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...