All of us that went on the trip have had probably three different types of reflection. Initial reflecting right after our day was completed in NYC, immediate post trip reflecting on everything we saw and did, and present/ future reflecting- remembering the large or important things we learned and thinking about how we are going to apply them to our lives right now and in the future.
For me, my present reflection happened everyday at school this last week. How am I going to organize my schedule to make sure I get the most out of every day? How will I change the way I practice to continue to grow and teach myself correct singing technique in the practice room? What pro-active measures am I taking to set up a successful transition into the next step in my journey? Am I enjoying all the little steps and falls along my journey? Is all the networking, constant self development, stress of finding jobs, and uncertainty worth the struggle?
Going through each day this week, I made it a point to make goals for myself that I could achieve within that day. I organized my schedule like I always do, writing down all my classes, meetings, and lessons I give for the week. Then I made a long term schedule for summer class, next fall, and next spring. I came across the realization that I have a very high chance of graduating next year, which was a terrific realization and slightly horrifying. In the practice room, I also made goals for myself. Instead of just having a schedule of things to do, I made a list of things to improve/accomplish for one or two songs rather than getting through an olympic size load of music just to say I got through it all. Having a set goal in mind made me take more time just working on technique for my music and thinking of ways I will apply it in my voice lesson. The pro-active measures I'm taking have to do with setting up my own summer program for myself, finding ways to build my dance skills, vocal skills, piano skills, perform in a show, give lessons/sing at weddings, and get class credits out of the way. It seems like a lot written out in a line, but once scheduled into an organized schedule, its not as intimidating. The key is not doing everything all at the same time. There are three months of summer...thats plenty of time...right?
When I'm done practicing and don't have the best day, or come out of class feeling like I haven't learned anything, or I'm just feeling completely overwhelmed from the demands of memorization and constant recitals/meetings to be at, I remember how gratifying the good moments are. Whether a good moment is feeling the resonance through my passaggio for the first time, or winning a competition, or feeling prepared for a lesson, they are all remind me why I chose the path of performance. Sure, having a good performance is spectacular, and there is nothing that can compare to that feeling, but I also like the journey. I like figuring things out for myself and being wrong, or losing, or falling down. I learn from those experiences. All the stress music students put themselves through for the five minutes of gratification sounds like a horrible deal, but in all honesty, those five minutes, along with finding happiness in the small things is what gets us through. So yes, the networking, constant self development, and uncertainty of the future is worth the struggle. Had I chosen a different career path, I know I would not be enjoying that study, as much as I love performance.
New York showed me that I still have the drive to be successful.
Abby
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
Some favorite pictures
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| Subway after a long day |
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| Pizza on a sunny day |
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| The Met--the greatest show on earth |
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| cupcake!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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| The "Survivor" tree |
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| Central Park in bloom |
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| Throwing Spider webs! |
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| ? |
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| Beautiful, intense Claudia |
One week back in EC
Hi all-
The first week of school after our NY trip is finally over. I think we all felt that we had some serious catching up to do after being gone so it was a long week. First of all, I am glad to be home. I like having space, I like the quiet of my neighborhood, I like being able to practice in my studio whenever I want to. But I do miss the energy of New York and the sense of endless possibility that I feel there. I was reflecting today at our 7:00 a.m. class meeting about how much I value creativity. And my personal creativity results from reacting to things that I see. The extremely high level of artistic endeavor in NYC gives me hundreds of things to respond to--colors, movement, spacial relationships of things, shades of light, energy flow, etc. etc. My creativity is rekindled and I feel "refilled" as an artist when I am there. I also LOVE being around people who are at the top of their game. I always have. It inspires me to challenge myself.
Each of the people who went on our trip is to create a "summer program" for themselves--first identifying skills they want to work on and then devising a program to work on those skills. People are taking dance lessons, coaching, self-defense, languages, creating websites, etc. We are all serving as a "career club"/support network for each other to help all of us keep on the track we are starting on. This includes me. I am working on my summer plans and they are EXCITING!
The students have four remaining assignments- more blog entries, including one on their one on one networking/interview, a reflection on the overall experience, a personal reflection on their individual question they took to NY, and a self-devised "summer program." Exciting stuff.
More later-
Mitra
The first week of school after our NY trip is finally over. I think we all felt that we had some serious catching up to do after being gone so it was a long week. First of all, I am glad to be home. I like having space, I like the quiet of my neighborhood, I like being able to practice in my studio whenever I want to. But I do miss the energy of New York and the sense of endless possibility that I feel there. I was reflecting today at our 7:00 a.m. class meeting about how much I value creativity. And my personal creativity results from reacting to things that I see. The extremely high level of artistic endeavor in NYC gives me hundreds of things to respond to--colors, movement, spacial relationships of things, shades of light, energy flow, etc. etc. My creativity is rekindled and I feel "refilled" as an artist when I am there. I also LOVE being around people who are at the top of their game. I always have. It inspires me to challenge myself.
Each of the people who went on our trip is to create a "summer program" for themselves--first identifying skills they want to work on and then devising a program to work on those skills. People are taking dance lessons, coaching, self-defense, languages, creating websites, etc. We are all serving as a "career club"/support network for each other to help all of us keep on the track we are starting on. This includes me. I am working on my summer plans and they are EXCITING!
The students have four remaining assignments- more blog entries, including one on their one on one networking/interview, a reflection on the overall experience, a personal reflection on their individual question they took to NY, and a self-devised "summer program." Exciting stuff.
More later-
Mitra
Emily's lesson with Susan Eichhorn
For my individual interview experience, I had a voice lesson with Susan Eichhorn. I found out about Susan through a series of mouse clickings. I was reading the blog "A soprano steps out," http://sopranostepsout.blogspot.com/ and I clicked on a link to a different blog that she had. It was Susan's blog. From there, I clicked on a link to her facebook page. From there, I clicked on a link to her voice studio website. I read every word on the website and really liked all that she had to say. http://www.susaneichhornstudio.com/ She works with people from all genres of singing because when it comes down to it, good, healthy singing is good, healthy singing, no matter what style you are singing in.
I started out telling her what I've been working on in my voice lessons, what I've learned on the trip, and what some of my vocal concerns and goals were. We started talking about the maturity of the female voice and that it isn't really in place until anywhere from age 25 to 30 or even older, depending on the size of it. She told me to be patient (I heard that a lot on this trip) with my voice but to use this growing time to explore other aspects of performing as well. She said "hurry up and wait." Explore acting, explore language, do summer programs, etc. Don't push too hard because if the muscles aren't ready, it's just not going to work. As a young singer, I want to do everything NOW, but she said "just be where you are." That is so true. I shouldn't try to force anything or get downhearted about what other people are doing because everyone's path is different. And I'm only 21! That's not that old! I've got plenty of time.
She also said something that I heard other people we talked to say as well, so it was good reinforcement: that this business is not cookie cutter, everyone's path is different. It's not, "Okay, I do this, and this, and this, and this, and then I'm this." She said there are a lot of singers even in the top tier who never did a young artist program or a pay-to-sing, they did their own thing. Like how Naomi said 'no' doesn't necessarily mean 'no,' she said that just because you don't get accepted into something, doesn't mean you can't have a career. You don't have to "follow the bouncing ball."
Then she had me sing. I told her what I usually do for warm-ups and she gave me some breathing exercises and vocalises to do. We talked about grounding my voice through all of the registers to have a core sound. I could go into details about all the stuff she told me but I won't here. To summarize, we worked on flexibility/agility, breathing, talking about the pelvic floor, brighter vowels, and more open vowels in Italian. I was sitting on a stool for most of the lesson to help me feel engagement of the muscles as I breathe.
I really liked the lesson. The things we talked about and worked on were mostly things I had heard before but in a different way, so it was good to hear it said from a different perspective and to get some more methods and ideas to practice those things. She was very open to me emailing her all that I want with questions, comments, concerns, etc., and I have already been doing some of the things I did with Susan in my own practicing back in Eau Claire.
I started out telling her what I've been working on in my voice lessons, what I've learned on the trip, and what some of my vocal concerns and goals were. We started talking about the maturity of the female voice and that it isn't really in place until anywhere from age 25 to 30 or even older, depending on the size of it. She told me to be patient (I heard that a lot on this trip) with my voice but to use this growing time to explore other aspects of performing as well. She said "hurry up and wait." Explore acting, explore language, do summer programs, etc. Don't push too hard because if the muscles aren't ready, it's just not going to work. As a young singer, I want to do everything NOW, but she said "just be where you are." That is so true. I shouldn't try to force anything or get downhearted about what other people are doing because everyone's path is different. And I'm only 21! That's not that old! I've got plenty of time.
She also said something that I heard other people we talked to say as well, so it was good reinforcement: that this business is not cookie cutter, everyone's path is different. It's not, "Okay, I do this, and this, and this, and this, and then I'm this." She said there are a lot of singers even in the top tier who never did a young artist program or a pay-to-sing, they did their own thing. Like how Naomi said 'no' doesn't necessarily mean 'no,' she said that just because you don't get accepted into something, doesn't mean you can't have a career. You don't have to "follow the bouncing ball."
Then she had me sing. I told her what I usually do for warm-ups and she gave me some breathing exercises and vocalises to do. We talked about grounding my voice through all of the registers to have a core sound. I could go into details about all the stuff she told me but I won't here. To summarize, we worked on flexibility/agility, breathing, talking about the pelvic floor, brighter vowels, and more open vowels in Italian. I was sitting on a stool for most of the lesson to help me feel engagement of the muscles as I breathe.
I really liked the lesson. The things we talked about and worked on were mostly things I had heard before but in a different way, so it was good to hear it said from a different perspective and to get some more methods and ideas to practice those things. She was very open to me emailing her all that I want with questions, comments, concerns, etc., and I have already been doing some of the things I did with Susan in my own practicing back in Eau Claire.
Reflecting on my meeting with Brace Rice
After being home for a week, I have had time to sit back and think about all the information I have acquired from New York. When we went to New York, each student was told to find a person in New York and make their own immersion experience in the city. Some students got voice lessons and others did interviews. I chose to interview Brace Rice, someone currently working actress/dancer/model in New York City. Some of my classmates (Evan, Marie, and Meagan) along with myself met up with Brace to ask her about her transition from the midwest to New York, and the things she has learned along the way living in the big city and performing.
Brace was fantastic. I had so many questions, and my interview buddies had a lot too. All of our questions were met with honest answers and advice. For my own questions, I was focused around where to find auditions, and where they are held. Brace told us about Backstage a magazine for actors/dancers and websites to go to for finding audition information. She also told us about classes we can take to prepare ourselves for NYC auditions. Bob Klein has a musical theatre audition class that we can sign up for, and learn what an audition is going to be like, instead of being completely terrified not knowing what to expect. I also learned that Broadway shows are required to hold auditions. They are called "required calls" and they don't have to cast people if they don't have any immediate openings, but this also helps them see what else there is for talent in the area in case a spot should open up. I think the biggest thing I learned was that I can't set my heart on every show I audition for. Brace said that auditioning is like the job part, and getting booked for the role is like vacation, because then you are safe, you have the role, and can concentrate on that for awhile. I definitely think that is a great way to look at an audition, and I'm going to have to practice still taking my auditions seriously, but not setting my whole emotional state of mind on the line if I don't get a part. Sometimes people won't want a short blonde person, and thats ok too! There is always something better to audition for coming up that might be a better opportunity that the one I didn't get.
Brace also talked about "money jobs." Jobs that make you money while you are auditioning around town every waking moment. What Brace said that seems like common sense, but is totally true and something people don't always consider is: like your money making job. Some people temp, some people bar tend or wait tables, but those are not apart of my music/ performing specialty. Brace said to try and find money jobs that make use of the talent you are trying to develop or at least gets you practice using your craft. I couldn't agree more! I loved what she recommended. She worked at a dance studio and got discounted dance lessons, which is definitely something I want to do! She also is finding work doing hand and foot modeling which I find is so awesome, and wouldn't mind doing that either! She gave me so many things to think about, and I'm definitely going to try and find jobs that can benefit me by building my skills, not just earning me money.
I loved my interview/talk session with Brace. She was so friendly and down to earth, which made asking her so many questions easier. I really enjoyed getting to know her, and I definitely want to keep in contact. Hopefully someday we can work together in a show, or run into each other in the audition circuit in the city. Had I not been able to go on this immersion experience, I would have never learned so many inside facts on the performing world, that I would have been clueless about as an outsider. I am so grateful for the information I have learned and the connections I have made with people in New York. Knowing people there and how the performing system sort of works makes the idea of going there less daunting and more accessible to achieve.
Thank you Brace for all of your help! You definitely inspired me to continue perusing my dreams! :)
Abby
Brace was fantastic. I had so many questions, and my interview buddies had a lot too. All of our questions were met with honest answers and advice. For my own questions, I was focused around where to find auditions, and where they are held. Brace told us about Backstage a magazine for actors/dancers and websites to go to for finding audition information. She also told us about classes we can take to prepare ourselves for NYC auditions. Bob Klein has a musical theatre audition class that we can sign up for, and learn what an audition is going to be like, instead of being completely terrified not knowing what to expect. I also learned that Broadway shows are required to hold auditions. They are called "required calls" and they don't have to cast people if they don't have any immediate openings, but this also helps them see what else there is for talent in the area in case a spot should open up. I think the biggest thing I learned was that I can't set my heart on every show I audition for. Brace said that auditioning is like the job part, and getting booked for the role is like vacation, because then you are safe, you have the role, and can concentrate on that for awhile. I definitely think that is a great way to look at an audition, and I'm going to have to practice still taking my auditions seriously, but not setting my whole emotional state of mind on the line if I don't get a part. Sometimes people won't want a short blonde person, and thats ok too! There is always something better to audition for coming up that might be a better opportunity that the one I didn't get.
Brace also talked about "money jobs." Jobs that make you money while you are auditioning around town every waking moment. What Brace said that seems like common sense, but is totally true and something people don't always consider is: like your money making job. Some people temp, some people bar tend or wait tables, but those are not apart of my music/ performing specialty. Brace said to try and find money jobs that make use of the talent you are trying to develop or at least gets you practice using your craft. I couldn't agree more! I loved what she recommended. She worked at a dance studio and got discounted dance lessons, which is definitely something I want to do! She also is finding work doing hand and foot modeling which I find is so awesome, and wouldn't mind doing that either! She gave me so many things to think about, and I'm definitely going to try and find jobs that can benefit me by building my skills, not just earning me money.
I loved my interview/talk session with Brace. She was so friendly and down to earth, which made asking her so many questions easier. I really enjoyed getting to know her, and I definitely want to keep in contact. Hopefully someday we can work together in a show, or run into each other in the audition circuit in the city. Had I not been able to go on this immersion experience, I would have never learned so many inside facts on the performing world, that I would have been clueless about as an outsider. I am so grateful for the information I have learned and the connections I have made with people in New York. Knowing people there and how the performing system sort of works makes the idea of going there less daunting and more accessible to achieve.
Thank you Brace for all of your help! You definitely inspired me to continue perusing my dreams! :)
Abby
Monday, March 26, 2012
Back to Reality: Reflections in the Midwest
Back to Reality: Reflections in the Midwest
Why hello bloggers/Blog Followers! It's Marie here. You could say I'm the "oddball" of the group who wants to pursue a career in musical theatre. And just like leisa, this is my first blog. There was just so much that I wanted to experienced during in NYC during the day that I would crash at night to prepare for another early morning. I needed to take time to process everything That I experienced on this trip! I brought back notebooks filled with tips and advice from Auditions to Apartment hunting.
Today was our first day back at school, and I couldn't concentrate all morning. All I could think of was New York and How Much I missed it. I miss the buildings, the food, the people, and knowing that whatever I wanted was just a short walking distance away. The last time I was in New York City I was an eleven years old and I hated it. I was terrified of everything new that I didn't quite understand. Nine years later I can't enough of it!
I Never expected to learn as much as I did during this immersion experience. I got the chance to work with the incredible Claudia catania, (who has performed on Broadway and at the Met, and now runs a private studio in NYC) through our master class and a private voice lesson in her upper west side Apartment! She fully believes that anyone who has the passion and the work ethic can make it in this cut throat business. she encourage me to come back to New York and give it my all. I also had the chance to do a phone interview Liz Holtan. She had to She is a Wisconsin native that resides in New York and is now making her way in the television/film business. Something she said really hit home with me. When we dive into performing as a professional, we will be doing a lot of auditioning, and hopefully getting a few callbacks. When deciding on whether to take a job or not, we should be asking ourselves three questions: Does it pay well? Will it advance my career? Is this job going to be artistically fulfilling?
Before this trip, I had questions about this industry that I never thought I would find the answer to until I experienced it myself. My musical theatre ambitions were only a dream that seemed so far away. I am elated to say now that I finally got every one of those questions answered. I not only brought back notebooks filled with tips and advice: I brought back a new fire. I will do anything to get myself back to New York. All my fears and doubts have been replaced with more determination and goals. I have already began compiling a summer program that would help me in my career goals.
This trip went beyond my expectations! I can't thank everyone who was involved enough for giving all of us this opportunity! Thank you to my incredible voice teacher/mentor, Mitra for writing the grant and making this all happen. Thank you to my 11 other college peers for the fond memories. Every single person that we interviewed and met with all said the same thing when we explained the purpose of our trip: "I've never heard of anything like this before! I wish I had this opportunity when I was your age!"
Until we meet again, New York. Until we meet again.
Marie
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Last day... and some post trip reflection...
This past Friday was our last day in NYC. We started our day with a "Hustle" class given by actor Logan Tracey. Several points she made struck home with me, one being that I am the CEO of my own company, and that I need to spend some time every day working on my career. Also, it's ok to change your mind and make a different choice at any point in your journey. I think this was a liberating piece of information for all of us in the room. Too often we feel trapped by our field of study, by our choices, by everyone else's expectations... Ms. Tracey reminded us that WE DON'T HAVE TO BE!!! We can make another choice. Also, we don't have to apologize for who we are! Just say, "I am a singer." Don't say, "I'm trying to be a singer." Just be who you are. It was such a simple message, but at the same time, it came across as very profound. There was an incredible amount of information given during the three hour session, from using social media to promote yourself to tax information for performing artists. I took a lot of notes, and I'm still processing all of the information.
After the session, I was able to catch up some more with jazz musician, Amanda Brecker. We had a wonderful lunch, an even better conversation about being both a teacher and performer, and walked around the west side, enjoying the beautiful Spring weather.
I then made another trip to the Julliard bookstore before meeting up with Dr. Sadeghpour and some other members of the group where we met Dr. Sadeghpour's college friend, dancer Rob Kleinendorst. Rob is a dancer with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, and it was wonderful to hear his story. Like many of our other guest speakers this week, Rob talked about the importance of "perseverance" and always being willing to learn and improve throughout your career.
After our meeting with Rob, Dr. Sadeghpour, Leisa and I went to hear a wonderful recital given by tenor Paul Appleby and pianist Natalia Katyukova. What a performance! Mr. Appleby sang beautifully with incredible nuance and commitment to the text. I am both inspired and challenged by his abilities as a recitalist.
After the recital, we all rushed down to the Stephen Sondheim theatre where we went to see Cole Porter's delightful musical comedy, "Anything Goes." The cast was excellent, and I greatly enjoyed the performance. I really loved watching Joel Grey and John McMartin perform. These seasoned performers stole the show, and gave us all a master class in comedic timing. It was very fun for me to see this show, since I performed the male lead, Billy Crocker, back in undergrad when I was around the age of the students on this trip! (I remembered all of the song lyrics and most of the lines! But don't worry, I didn't sing along!) After the show, we had the unique opportunity to have a q & a with several members of the cast... their message to the students: "perseverance."
After we returned to the hotel, we had our last group meeting. It was wonderful to hear everyone share what they discovered about themselves during the week. As I listened to each person, I was reminded why I love teaching - seeing people discover/realize something they didn't know about themselves. I think that everyone left NYC with a new sense of direction, and even if some don't quite know which direction they're going to choose, they at least have the comfort in knowing that they can forge their own path in a life in music, the important thing is to just keep going.
I am extremely honored to have been a part of this experience. Thank you Dr. Sadeghpour for writing the grant to make this immersion experience possible, and for allowing me to be a part of it. I'm excited to see the ways in which this group of students apply the information they learned this past week in their own lives and careers. I hope they will stay positive, and through hard work and perseverance, create and maintain a wonderful life in music!
Mr. P
After the session, I was able to catch up some more with jazz musician, Amanda Brecker. We had a wonderful lunch, an even better conversation about being both a teacher and performer, and walked around the west side, enjoying the beautiful Spring weather.
I then made another trip to the Julliard bookstore before meeting up with Dr. Sadeghpour and some other members of the group where we met Dr. Sadeghpour's college friend, dancer Rob Kleinendorst. Rob is a dancer with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, and it was wonderful to hear his story. Like many of our other guest speakers this week, Rob talked about the importance of "perseverance" and always being willing to learn and improve throughout your career.
After our meeting with Rob, Dr. Sadeghpour, Leisa and I went to hear a wonderful recital given by tenor Paul Appleby and pianist Natalia Katyukova. What a performance! Mr. Appleby sang beautifully with incredible nuance and commitment to the text. I am both inspired and challenged by his abilities as a recitalist.
After the recital, we all rushed down to the Stephen Sondheim theatre where we went to see Cole Porter's delightful musical comedy, "Anything Goes." The cast was excellent, and I greatly enjoyed the performance. I really loved watching Joel Grey and John McMartin perform. These seasoned performers stole the show, and gave us all a master class in comedic timing. It was very fun for me to see this show, since I performed the male lead, Billy Crocker, back in undergrad when I was around the age of the students on this trip! (I remembered all of the song lyrics and most of the lines! But don't worry, I didn't sing along!) After the show, we had the unique opportunity to have a q & a with several members of the cast... their message to the students: "perseverance."
After we returned to the hotel, we had our last group meeting. It was wonderful to hear everyone share what they discovered about themselves during the week. As I listened to each person, I was reminded why I love teaching - seeing people discover/realize something they didn't know about themselves. I think that everyone left NYC with a new sense of direction, and even if some don't quite know which direction they're going to choose, they at least have the comfort in knowing that they can forge their own path in a life in music, the important thing is to just keep going.
I am extremely honored to have been a part of this experience. Thank you Dr. Sadeghpour for writing the grant to make this immersion experience possible, and for allowing me to be a part of it. I'm excited to see the ways in which this group of students apply the information they learned this past week in their own lives and careers. I hope they will stay positive, and through hard work and perseverance, create and maintain a wonderful life in music!
Mr. P
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