I have recently joined Skype. Feels as if I am a bit behind the technology today. I am totally hooked on this. I can't believe I didn't jump on this sooner. The fact that I can talk to someone for free, or at a very low rate, anywhere in the world! In fact, I just had a conversation with my old choir director's wife who is also on Skype. We got to catch up on few things before she had to go on an errand. It was so convenient to make a call as well. Although I have been trying to get a hold of my parents this way, they have not answered... It is definitely cheaper to call this way than using my phone card through my cell.
I say, once this catches on, maybe we won't need a land line. Almost everyone that I know has high speed internet nowadays. Hell, even my girlfriend's parents have one, and they live in a more rural area. It's free to join with an option of paying $30 yearly fee to have a phone number attach to your account to have unlimited calling out and receiving calls in US and Canada. The international rate is quite low as well. Before I start to sound like a commercial, everyone should check this thing out. All you need is a microphone and your computer speaker to talk to someone, anywhere in the world!
I give two thumbs up for Skype!
Friday, June 1, 2007
Summer is beginning!
So I have finished my run of Don Giovanni and it has gone well. Well, it went well in a musical way... As I mentioned in a post earlier that we have been having a problem in the set department. Well, we still had the said problem on our opening night. But the show must go on. We did the show without the complete set. Actually I felt better doing the show that way. We had to not deal with the extravagant scene changes that we were suppose to have if we did have the set completed. Even the set not being finished the show went quite well. We had a first rate cast. Even the review that came out after the opening night mentioned that the show was carried on by the music. Yeah, the set was not completed but who cares, we sang the show like we meant it. By the second and the last show we have finished the set, which became more problem than we expected. Having all the stuff we were suppose to have created such complication that the show got delayed every scene changes we faced. Anyhow, at the end we finished the run of Don Giovanni on a high note.
Since I have finished my first production of 2007, I now face the bitter fact of unemployment... Sadly, the few auditions I sang for this past fall came up quite unfruitful. So now, I go through the bitter life of jobless singer. Which brought this thought to my mind. How about getting a job!? Well, I have been having this thought for quite a while and finally decided that I will go seek a teaching job in this area. Now, of course the teaching thing have been on my mind for a while. But I was reluctant to go through with it. I just don't feel confident enough to teach someone else how to sing when I am still learning. Now, I know people will say that one can learn so much from teaching others. I have a feeling that I can teach someone what I know already(little bit that I have learned so far). Yet, I still feel the fear of teaching. I think everyone goes through this. I was talking to a good friend of mine who teaches and does the singing thing for a living. He told me his first experience of teaching. He was so clueless, he didn't know what to do in the middle of his lesson! Of course, this does not make me feel better to face teaching voice. It has so much more commitment. Someone is actually going to rely on my knowledge to learn something. That's given that I will find somewhere to teach. I will figure this out throughout this summer. But the time is always against me, and I must prepare for another season of audition in the fall, not to mention perspective job offers that might come my way. Needless to say, things will be interesting...
Other than that, I am getting ready for couple auditions in the next few weeks. First, I have couple auditions here in Chicago for the local companies. Hopefully I can get some gigs through them. Second, I am flying out to New York City for Hawaii Opera audition. Now how awesome would it be to get out to Hawaii to work! I am quite excited to have an opportunity to sing for them. So cross your fingers for those auditions for me!
I recently sang for a competition. It was my first one for a major international competition. It was just a preliminary but they are expecting about 1000 singers to hear during the preliminary round. The main part of the competition takes place in Germany late October. So far I am on a wait list but as you can tell there will be quite a few singers I will have to beat out to get into the 40 chosen for the main rounds of the competition.
Life wise, outside of singing, my life is quite dull. I look at music to see what other repertoire I should look at. Deal with some e-mail stuff, keeping in touch with my friends. Of course spending time with my girlfriend is in that as well. Looking closely to my life, most of my time really rely on what I am doing with my singing. Let me tell you, it gets quite boring to know that I have one thing to look forward to, and that is when I am working. I realized that as I was in a production. It is refreshing to hear that other colleagues of mine have day jobs and keeps "normal" life. From other's point of view, I am one of the few special people who does not have to deal with a "day" job. Again, going back to the whole teaching thing. If I can get a "day" job, I would love to do it. But due to my visa status, I must seek a job in my field: Singing.
Hopefully over the summer I can find myself a "day" job where I will get some financial support. It is great to have a huge support from my parents but now being 29, I should be able to support myself somehow. I know full well that I will not be able to make a living teaching or by singing, yet. But it will definitely help, and also show my parents that I am making the best out of the situation I am in. Let's see how things will be in the very near future.
Since I have finished my first production of 2007, I now face the bitter fact of unemployment... Sadly, the few auditions I sang for this past fall came up quite unfruitful. So now, I go through the bitter life of jobless singer. Which brought this thought to my mind. How about getting a job!? Well, I have been having this thought for quite a while and finally decided that I will go seek a teaching job in this area. Now, of course the teaching thing have been on my mind for a while. But I was reluctant to go through with it. I just don't feel confident enough to teach someone else how to sing when I am still learning. Now, I know people will say that one can learn so much from teaching others. I have a feeling that I can teach someone what I know already(little bit that I have learned so far). Yet, I still feel the fear of teaching. I think everyone goes through this. I was talking to a good friend of mine who teaches and does the singing thing for a living. He told me his first experience of teaching. He was so clueless, he didn't know what to do in the middle of his lesson! Of course, this does not make me feel better to face teaching voice. It has so much more commitment. Someone is actually going to rely on my knowledge to learn something. That's given that I will find somewhere to teach. I will figure this out throughout this summer. But the time is always against me, and I must prepare for another season of audition in the fall, not to mention perspective job offers that might come my way. Needless to say, things will be interesting...
Other than that, I am getting ready for couple auditions in the next few weeks. First, I have couple auditions here in Chicago for the local companies. Hopefully I can get some gigs through them. Second, I am flying out to New York City for Hawaii Opera audition. Now how awesome would it be to get out to Hawaii to work! I am quite excited to have an opportunity to sing for them. So cross your fingers for those auditions for me!
I recently sang for a competition. It was my first one for a major international competition. It was just a preliminary but they are expecting about 1000 singers to hear during the preliminary round. The main part of the competition takes place in Germany late October. So far I am on a wait list but as you can tell there will be quite a few singers I will have to beat out to get into the 40 chosen for the main rounds of the competition.
Life wise, outside of singing, my life is quite dull. I look at music to see what other repertoire I should look at. Deal with some e-mail stuff, keeping in touch with my friends. Of course spending time with my girlfriend is in that as well. Looking closely to my life, most of my time really rely on what I am doing with my singing. Let me tell you, it gets quite boring to know that I have one thing to look forward to, and that is when I am working. I realized that as I was in a production. It is refreshing to hear that other colleagues of mine have day jobs and keeps "normal" life. From other's point of view, I am one of the few special people who does not have to deal with a "day" job. Again, going back to the whole teaching thing. If I can get a "day" job, I would love to do it. But due to my visa status, I must seek a job in my field: Singing.
Hopefully over the summer I can find myself a "day" job where I will get some financial support. It is great to have a huge support from my parents but now being 29, I should be able to support myself somehow. I know full well that I will not be able to make a living teaching or by singing, yet. But it will definitely help, and also show my parents that I am making the best out of the situation I am in. Let's see how things will be in the very near future.
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