Springtime in NYC!
I have not taken the time to write in a while, despite my best intentions. I have found a wonderful and healthy rhythm over the last couple of weeks, especially since coming home from a brief, but substantial trip to Florida, where I had a little artistic and spiritual retreat and some good time with family. Main takeaways: keep looking for joy in the life you are living, rather than trying to wait for challenges to pass. Let’s be honest, the spring sunshine and warmth really helps with this, as does a little pocket money… but I think there is also something for me in seeking satisfaction in the present, looking for ways that God is working, rather than assuming it is all yet to come, always waiting.
It has been hard, as I want to see my professional and personal lives growing, but it feels like there is a block there. Meanwhile, I am getting to know myself in new ways, discovering what I need, what I believe and how I communicate (and how that affects how others can be a part of my life), and this is so personally and creatively valuable. Why do I feel frustrated with my industry? Why do I feel like there isn’t a place for me? These are questions that I am juggling, catching glimpses of what they mean in terms of my calling as an artist, as a singer. I love being in operas; I love inventively programming recitals; I love collaborations and I love performances that mean something.
Oh friends, perhaps you did not come here for my philosophizing, but for my anecdotes. Or maybe you come for both :-) Or maybe you try to avoid my blog at all costs… but here you are :-)
I have been to some exquisite performances this month- the three that most stand out to me are that of my friends Janice Carissa and Lun Li at Merkin Hall: they exemplified collaboration and chamber music in tight, inventive ensemble, with a risky and fearless program of very challenging music. PLUS, they are both exceptional technicians and musicians. Do not miss performances by either one if you can help it! The second was my friend Nathaniel Lanasa’s program Memory Prosthetic: a program of Bach’s Goldberg Variations which he performed using his own art as means to remembering the score. Nathaniel is an artist in the highest degree, and the way he speaks about what he does is as profound as the art itself. He makes you ask yourself questions about seemingly simple subjects, reconsider the how and why of art and music. And then he makes incredible music. The third was pianist Dan Tepfer at the 92nd St Y this past Friday night. His dad helped me get connected in Paris last year and we share a couple other mutual connections, friends, but I was not prepared for the remarkable program he created. He created algorithms and connected his computer to a special Yamaha piano that would imitate his improvisations based on how he had programmed it. And he created all of this himself. It was so interesting, beautiful and unlike anything I had ever heard or seen. Plus, he has rigged a system that also created visual representations of the improvisations and imitations that were exceptional.
I could easily keep going about other performances I attended: my Così colleagues performing on a literal Ship in OnSite Opera’s Il Tabarro, my friend Mitchell playing at the Met- but my very favorite music this month has been non-vocal :-)
I have also gotten out to two art museums this month and this is something that needs to keep happening. My friend Becca and I (both of us tall, brunette mezzos) have decided that we need a buddy to help get us to see more art in the city, and so far, it is going very well! We saw thought-provoking and fascinating exhibitions at both the Met and the Whitney.
I have enjoyed some exciting and exquisite desserts: a slice of cheesecake that looked like a mossy wonderland in Flushing (a solo adventure which I was very proud of myself for doing!) and a Japanese parfait of epic proportions in SoHo with Matthew. I have shared some delicious tea: a fabulous afternoon tea spread in SoHo with Linda, my own cold-brewed Sencha in Central Park with Katelan and a combination of Parisian sweets and my home-brewed tea post-audition on the Upper East Side with Yvette.
I have been really into cooking! I have enjoyed cooking since I was forced to start in 2013 in Vienna, but I have discovered just how life-giving cooking is for me and how that more I do it, the more satisfied I feel about meals and not eating out. It is a different way of having an adventure, and delightful to know that I can find pretty much any exotic ingredient in this city and make myself some very exciting cuisine. I have been on a fish kick of late, thanks to Trader Joe’s freezer section. New York Times Cooking continues to inspire.
And I am singing too. Working on developing a peace-making project slowly but surely. We are starting to build a rhythm and getting regular work done. I love this creative work! Also putting together a program to perform this week in SoHo- with a couple of new pieces. This is refreshing for me- digging into Barber’s Hermit Songs for the first time!
So there it is! I had some clever anecdotes along the way, but for now, you get a little more of the news broadcast :-)
Marie in NYC (and Florida!)
