The singing goat

So, I was talking about this with Ashlee and thought to share it.
I got horns to open bottles...
I got horns to hold my keys...

Season's Greeting

Before I start,
I wish all of my friends and colleagues a merry Christmas, Chanukah, or any other holiday celebrations that you celebrate. I'm off to Arkansas with Ashlee to enjoy my Christmas in a good old southern home cooking with her family. Then at the end of January I will be flying to Jakarta to spend some time with my parents then to Japan to see my relatives. So happy holidays and a happy New Year!


Finally the year 2006 is coming to a close. I am happy to say that this year has gone quite well. I finally got a visa to stay in this country outside of being a student. I also got myself an agent, which entitled me to get this said visa to stay in the country. I made my international debut as the title role with Singapore Lyric Opera in their country premiere production of Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro" for the celebration of 250th anniversary of Mozart's death. This was totally an awesome production and also a great present to my parents, who got to come to Singapore to see the show, all three times. Along with them, many of their friends and also some of mine who we all have come in contact for the past decade and a half. After my return from the Singapore gig, I went straight back to my normal activity, absolutely NOTHING!!! No, not quite true. I got to do another production of "Figaro" in a concert with Chamber Opera Chicago and Northbrook Symphony. I feel that this one might be the last Figaro I will do for a while. One, I would like to try other roles that are out there, and also two, I think the role might be getting a little low. I would love to revisit this role again for this is my favorite role. After that, I had my rounds of auditions both here in Chicago and also in New York City.
I must say the audition trips are tough especially if you are out of town all the time. As I wrote in my previous blog entries, it sucks. It's tiring, takes time, costs A LOT of money, and of course you never know what you will actually get out of it. Fortunately for me, this time around the trip was fruitful for me. I have received an offer from an opera company. Not quite sure what yet but I guess I will find out as soon as they figure what their upcoming season will be in February. The fact that the Artistic Director himself wrote me to let me know that they want to offer me something means a lot. So early Christmas present to me!

Of course, not everything was all happy and cheerful.

Earlier this year, in February, my grandmother has passed away. She was perhaps my favorite along with her husband, my grandfather. Both on my mother's side(not that I didn't like my father's side but they were not very nice to my mother, I guess I didn't like them so much at the end), and I always loved to go and visit them. I was, unfortunately, not present at my grandfather's last moment here on Earth due to me living here in US and also some work schedule. My parents hid the detail from me so I will not worry, they end up hiding the fact from until a week has passed. So because of that, I wanted to know if anything happens to my grandmother.
My grandmother is a tough cookie, a real "Tokyo" girl. She never took any crap from anyone. I have not seen her for couple years until this past January. I knew she was sick and not quite well. She always joked around whenever I call her to cheer her up, she always asked me: "When are you coming home? You know I'm not around forever". It always broke my heart. Yet, I could never get back to Japan, due to my visa issue, work, or simply just not enough time to fly back. I knew my time was up to spend time with her. I decided to fly back this past January to pay her a visit, which was long overdue.
The trip, first of all, was solely me wanting to visit and spend as much time as possible with my grandmother. Of course it didn't go the way I wish it to be. I ended up giving a two, one-hour recitals at the hotel we were staying. Perhaps my grandmother can come to see me at work. Unfortunately, she did not feel well enough to come. I got to show her the video, you know us Asians, we love to video tape/take pictures of everything.
My stay in Japan was about 10 days. I got to spent almost everyday with my grandmother. She seems to be getting better as each day I spent there pass by. My aunt told me that once she knew that I was coming for sure, she felt better.

The last day of my visit she was giving me an envelope.
She was laying down because she was a bit tired.
I think she knew.
I think I knew...
Even then, I told her:
"I'm coming back in June to visit again so I can see you again"
She replied:
"I'm looking forward to it"

The envelope was filled with money. I couldn't accept it. She refused to take it back, she said she doesn't know how long she can do this. I thanked her. She was crying. I was definitely crying.

February I found out that she passed away. But not on my parents accord. I called to give them a great news, they thought that I heard of my grandmother's passing. The same day I found out that I was offered to sing Figaro with Singapore Lyric Opera, I found out that my grandmother passed away.

I still miss her very much.

I hate to be a downer, but looking back this year 2006, everything that happened to me meant something. Especially, this coming February I will be making my way out to Japan to celebrate my grandmother's first death anniversary. How time flies...
I don't usually write stuff like this but this was one of the important things that happened to me this year and I needed to get it out.

Happy Holidays to you all and all have a Happy New Year!

See you in 2007.

Teppei

Back to Chicago

Finally my two and a half week stint of Audition tour here in New York ended...

My final audition was this past Monday, 11th for Ash Lawn Festival. I must say overall the trip was a success. I did not get any negative vibe from the companies I sang for, even the ones that I "crashed"...

I am happy to leave New York behind for now. It does get quite tiring to live in someone else's apartment for couple weeks, go out and do auditions, and try to meet up with friends living out in New York. It is a full time work. Although, I am not quite done with my auditions yet. I am driving out to Cleveland tomorrow to sing for Opera Cleveland, which is on Friday. I am looking forward to sing for an old company I have worked with. It will be nice to see some friends out there as well.

So, I actually succeeded in "crashing" an audition. It finally happened last Saturday. I had a rather early morning audition, at 10:24am(they meant it too, it was right on time! How odd is that?). Now, around 10:30am seems not so early to some of you, but for those who know me, you all know that I am a night person and not a morning person at all. I actually work up at 7:00am so I will be conscious around 10am. I went into my audition, sang an aria, they look through my resume. They looked up and told me,

"Well, that was very good. We are glad to hear you. I don't think we will need to hear any more, we know what you are all about."

I took that as a good news. I said my thank yous to them, shook their hands, thanked them again for the opportunity and got myself ready to head out.

Before I did that, the director asked me,
"What your schedule like for the upcoming summer?"

I, of course took that as a great sign, replied with a little chuckle,
"Well, I got nothing so far..."

Then I realized that was probably not the greatest come back I could have come up with.
But they both laughed and said,

"Good, we will be in touch"

Thank God... They thought I was being funny.

I hate to lie or talk the talk when it comes to business. I must be honest and I'm sure this could be a problem, might not be a big one now but perhaps be a problem in the future. I probably should not have said, "Well, I got nothing so far..." with a little chuckle(So thought my agent, she laughed at me as well but probably not because I am funny or has a sense of humor). I guess this is something that I should work on. Hopefully next time I can make some smart reply that will lead them to ask me if I want to work with them next summer.

Things are little rough for now but I'm certain that I will succeed somehow in the near future. I just need to be patient. I had a great time auditioning in New York. Yeah, it was a cake walk but what is really in life? I also had a coaching with a friend of mine. We sang through some of my new repertoire for auditions. She asked me the magic question that several people asked me before.

"Why don't you sing Verdi?"

Now, I am not one to push my limit. I like to be safe and be ready. But this does not mean that I don't experiment and push myself a little out of my box. But she was not the only one asking me this question. So I sang my one Verdi aria for her. She loved it. Sure I need to work on it but it fits my voice very well. So I decided to bring this up to my agent. She was not quite sure if that is the right choice. Then I realize that, she could be MORE careful with me than myself... Which is good, but how safe can we be? I mentioned couple other stuff and she was totally for it. But not for this Verdi. She is willing to hear me sing some once I get back to Chicago.

I know I'm young, and starting my career but when do I start learning these advance repertoires or roles? I'm 28. No one is going to hire me for the roles I can do in the next 5 or 10 years. Not now. But if I don't start looking at it now, I will be learning these roles(which are difficult) when I am supposed to be singing them. It's all a mystery. Hopefully I can find the happy medium down the road.

I am way too early waiting for my flight. And for the first time, it's not delayed!!! Last time I took a flight out of La Guardia, which was mid-November, I waited here for over 3 hours! That was awful. And I didn't have my laptop with me so I just sat there and did nothing. At least for now, I can type my update and go on with my business.

Now, I just need to get hired...

A Random Thought...

I've heard that things that I often write are quite long. I never was such a long writer. Or so I thought. Sorry folks for making these so long. I know it's difficult to read when you see a page full of words that scroll down forever to get to the bottom. Again, it's alright not to read it all the way. Afterall, most of the readers(if there are any) I will end up talking to in person. It is fun to write down so I can look back and realize what I have put down. Also, it's nice to know what others think of this.

I guess I was a writer of long-windedness even when I wrote in Japanese. I always wanted to write in such a fashion of a story-teller or some fancy author of great magnitude. Of course my teacher did not appreciate my writing, since it went so long and did not come to the point quickly. So it became one big run-on sentence, well I guess that did not transfer well into English writing... Perhaps it is how I have learned in school even when I was little in Japan, back in my native tongue, that I developed this style of writing(if one can even call this a 'style' of writing).

Well, I guess it's a thought.

Nah, who am I kidding? I just like to go on and on hear myself talk.
Now, I just do it in writing so many will not have to suffer the consequence! :-p

"Run In"

So, I am having a surprisingly mild weather here in New York. No sign of snow(I'm knocking on wood here) so far. I guess back home in Chicago they had some snow. We were supposed to have snow today but fortunately not. It did get much colder today though. Still, I'm thankful for the fact that no bad weather is coming this way yet.

Had another audition. No folks, I didn't "crash" today. I was scheduled to sing for a company(Yay!). It went well, despite that the person that was auditioning stop me at the beginning of the first aria, my choice, and asked me what else I have. He asked for another aria that was much shorter. It went well, if I may say so myself... If this was an old me, I would have lost all confidence at the moment he cut me off. But the new and improved me, or rather a little more experienced me, handled it with a more confidence. Even my pianist told me that the audition went quite well. I guess afterall, if the aria is long, they might not want to hear the whole thing, instead they will hear another selection to show variety. I left the place with a smile on my face.

I hate to write mainly of what I do for work but my line of business brings me to many interesting and very fun people to work with. Now, not that we all are lucky like that every where we work. Just like 'normal' folks who work in their office and what not. But it's always nice to see people I have worked with or met while they were working at a location I used to live in. In fact, I have had few "run ins" for the past couple times in auditions. Again, it is always great to see people you recognize. Auditions can be a very tense place. People are all concentrating to go on for their time. Not much people want to talk. Not me. I like to talk, keep my mind off from trying to over-concentrate what I am going to do. I already have a plan of action once I go in there so why bother worrying about it beforehand. I just have to collect myself few minutes before I go in and then I make my move. Then it's more like what I will have to do on stage. No one knows what will happen in the story, why do we want to get too far into the story. No one knows what will happen. As my old opera director from Cleveland used to say. "Tell your story from the beginning. It might be the same old story you've told many, many times but this audience is experiencing for the very first time. Tell it like you are experiencing it for the first time". It might sound simple but many of us do not do that all the time. This, of course, includes myself as well. If we have to 'perform' in an audition, why not take the situation like you are performing a show.

Anyhow, back to "run ins".

So I got to "run in" with people I have not seen in years. People I actually did not work with but met through because they were working in Cleveland while I was living there. It's fun because I have seen their names in reviews on the internet or upcoming production announcements. So I have somewhat followed up on what these people are up to. But the funniest part for me was that when I say their name and they totally look at me funny. And slowly the recollection happens and the light bulb goes 'click!' Then it's like old times. The first thing they say will go something in the way of: "Oh my GOD! You look so different, I wouldn't have recognized you at all if I saw you pass me by!"

Then I started to wonder. "Do I look that different?"

I was talking to a very good friend of mine and also my old teacher about this. After mentioning my few "run ins" I realized that I do look quite different since some of these people that I met back when I was in undergrad. I was 19, still young, didn't know much about singing, and I was skinny... Or at least so says another friend who knew me since my first year in Cleveland. As he puts it, "Yeah, you were a scrawny kid!" Well, not so much anymore. I have filled out. My hair has grown, with a bit more gray laced through.

How fast a time has flown by me. Well, not just me but to all the people that came in contact with my life. It is always nice to hear about what these "Old Friends" are up to. I had a dinner with a friend who used to go to school with me in Cleveland. She was a voice major, a soprano, now she is a singer-songwriter waiting to finish on her CD. It is so exciting to hear that her music-making, though a bit different from mine, is continue to go on after our little world of music conservatory. She said, "it is so exciting to see your creation take life and I can proudly say, it's mine! and there is no one else that can say you are doing it wrong". That is great.

Some of us have taken a different path since our initial meeting, yet we all try to strive in whatever the path, either same or new, we decided to stick with. I heard that one former singer I knew is now an actress in NYC, I also know another that is pursuing the same profession of acting in Alabama. Some speak of going into law, some have become an agent, some had started a family yet trying to get back into singing, some are teaching singing. Then there are people like me trying out our luck in the singing business.

I wish all my friends success, whatever the path they choose. I hope to hear more about them when I have my next "run in" with another old friend.

OL and NO. New York City Trip.

I have decided to start a blog site of my own. I don't know how it will go but this will be a good way for me to keep everyone and anyone who are interested to read my updates on-line other than e-mails. As you know with my e-mails... So I guess I will try to keep up as much as possible. So to commence this ceremonious occasion, here goes nothing.


So I have been here since Tuesday and I have been having a great time here in the city. The weather has been awesome, well until yesterday, but still it's been so warm that even it got very cold today I still enjoyed the fact that the good weather has gone this far.

Audition wise things are alright. I had one audition so far and I felt good about it. Even though they only heard me sing one. I stop trying to wonder why they only heard one selection in an audition. Before I worry myself silly to figure out their mind. It's not worth it. So I start to think to myself, hey I get to leave after singing one aria, that's great! I go in and get out. Quick and Easy.

Yesterday I decided to try out on something I have never done before. This might sound odd to some of you but I tried this thing that has been done amongst singers for a long time. It's called "crashing" an audition. Now, I don't know why I have never done this before. But as I found out it does not come so easily to do this "crashing" for me.

I heard from my management that certain opera company was in town doing auditions. Another singer from my management went to the location the day before yesterday and successfully "crashed" the audition. I, on the other hand, was at another audition in the afternoon so it was not plausible for me to "crash". So I decided to go and try to "crash" the audition the very next day.

By the time I arrive at the said location, there were many singers roaming around the floor which occupied the studios that hold auditions for different companies. Fortunately there is a blackboard that tells you where these companies are located. I looked, no sign of the said company I was looking for. I call my management to tell them that this company is no longer there. They tell me to find another one to "crash". So I go and ask the first studio I see with a check in person. Unfortunately, I found out that they are virtually full and will not be able to meet my request. Sadly, I gave up on that company. Yet, I kept my hope up and went on to another studio for another chance.

I found another company on the floor below where they were holding an audition. This one looked a little better so I decide to park myself at the hallway right by the studio. There were two different company auditioning on that floor so there were more singers than I expected, but quickly find out that most of the people were waiting for the company I was not going to "crash". So when I arrived at the location it was about 2:30pm. I heard that when you are waiting to "crash" an audition, you better be ready to go the distance. Unfortunately for me, I failed to eat anything before I left the house so I was STARVING!!! Yet, I was adamant to stay for the long haul. I sat myself on the bench that was adjacent to the door and waited. And waited... And waited even more. Now, it could be like half an hour since my wait, I start to see more and more distinguished looking singers(it just meant that they look older and have been around if you know what I mean...) file in for the audition I was going to "crash".

Another hour has gone by, things are not looking better. At this point, I had nothing better to do but wait to "crash" this audition. I wait... More singers... Still waiting... Oh, I also want to let you know that this place is quite live. Actually both studios(they are facing each other on the hallway) so we can really hear whoever is singing inside the studios. One side, the one I am NOT "crashing", lets just call that OL. They have younger singers singing in there. Some very good, some not so much. Well, on the other hand. The one I want to "crash", lets call that one NO. Well... This one definitely had many, I mean MANY great singers. Most of them are bringing in their big guns to their auditions. I start to feel ill to my stomach, perhaps from my starvation, no, no, it's definitely from listening to these totally advanced singers. I think to myself, "What the schwach am I doing here...?" But no, I am not giving up. These companies always want to hear fresh singers who are new. I am one of them so I should stay and stick it out till the end.

It's 5:00pm. I ask one of the singers waiting on the dock to sing, "how long are they going?" 6:00pm. I start to feel foolish, but then again, what do I got to lose? I see few friends of mine come and go through OL and NO auditions. I meet new people and start talking. Find out that there were two other people waiting to "crash" along with me. I feel better. Yes, we are all on the same boat. We are all gonna stick it out till the end. Yes, we are the brethren of "crashers".

Around 6:00pm, finally the OL audition close shop and takes off, one of my friend who was waiting to "crash" this one, lucky for her, got an audition. I told her, "That's great! Good luck." But secretly, I was thinking "lucky bitch..." I know, I know, not very nice, bad karma... Perhaps feeling ill-will towards another colleague(probably not) brought bad karma(Okay, I'm not that awful). I saw that there was one singer left. Perhaps there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and let me tell you this has been a very long tunnel. By the time the last person gets out(happens to be another friend of mine), we all go into see if they have some time left to perhaps hear us poor singers who've waited all afternoon for them.

Guess what the answer was?


NO


I guess they had to go somewhere 20 minutes ago. Unfortunately I can't get upset by the fact that I was not getting an audition. But I was pretty pissed off, probably because I was beyond starving by then... And trust me, I get really pissy when I'm hungry(ask my girlfriend, she will tell you).

My first attempt at "crashing" did not go so well. It actually "crashed" me. So, I hear from my friend during my stay of "crash"-tastic afternoon to get together for dinner. I call her back and to see where she was. At this point, all I wanted to do was to eat. So we start to head down to lower east side to meet up with another friends for dinner. To put the final touch to my day, as soon as we get off the train and start walking, guess what happens?


RAIN!


Not just any little rain. It starts to pour down like cats and dogs.

Great... What a day.

But no, there was a light at the end of this f'ing long tunnel.

We went to a Burmese restaurant. It was definitely a first for me. I was not excited of this choice but at this point I say to myself, "what the hell, can it get worse?" Thank God that it didn't. The food was AMAZING!!! So for those of you fortunate enough to track down a Burmese cuisine(is there a lot of these around?). DO IT! You will not regret it.
After all, food did save my long day of starvation and bad mood. Thank you food for being there for me.

And here, I will end my first blog. Which went longer than I expected...

Have a nice Sunday tomorrow y'all!