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