something as large as an opera. Being pretty new to the genre of opera and vocal music in general, my frame of reference was quite limited; I had seen a few productions on DVD, and knew a bit of the repertoire from Music History, but outside of that it was pretty limited. But through luck of having good contacts, I was able to meet with some great composers, all of whom have had experience composing for the voice and in the opera genre. After talking with them I gained great insight into the purpose of composing opera, the benefit of working with singers and librettists in the workshopping phase, the relative small-ness of the classical music industry, and having a career in composition. In addition, meeting with singers and other music professionals also helped me, as many of them, especially Caroline Worra, have worked with composers before and gave me some useful insight. Probably the best piece of advice that I got that is affecting what I am doing now came not from a composer but from Michael Fabiano. His advice was to "jump in the deep end," so to speak, to do things without worrying about whether you will fail or not. So, I have started writing my first opera scene. I'm sure there will be many mistakes and things to improve, but nobody ever got any better from never trying it out first.

My personal goal was to become better at networking and meeting people. Being from the Midwest I often shy away from new encounters and am nervous about interacting with people for the first time, worrying that I will bother them or annoy them. One of the most common themes that ran through all of our meetings with the various professionals we talked with was the importance of networking, so this was a very relevant personal goal to my chosen path. Over the trip I made some concerted efforts to break this sensibility - I attempted to contact the principal bassist for the New York Philharmonic, Fora Baltacigil, through a contact I obtained from my bass professor Bob Anderson. Unfortunately, I was not able to get ahold of him, but the important thing was that I tried, something I probably wouldn't have done before. Now that I am back this is at the forefront of my mind, and though I am still working on it, it is at the forefront of my mind now, and I realized that it isn't so bad. The worst thing that can happen is they say no, which ends up being the same outcome as if you had never contacted them.

While this was my second trip to New York, the first one was only for a day for college auditions, so this trip was the first time I really got to experience the Big Apple. I was amazed by the amount of music that went on there; our night's were so busy going to different shows and seeing different types of music, and that was only a small fraction of all that was going on in the city. At times it was a bit overwhelming, but overall I thrived. The trip confirmed that I could definitely live in a big city such as New York. Also, seeing all these great performances: Off-Broadway shows, Broadway shows, Opera, Orchestra, not excluding the great masterclasses and coachings that I heard all of my excellent colleagues sing in, solidified that I definitely want to compose, and specifically compose opera/musical theater. I was so inspired by all of the amazing experiences; I know for sure that this is what I want to do.

The trip also had an impact on how I view diversity. I grew up in the suburbs south of Minneapolis, in predominantly white areas, so I haven't had much experience with people of different race or ethnicity than me, besides maybe people of Asian descent. In New York, I was surrounded by people "different" than I. Not only people of different color, but also different in demeanor. Probably the most jarring experience was when Lauren and I went to Jamaica, Queens, to meet the composer George Lam. After the interview, we stopped in the McDonald's to use the bathroom and regroup. I am pretty sure that we were the only white people in the entire establishment. I have never felt more out of place in my life, and it really gave me a different perspective on how I view diversity. In the end, the other people in the McDonald's were doing the same thing as I (essentially) - getting food and relaxing. So why do we segregate ourselves based on our differences? We are all people, all with different experiences, and that is a beautiful thing. The situation at McDonald's was interesting because the situation was reversed from how I had already experienced people. I feel that after the New York trip I have a better found understanding of diversity, or at least I would hope so.

All in all, this trip was great for my development as a young composer and musician, as well as a young adult, soon to emerge into the real world. I am very grateful for the tremendous experience that I was granted, and so thankful for my amazing colleagues that I was able to go with. I am especially thankful to my great faculty supervisors - Mitra and Dr. Rieck. This trip could not have happened without you guys, and your guidance has been and is extremely helpful to me. 10/10, would do again.

-Jordan

reflecting



 

I have to admit that since the semester started, I have been so busy with school and shows and general life, that I have not thought a lot about my personal and professional goals. Writing this reflection has helped me to think once again about why I went on this trip and what I took away from it on a personal level, and also professional. I know that it has changed me and caused me to be more of a professional classmate, colleague, and over all person in general who loves and appreciates every aspect of music, and it has also made me become aware of all other types of art that people bring.

My professional goal was to just discover more about my voice. Even though I know that my voice is not fully developed and wont be for a couple more years, I wanted to know what I could do to prepare myself, and also, what do I want to see myself doing to prepare? This question was answered for me in NYC through my interview, other meetings with people, and just watching many forms of art and coming across different forms of talent that I could use to look up to. One of my favorite things about what I do, as creepy as this sounds, is just watching people do their job. I love being in shows where I have people to look up to, or seeing professionals, because what I am best at is mimicking and taking note of what they do well, and what I like, or maybe what I can do differently. This is really how I accomplished my professional goal in NYC! Taking careful and close, specific notes on what they do that I liked, such as warm-ups, practice schedules, or vocal health tips, even down to what they wear to rehearsal really helped me figure out how I can incorporate that into my own life and use these professionals to help myself. I realized that there is really no difference between me, and those professionals when they were my age. Even though they are probably far more talented than I am, they had to start somewhere just like I am. I figured out that I really need to focus more on my voice and take time to really be concerned about myself and my vocal health. I have tried to get a lot more sleep, and done this by spacing out work throughout the week. Keeping a steady rhythm of practicing, academics, and sleeping has really kept me healthy and happy for the most part. No one is going to tell me what to do once I am out in the real world, so I have been really working on doing things for myself! Learning everything that I can is so important, and not learning it or practicing it because I want to make myself look good, or because a professor told me, but because I truly want to be a great and detailed musician who finds joy in working hard, because then I will be able to incorporate that into my art. I strive to be passionate just like the people we met with in New York, and just like the people we saw professionally, from the little Russian dinner theatre, all the way to the huge stars at the Met. I have been practicing a lot more since the trip, and have spent every free moment I can doing some kind of musical practicing. When I have 15 minutes I will go warm up my voice in the practice rooms, or run through the diction of an aria. I have found this to really help me and makes my lessons more enjoyable because I feel  like I have made some growth in my voice.


My personal goal was to find the "spark" that keeps me going even when the stress of school gets in the way of my musical goals. Looking at the professionals we met with in NYC, you would think that they would get bogged down by the daily stress of life since they are so busy, and also have to practice their craft, and even hold another steady job to bring in income. It is surprising and refreshing to see people who are so in love with what they do, even though the city life can be hard, and commuting, waking up early, and fatigue can really have an effect on ones life. Something I noticed that everyone had in common is this: They all had a smile on their face. More specifically, they all had positive attitudes about life. And over the last couple months I have realized this: How lucky are we that we get to pursue what we love in life? How many people in the world are doing something just because they want to make money? How many people do not  have the luxury of going to college? It is truly a privilege to wake up every day and study something I love, even though during the crunch weeks I feel tired beyond belief. How wonderful will it be to look back on my life and know that I have lived a life that I love and followed my passion? I know that I will not have any regrets, and that is more than enough to ask for. Going to NYC has helped me to realize this, and I am very grateful for that. Having a positive attitude is key, and just going through life with a smile on my face, not forced, but because I truly feel grateful, has been the first step.

Going to NYC has also given me a new cultural outlook. Experiencing great amounts a diversity is something I am sort of used to growing up in Milwaukee, but have not experienced much of it at all in Eau Claire. Sometimes its easy to think that Eau Claire, and specifically Haas, is our own safe little world where we can learn and keep to ourselves, and I really want to change this mind set, and have had it changed by going on this immersion trip. It also has prepared me to go to Jersey City next semester as an exchange student. I know that there will be a lot of new culture there, especially with it being so close to Manhattan, and this experience has already been enriched just by going on the immersion trip. To me, diversity is the coming together of many cultures and ways of thinking. This outlook was enforced on the trip. Sometimes cultures do not get along, as we all learned on the trip, and it was a hard lesson to learn. But it is really not about who you get along with, or what parts of their beliefs you also hold as your own. It is more about the act of realizing other people's ways of thinking and accepting it and learning from them, and learning to live together with those differences. Going to NYC has given me a new outlook and a new way of focusing on the world.

Reflection

At our first class meeting for the immersion experience, we were asked what our personal and professional goals would be for the class.  My personal goal included learning if I had "what it takes" to tough it out in the big city and my professional goal was learning whether I, a white, midwestern raised female, would be able to work in at-risk schools or in highly diverse areas.  In a way, both my personal and professional goals overlap.  My reasoning for worrying whether I could "make it" in a big city had a lot to do with my own concerns of asserting myself when having to clash with so many other big personalities.  I often feel that I face this problem on a day to day basis within our Music Department at UWEC.  Most of my peers have big, exuberant personalities that go hand in hand with their strong backgrounds in performance.  Sometimes, in a room full of my music major peers, I feel that I come off as meek in comparison.  After participating in this trip, I have learned that although that might be the case, there are many different ways to be an effective teacher without being the loudest personality.  When I spent time at the charter school in Brooklyn, I observed many teachers that exuded silent confidence while at the same time exhibiting demonstrative instruction.  At that time, I realized that although it is okay to have worries and concerns, I can and will be the most effective version of myself by trusting in myself and my own abilities.  I did not need to emulate anyone else to "make it" anywhere.

Reflecting back on all of the experiences I have had in my life, including the NYC immersion, I have always been at my best when I was naturally assertive and curious.  I have a genuine desire for knowledge and fostering knowledge in others.  I thoroughly enjoy learning about new places and people.  I also love to make lasting connections with people because most importantly, I have learned that although I may at times think that I am the center of my own universe, there are also seven billion other people in the world that have have a life full of different and shared experiences.

Realizing all this truth about myself, I realized that I could easily accomplish my professional goal because  it did not matter if I was female, white, or from the midwest, if I were placed in a classroom of students that shared no ethnicity or background as me, that was okay.  I know this would be fine because ultimately, as long as I found a way to make my content meaningful to my students, that was all that mattered.  At the end of the day, of course I want to feel that I have learned something new, but as long as my students have developed upon themselves and grown, that is really what matters.
I understand that interacting with those of different backgrounds can be difficult but, as long we can find some common denominator, then already, we become slightly less different.  For my professional goal, that common denominator for my students might be music, but if not, then something else.  In my personal life, all I can do is try to be open to new people and things and respectful if still a denominator cannot be found.

I am very grateful to have been allowed to participate in this amazing immersion experience.  At first, to be honest, I was most excited about all of the amazing shows and performances and events I would be able to see and participate in.  After having come back to Wisconsin, however, I have experienced now how those experiences have impacted my life in a positive way.  I feel that I have developed and grown not only as a musician but more importantly as an educator, and most importantly as a human being.  In our music education classes, we talk about how music education is the expression of the human experience through music.  As each day passes, I see this creed to become more evident in my everyday life.  As I develop upon myself further, I hope to further experience this mantra to become a more holistic educator and person.

Cory Bristol

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Having spent roughly two months narrowing and revising a personal and professional goal for my time in New York City, I was not expecting the goals to intertwine, rely on one another and blossom as much as they did.  My professional goal was to learn the ins and outs necessary to become my own business, boss and entrepreneur to harness my skills, education and experiences to do what I love for the rest of my life by starting my own voice studio in the city I love, Eau Claire, WI.  From Logan Tracy, my personal interview and Claudia Catania, I have a renewed passion, drive, and confidence to achieve my goal.  I learned from them, not only some of the most helpful business and marketing tactics, but that we are all people capable to do what we want.  
Until New York, I had never done yoga in my life, and it was a life changing experience to participate in a yoga class with a professional singing teacher and yoga master.  He said that we all have the capabilities to do everything humans can do, the challenge is simply removing the obstacles that prevent us from obtaining what we can already do.  
It was much more difficult and still on-going to work on my personal goal.  I am a very thought oriented person, often analytical with a cut and dry way of living my life and approaching many new and old things.  In New York, I wanted to let go, learn when I could be carefree and go with the flow and enjoy the simpler small things that happened everyday as well as remember them and not take them for granted.  Many of the small things were captured with the help of social media, camera phones and the internet, so the small things were easy to keep track of.  More difficult was letting go. As a first time visitor in New York City, it is almost impossible to 'let go'; there are so many things going on all of the time.  Getting around especially made this difficult to do; one must always be aware of their location or face being lost.  Additionally, many instances if I would have decided to let go I would have missed some valuable information, from the classes we participated in, to the concerts and shows we saw every night.  Not letting go also helped me realize an extension to my original personal goal; could I ever see myself leaving Wisconsin or the Midwest for good; I have a wife and child so this question was particularly important to me.  I discovered that, no matter how much I loved the shows, how much I appreciated my networks, learning experiences and potential future in a big city, family is number one and I want and will make my dreams happen with my family in the area I know and love.  That's not to say I don't have any family vacations planned for the big apple.  
Luke Otto

Friday, February 21, 2014

My Wonderful Interview

This year in New York City I interviewed Spencer Myer, a very inspiring concert pianist. It was very interesting how I networked with Spencer... Apparently I do not have the greatest luck with email because both this year and last year for the immersion trip I first tried to network by emailing people... Unfortunately, a lot of them never emailed me back. My first year on the trip I had the same problem... The due date to find a person of interest was approaching and I went into panic mode. I remember that day quite vividly. I was actually in my practice room playing the day away when all of a sudden it hit me! ...I have always loved Juilliard, I am pretty good at making Facebook friends, so why hadn't I thought to enter the great networking portal of Facebook sooner?? I logged into my account that second and began to find Juilliard piano students. Before I knew it I was basically in their circle of friends. It was so easy, it was crazy. I was nervous at first and felt completely nuts, but I began to click on like ALL of the piano majors currently attending Juilliard. Within minutes they all accepted me. From there I sent private messages to them explaining the immersion trip and the interview assignment. The first two students that got back to me were the two that I kept in close contact with. Long story short, I asked them if I could meet them... The young man would have but he was flying out of NYC when I was flying in, so I never got to meet him. However, the wonderful young woman was available and met with me in a Juilliard practice room!! It was the highlight of my trip. We actually still keep in contact! Meeting her was wonderful.
---okay, back to this year... (How I found Spencer?)---
I DID THE SAME THING! Except this time I had actually added him many months before I knew I was going on this trip again. He always had exciting news on his Facebook and over time I kept noticing his popularity and accomplishments growing. When I started networking for the winter 2014 trip I started contacting pretty famous pianists. Obviously that was a long shot, and I didn't get anywhere... Then out of the blue I remembered Spencer Myer whom I found on the Facebook page of the girl I interviewed last year. I sent him a private message and he eagerly replied back. I remember being very impressed with how nice he was in his messages. I was even more impressed and delighted when I got the chance to meet him in person at a Starbucks in New York City.


Here are a taste of my interview notes:




  1. Do you have an agent? -yes
     
    (After telling Spence my piano goals, he encouraged me to get a manager in the future but perhaps maybe in LA or Chicago. NYC is the place to be if I decide to be a strict classical pianist.)

     2. Do you manage your own website? -yes
     3.What are your biggest sacrifices with this career? –Travelling all the time!
     4. Non-music related hobbies? –Food (He loves indulging in fine foods!), email (he values his friends, family, and connections), and theater.




My other questions were specific questions to some of his past repertoire he has performed. I asked for tips because he has performed a lot of the piece that I will be performing soon. I also asked his advice on marketing tips, and how to seek out awesome opportunities. I liked Spencer so much because he has taken part in some really neat opportunities. He played a concert in South Africa because he won the competition. I believe he said it was an all expense paid deal for the winner. I was so intrigued by this! Hopefully I can do something like this someday! Also! Spencer competed in the Van Cliburn competition several years ago. This is perhaps a goal of mine.


Spencer was so easy to talk to. He has a genuine personality and is very humble about his talents. I find these qualities to be very important. It frustrates me when I know a very successful pianist with a not so great attitude. Personally, I treat music in a very intimate way. If I cannot trust or like the performer, I cannot fully engage in their music. It is very important to always captivate your audience.


I had a very positive experience meeting Spencer and I hope to hear him in concert someday. I will never forget how generous he was to help inspire and encourage my dreams. This trip allowed me this special opportunity and I am very grateful.


Sincerely,
Kayla















My Lesson

I just realized that this post never got posted on the blog. I wrote this on my last day. My apologies for the delay!


When I first found out that I was accepted into the program, I decided to stay a few extra days in New York City. I have an aunt who lives in the city, along as some cousins of mine who also live in the city. I usually visit them form time to time in the summer months, and thought that it would be perfect to stay a few extra days to get to visit with them. I also was able to schedule a lesson with Joan Patenaude Yarnell, who is a voice professor at the Manhattan School of Music. I was able to come in contact with her over the fall months and she was more then willing to meet with me and provide me with a lesson. I was very excited, honored, and humbled to have a lesson with such a renowned performer and teacher. She scheduled me to have a lesson with her at her apartment on the Saturday after everyone form the trip had gone back to Eau Claire.

When I arrived to her apartment building, I walked up two sets of stairs and arrived at her door. While I was walking up the stairs, all I heard was beautiful music combined with gorgeous voices. She had a lesson before me, and the person had an amazing voice. I knocked on her door and she happily greeted me and invited me to sit in her waiting room while she was finishing up the lesson before me. As I was waiting, she had on the Met live broadcast of Die Fledermaus, which I had seen earlier in the week. Her apartment was stunning, full of art and beautiful color. As I was sitting in her study, I noticed the pictures that she had on her coffee stand, they were of her with famous opera performers and conductors, like Pavarotti.  I was truly amazed and star struck. She came in when her lesson was done, and invited me to join her to begin my lesson. She told me that the man that she was teaching before me was the lead counter tenor in Die Fledermaus at the Met. I was so amazed! He and I had a conversation before I started my lesson, which consisted of me going on and on about how amazing his voice was, and little did I know, that he is one of the leads in a Met production.

I preformed three songs for Professor Patenaude Yarnell. After I sang all three songs she went through each song and picked out sections to work on with me. Each happened to be my trouble spots, which was wonderful to work on with you. She gave me so many tips and tricks to help improve my singing technique and performance. It all started with the breath. We worked on sustaining the breath to create the phrase. She also helped me to improve my posture by using the “Noble Stance”, which is lifting your arms over your head and gently bringing them down to your side, maintain the posture that you have just created. It truly improved my singing a great deal. There were many more things that I learned from in my lesson that had a wonderful lasting effect on me. It was such an honor to work with such a wonderful teacher. She shared a lot of valuable information with me and encouraged me to work more with her in the future. Needless to say, I was extremely honored and humbled by her compliments and comments. I look forward to working with her more in the future.

Many Thanks,

Amanda

My Interview with Mary Birnbaum



For my interview, I met with Professor Mary Birnbaum. She is a professor at Juilliard and teaches acting for singers, movement, and directs some of the operas at Juilliard. Professor Birnbaum also stared her own theater company in New York City in 2009 and works with the Seattle Opera along with many other opera/theater companies. I got in contact with Professor Birnbaum by simply emailing her and asking if she would be able to meet with me.  I was extremely interested in her work as a professor at Juilliard and in New York Ctiy, and thought that I would be a wonderful experience to meet with her. I was able to obtain her contact information through the Juilliard staff directory. We were in contact via email throughout fall semester, figuring out a time to meet when I was in New York City. We were able to set up a time on the Saturday after the rest of our group had left for Eau Claire. I had planned on staying a few extra days to visit with family, so meeting with Professor Birnbaum on Saturday worked perfectly.

We met at a Teashop right outside of Juilliard that was extremely delightful. When I arrived, we met and sat at a table. We had already been communicating throughout the semester, so it was nice that we already knew each other.  The interview started out by taking about her background in theater and how she got to where she is now. She shared how she started her own theater company in New York City. We also talked about the UW-Eau Claire opera/voice program. I spoke of our immersion experience that I had just been on. She was extremely impressed that this type of program existed. As I explained further about what we were doing in New York City, she expressed how important a program like this was. Her comments made me very proud of our program and still extremely honored to say that I was involved with a program like this. I was very interested in learning more about her position as a professor at Juilliard.  I shared that acting as apart of preforming was something that I always needed more practice with. In her job, she teaches acting and movement strategies for singers. We had a short interview due to her work as the director of one of the operas at Juilliard. She was in the middle of staging one of their main stage operas that day. She used her break to meet with me.

Professor Birnbaum really encouraged me to look further into the opera studies program at Juilliard. She shared with me the process of entering into the opera program, and what classes are available in the program. I learned a lot about the process in which to apply for the graduate program, and the categories of classes that are offered for each skill level. I asked a lot about the opera program, especially her involvement within the program. I found it really interesting that they have specific classes for stage movement and other forms of stage technique. That really interested me in the conversation as did the other material that she covered.

I really enjoyed taking with Professor Birnbaum. I learned so much about the opera program at Juilliard and all that the institution offers for both undergraduate and graduate students. She opened my eyes to the many possibilities that were present in New York City with her own theater company and within Juilliard. Advice from the admission application process to the description of what she teaches in the institution was discussed in my interview with her. I was encouraged to revisit Juilliard when applying for graduate programs and to stay in touch as I continue my undergraduate journey. I was also provided with further advice of what to really look into while in New York City, that I would gain a great deal form. I was very honored to meet with Professor Birnbaum, and I look forward to working with her in the near future. I was encouraged to stay in contact with her and let her know when I was in the city again to talk again. This interview was a wonderful experience, and I am very thankful that Professor Birnbaum decided to meet with me.

Many Thanks,

Amanda

NYC Interviews


I had two interviews while on the NYC trip. They where both on the same day. The first one I had was with Patricia Sheridan. I knew Patricia originally from a summer program I attended last summer. I had gotten her card from her before I left the summer program, and just sent her an email asking to meet with her. She asked me to email her a week before again and I did. We ended up meeting at her studio apartment. When I arrived she had tea ready for us and it was a very casual setting. We began by catching up and saying what have been going on in our lives. I then asked her about being a voice teacher and how she came to doing that. She told me that she had a pretty diverse career in performing in different styles and groups. She was teaching while she was in school, and then when her teacher stopped she took on her teachers students. I asked her about her studio now and how she runs it. She has two studios, one in NYC and one back at her home. She then asked me about what my goals were, and I told her to learn as much as possible so I can take on as many opportunities as possible. She asked me why I was asking about teaching. I realized it was because I was afraid to put all of my eggs in one basket. She then told me to not worry about that for now because I need to concentrate on learning how to sing and perform. She said that teaching takes a lot out of you, and you won't have time to work on your own craft. I need to focus on singing right now. I then talked about graduate school and she gave me some names of people I should sing for. She told me that I need to go to NYC and she would give me a free lesson. I then had to leave for my next interview.

My next interview was with stage director Beth Greenburg. I also met her at the summer program.We set our meeting up using Facebook. She also told me to message her a week before the trip, and we ended up meeting at a coffee shop. On this interview I began by asking her about what brought her to becoming a stage director. She originally played an instrument, and really like the history of opera and theatre. I asked her how she goes about first staging an opera. She said she researches the history, the style, and the score a lot, then makes decisions based on that. I asked her about the different opportunities in NYC. She talked about how there is a lot of opportunities to work with composers and new music, and ways to get involved that way. She also said there are a lot of smaller opera companies in the area to get involved with, and gave me contact information. At the end of the interview she said if we do the trip again next year she would love to be more involved and get us more connections.

The next day, I  got a phone call from Patricia because she had gone to "Die Fledermaus" on the same night and wanted to talk to me about the production, and she also wanted to elaborate more on what she told me at the interview. She thought it was important for me to understand that I must focus on singing and performing.This was probably the most important thing for me to hear because it made me realize that that is what I truly need to focus on. She asked me "if you could do anything you wanted, there were no stings attached and you could for sure do it, what would it be" and I said perform. She told me that I need to go for it then. It's scary and exciting, but I know that that is what I need and want to do.

Kelly

Interview with Daniel Felsenfeld

     My one on one interview was with Daniel Felsenfeld. The orginial composer I had been contacting stop responding to my emails, so Caroline Worra saved the day and helped me find him and contact him. They met each other during the time with American Opera projects. It is a program where young composers and vocalists get to work together to help create new music. If I end up on the east coast is it a program I will definitely be applying to! Danny was quite a great guy! Jordan and Chris both came with me to talk to him. I primarily asked him about writing opera. He talked to us about the process of finding a libretto. He said one time he tried to tackled the libretto himself and that he would probably not do that again because it was just too difficult. He also once worked with his wife who is a writer and said he was surprised that that ended up working out well. He is very interested in telling stories of women from all times. When I asked him if he often chooses topics from the recent or current time he said it is interesting to him but he does not limit himself to stories from the recent past. 

      He also told us a lot about living in New York. It seems the new music world is its own little subculture of the city. He listed of a bunch of people that he knew and he knew George Lamb who was another composer we met. He said that the city is just an inspiring place to be as a musician, composer and performed. There are so many people doing the same thing as you that it almost feels like a normal way to live, unlike in many other parts of the country where performers also seem to be the outsiders. He said that no matter what you do you need to always be trying to improve your craft in one way or another, which is a really valuable piece of advice across the board. He also said that you are going to have to find other things that you are good at to make money. He has written books and teaches in addition to composing.

    I really enjoyed how down to earth and real with us Danny was. Especially when we asked how he balanced all the things he does for his carrear, having a wife, and a three year old daughter. He said that it was an impossible task but if you want to make it work, then you will do it and that he wouldn’t trade his daughter for the world. A lot of times I feel discouraged about how hard it will be to have a family and a performing life but talking to him made me realize that if that is what I really want, then I will do everything in my power to make it happen. I haven’t talk to Danny yet but I plan to contact him soon to see what he is up to!