The Big Tease

Hi all, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I certainly did. My husband and I traveled with my MIL to spend the week with my parents in South Carolina. My brother-in-law also came up from Atlanta, so we had our first blended family Christmas. It was great!

So all those auditions I did back in November and December? I'm still waiting to hear back with a final word. What I did get (the two days before Christmas!) was emails telling me I could expect to hear something after the holidays. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to know I'm still in the running, but what a tease!

Nothing Like a Quick Turnaround!

If I thought a Thursday notification for a Saturday audition was quick, I've now learned that the turnarounds get even faster.

Last Monday, I got an email at 5pm asking me to come to Cincinnati for an audition Tuesday at 1pm. Fortunately, I was able to work a way to miss my Tuesday morning class and my rehearsal with my accompanist so I could head up there. I also made arrangements to move back my audition for the spring opera at school.

I made the four hour drive from Nashville. It was significantly colder in Cincinnati than it was in Nashville. There was literally nowhere I could warm up once I got there. Not even the bathroom. I should have warmed up in the car. I was told I could go outside (in the freezing cold) to warm up. So what did I do? I learned from my teacher how to warm up my voice very quietly, with a series of barely audible slides, arpeggios, etc., but I had never done that in a situation like this, so I wasn't sure it would work.

The auditions started late. I was the first person of the day. When I was told they were ready, I took the elevator up a few floors to the audition room. There were three judges. I hadn't experienced that before in a YAP audition, though they somehow managed to not make it feel like an inquisition. They were very open and friendly. 

The pianist was, thankfully, very good. I started with Faites-lui (those super quiet warm ups worked!), then they asked for my musical theater piece (People Will Say We're in Love). One of the judges actually said he really liked my handling of musical theater! That same judge also wanted to know how on earth I ended up singing opera after doing my undergraduate at Berklee (long story....maybe I'll share sometime). As I was waiting for the elevator to take me back down, I could hear them talking about me....all good things!

The drive back to school took a little longer than I would have liked. I had to run straight into my audition for the spring opera, and then straight into a three hour orchestra rehearsal. I think I got through it by sheer adrenaline.

Negatives aside, I felt like this was one of the more successful auditions I have done. Hopefully I will hear something from them and the other auditions soon!