September: a Turkey, a Wedding and lots of Singing
Over the past month, I was in New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Indiana leading up to my current trip back to NYC for the longest time since I moved away in 2020, setting the stage for my move back to the metropolis in November.
Going to my friend, Joan’s place in New Jersey always feels like a haven. Joan’s house is gorgeous, bright and cozy all at the same time. She also takes really good care of me: thoughtful food choices and activities, and best of all, we have great conversations about life- sometimes deep, sometimes not :-). Joan is a wonderful support for me. This particular visit, we both worked. For my part, it was in preparation for the concert I would be singing that weekend in Delaware, as well as continuing to prepare Dorabella for Opera Delaware’s production of Così fan tutte in October.
Joan and I kept seeing a wild turkey waltzing around her neighborhood. Keep in mind, this is a populous, NYC metro area neighborhood, but nevertheless, Dirky (as I named him), kept popping up at intersections, strolling down Joan’s street or just randomly hanging out in someone’s front yard.
That weekend, I drove to Delaware to sing a gala performance being the mezzo representative of Opera Delaware on a program that also showcased Broadway legend and genuinely great person, Brian Stokes Mitchell. As I was about to go on stage to perform with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, singing an aria I had never performed from memory before, there in the wings was Brian Stokes Mitchell, aka Stokes, himself. I was nervously assuring myself that I would remember all of the French in the aria amidst the cacophony of a Johann Strauss piece, when Stokes caught my eye, smiled big and mouthed, “Hi, how are you?” Trying to focus is how I was, but I mouthed back a more appropriate response, got out and sang the aria without memory slips, took a little break before getting back on stage for my part in a J. Strauss trio, for which the baritone miraculously improvised a whole verse (I was very impressed) and the opera part of the program was done. We found seats and settled in for the second half to see Stokes in his element, a true performing superstar and then the night was over.
The next day, several of us operatic soloists (no Stokes) were singing on Opera Delaware’s fabulous Pop-up Opera stage at the Brandywine Arts Festival. This festival was great! Vendors of all kinds: pottery, glass art, soaps, jewelry and other things, as well as the ASPCA and Opera Delaware in the back with bi-hourly aria performances. It was a rainy day, but I decided to walk from the hotel and trust myself to find the festival without a GPS. Well, I found the festival, but I had not found a means of accessing it from the bridge I crossed, several stories above where the festival was happening. It looked like I could either go the long was around and risk being a little late, or scamper down the side of the muddy ravine in my saddle shoes… Guess which option I chose? True to form and unlikely to back down from a challenge, I somehow managed to get down that ravine without falling on my behind, despite my vastly inappropriate footwear and the lack of authorized trail. Needless to say, the woman who let me into the festival was impressed, but I was feeling like an idiot for not wearing tennis shoes.
After the last show of the day, with a bag full of exciting new mugs and a pair of very, very muddy shoes, I drove to Pennsylvania in time for dinner with my sister and family before a week of practicing at a local Mennonite church, getting work done at a coffee shop, walking along the Susquehanna River and spending time with my nieces, nephews, brother-in-law and sister. We had a fun trip to the MCC thrift store in Mt Joy and the discount grocery store in Columbia. We played some Uno, basketball, legos and a game of Ticket to Ride in which I miraculously finished all of my routes with one train to spare and won by a landslide. I also started my semi-annual reorganization of stuff that I store in Grace and Ben’s basement (what would I do without them??) and tried to make piles for my forthcoming trips to Indiana (3 days), New York (2 weeks), Delaware (one month) and then New York in the winter. Oof.
I managed though, and then Grace, baby Yasha and I were off for a weekend trip to Indiana for my dear cousin Joanna’s wedding. It was about a 9-hour drive each way and the baby did especially well on the trip there. We arrived for the rehearsal and dinner, which was some amazing Neapolitan pizza and panna cotta that Joanna herself had made. It was fun to finally get to meet some of Joanna’s friends about whom she so often talks. It was also fun to reconnect with Dad, Kendra and Natalie and my cousins. The next day at the wedding, Grace played piano for me and I sang a song for the wedding and it was so special to be a part of it. It was really a beautiful wedding. I cried. The vows were amazing. Everyone was beautiful. And then the reception was a lot of fun and a lot more good food, including a gorgeous wedding cake made by Joanna’s former boss who owns a Wedding Cake Boutique in Ann Arbor.
Finally, I was off for two weeks in NYC, which were altogether unexpectedly delightful and stressful. I knew that I had a lot on my plate between auditions and opera preparation, but I had not anticipated the complete outpouring of love from my community nor the new and exciting connections that further my conviction that NYC is the right “next place” for me.
The day after I arrived in the city, I had my first rehearsal for my YCA audition the following week, with a pianist whom I had never met before. YCA, Young Concert Artists, is a management company for young artists, for which one must pass through a rigorous competition process, but which also, I believe, has done a phenomenal job of non-politically selecting musicians who are beautiful artists and not just beautiful voices or a musician who fits the mold of a polished competition winner. Competitors are asked to plan and prepare a program for the audition, something I not only love doing, but feel quite passionate about in the grand scheme of recitals in the 21st Century. For these reasons, I took planning a program and preparing for this audition very seriously.
For the next three days, I began my working day with auditions: preliminary and final-round auditions for the Gerda Lissner Song Competition (I won a grant- yay!) and a last minute audition through Juilliard for the Zurich Opera’s Young Artist Studio. My favorite thing to discover by doing these, my first auditions in many months, was that I was able to deeply connect with what I was singing and enjoy the music and music-making before, during and after the auditions, leading me to feel quite cheerful and satisfied. Ah! Isn’t that why being an artist is worth all the hustling?? It is too easy, however, to fall into the trap of self-critiquing whilst singing, of trying to be something you think the panel is looking for, of over-analysing or obsessing about these things, rejection letters and comparing oneself to others.
Each of these days, I found (gastronomical) ways to unwind in the afternoon before returning to my dear relatives, Eric and Linda’s condo in upper Manhattan to prepare for coachings with my friend, Katelan (who has a big-girl job now at the Metropolitan Opera!), on the Così fan tutte that I have been preparing for Delaware this month. This was an exhausting cycle of events each day, but also very true to New York form.
Finally came the weekend, which I had stuffed chock full of social events. I spent a full day in Brooklyn for the first time in my life, getting lunch with a friend from Paris, visiting my cousin’s apartment in Greenpoint, meeting a friend for dinner and then going together to see another friend star in an opera, for which a dear friend was playing bassoon. It was a great day. Sunday, cue my church job, my first time singing with the Marble Choir in nearly 3 years. Then I had an amazing lunch in Koreatown with my friend, Yvette (who is now also in the Marble choir- yay!), a great phone conversation with my sister Grace while I walked in Fort Tryon Park and a great Sencha party with Katelan, whilst we chatted about life and watched the sun set over the George Washington Bridge.
On Monday, I went early to get my Covid Booster and flu shot, then met my friend Steven to see the Dress Rehearsal of Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk at the Met (thanks to Katelan!), then we got lunch and caught up. He also empowered me to buy a pair of sneakers made from the plant-based, petroleum-free vegan leather produced by the company for which my cousin Joanna works in Peoria (yay Mirum!).
I had prepared for the effects of the booster shot, and indeed, I did feel pretty fatigued that evening and the following morning, but it did not impede my wonderful Sencha party with my friend Michelle at her new place near Columbia University and I was thrilled to hear some of her thoughtful insights into some of the inner working of my last few months. Friends are good for that? Sencha also does a mighty job of combatting Covid booster fatigue, I must say.
By that afternoon, I was in fine enough form to coach for Così and the next two days were devoted to focusing on the YCA program and audition. The moment came and the audition could not have gone better. I love all of the music I offered and I was able to sing it with that love and emotional connection. If nothing else, it was a beautiful opportunity to get to enjoy giving that music to that panel of judges. But I know it was more than that and I was proud of that audition.
And I was relieved that it was over! Finally, I could focus the next four days solely on the opera. Finally I could kick memorization into the next gear. This is one of the challenges that comes with having multiple opportunities in a similar time budget: you don’t get to focus on just one thing very often. You have to be constantly flipping from the emotions and energy of one project to another. This is very taxing! But it is something that I will keep getting used to- hopefully. It is so important for me to connect to my musical work emotionally, but it takes a harder toll.
This morning I had my final coaching on the opera before making my way to Delaware. I was very stressed last night and this morning, trying to be as prepared as possible within impossible time constraints. But! Though there is certainly still work and development to be done, even in just the next few days before rehearsals start, I am content and proud of what I have been able to accomplish in the time I have had. Learning a 3-hour opera in Italian (which I do not speak) in two months is not easy. But it is really wonderful music and I cannot wait to get it on its feet! This is such a wonderful opportunity and I feel very, very blessed to get to do this, fresh off of a year abroad.
I also met some new and wonderful people over the past few weeks and I am excited by the prospects of new collaborations and projects in the city and beyond that are on the horizon!
So, without further ado,
Marie on the Road
