Late Night Ramblings

Happy birthday, Kari!!

Before I let my thoughts run away from me, let me just say that the performances this week went fantastically, thanks to a lot of hard work and some amazing colleagues.  I love my classmates in the Maryland Opera Studio, and I’m so thankful to have landed in this place, with these people, at this time in my life.  What an amazingly talented and beautiful group of good people!

It is hard to find, isn’t it?  At 27, I think now that I know so much and so little.  Oh, I’m still learning, by far.  I’m so much younger than I feel sometimes when compared to my colleagues.  In fact, I seem to keep stumbling upon crash courses in my life, and I’m not sure wither they come.   Just when I think I’ve found an answer, it’s contradicted, and I suddenly have more and more questions. 

Is there such a thing as a truly good man, or woman, for that matter?  Would we ever be happy with one anyway?  Happy with myself - that seems to be the direction in which I’m heading.  We’ll see.  For now, I’m thinking about a song written by an 18 year-old with an amazing perspective on life.  So much for the age/maturity equation.  As for faith, well, I wouldn’t be me if I gave up hope in the seemingly impossible dreams and, especially not, in my difficult but achievable goals and hopes.  For now, lullaby, good night - and sweet dreams.

Hi!!!

Happy Easter, Passover, etc.  Boy, has spring come and gone quickly around here!  I guess I’ve been busy, but summer sure does come quickly to Maryland!  I know it’s been a while since I’ve philosophized, but I figured you all could use a break. 

In that light, here’s a bit of a plug for some of my upcoming performances.  We tried our scenes out today in front of quite an audience in the large foyer of our gorgeous performing arts center, and they went so well.  I’m happy to invite you all to come and see them, if you’re in the DC area or can make it here next week. 

Upcoming solo performances here at the University of Maryland’s Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center: 

Next Wednesday, April 26, and Friday, April 28, at 7:30pm – An evening of opera scenes

• I’ll be performing the role of Concepcion in scenes from L’heure Espagnole by Maurice Ravel, where I look for “love” in all of the wrong places and even manage to throw a bona fide diva fit.  I’ll also be playing Veronique in scenes from Bizet’s Le Docteur Miracle.  A bit of dance and a little danger rounds out an exciting evening of scenes from several brilliant and well-loved operas in the Gildenhorn (inside the Clarice Smith Center).

Next Friday, April 29 (Maryland Day), at 1:30pm – Scenes from Il Matrimonio Segreto

• As part of the Maryland Day celebration, the covers for this year’s opera will be performing scenes from Il Matrimonio Segreto, accompanied by piano, on the set of the production in the Kay Theater (inside the Clarice Smith Center).  I’ll be performing as Fidalma, the widowed aunt, in a trio from the opera (If you’d also like to see the second year students of the Maryland Opera Studio in the full production of Il Matrimonio Segreto, you can see it on April 21, 25, 27, and 29 at 7:30pm and on the 23^rd and 30^th at 3pm).

Sunday, May 7, at 7:30pm – Spring Choral Showcase

• I’ll be performing the mezzo soprano solo in John Corigliano’s Fern Hill, a beautiful piece for chorus and mezzo soprano, accompanied by strings, piano, and harp.  Also on the program are Benjamin Britten’s Five Flower Songs and Brahms’s Neue Liebeslieder Walzer.

Hope to see you there!!

Summer is coming to Maryland via quite a warm spring.  Some things are inevitable and will come to pass, whether we want them to or not.  Personally, I’m enjoying the warm weather, although I wish I had skied more this winter.  Oh well - at least I got to ski in Utah, right? 

Back to the point - I know no psychics, and I’m not sure I would take their advice anyway if I did.  There’s a certain mystery to life, not always knowing what will come next, seasons and other predictable events aside.  With mystery, though, comes uncertainty and decisions.

How do we decide what to believe in life?  I guess I’m blessed in some of the whole certainty concept, since my faith in God and in my chosen career path has been pretty solid since I was just a kid.  Two of the biggest ones are down, right, so I should be happy?

Well, I’m not.  Not always, anyway.  How does one ever know what to believe, when it comes to everyday life and love?  Is there ever a point where it’s okay to have faith for the impossible, and when does one know to give it up?  Even more, when one does decide to give up hope, how does she go about doing it? 

I may never have the answers, but for now, I think my only possible plan of action is to focus on the things I believe in that I know I should believe.  As for everything else, hopefully I’ll be mature enough to handle whatever comes my way, by the time my life catches up with all of my questions.

In the meantime, I have some cherry blossoms to enjoy.