Vespers -- That's How To Do It.

FINALLY!

I had the pleasure of singing Catholic Vespers. . . with a Bishop in attendance . . . all the smells and bells a penitent could stand . .  at a Catholic parish not too far from my home.

Thank you, Cheryl Banker and St. Michael the Archangel Parish of Pawcatuck CT, for supporting chant, beautiful hymnody and sacred polyphony! I had a BLAST!

We sang Laetatus Sum by Scarlatti (averted a train wreck in the soprano section -- the music ain't easy!), Palestrina Laudate Dominum, Tallis Magnificat, chanted antiphons, traditional Lenten hymns in four strong parts. Actual sound files soon.

It was also nice to see that the choir was a mix of young and old (and lots of middles), Catholics and Protestants and probably a few "not sures." We were united in our music. We rehearsed three times, and pulled it off.  I can't WAIT to do it again!

How to land a fun part-time job without really trying

Here's how I did it, folks! 1. Found out about a great choral concert presented by the Ecclesia Consort. Made plans to attend at Emmanuel Church in Newport.

2. Talked about it on my website blog (see below!)

3. Attended the concert, congratulated the singers, and was happily astonished when Emmanuel's music director said, "I read your blog yesterday because you mentioned the group and our church! It came up on Google!"

5. Was floored when he asked, "Do you by any chance teach voice lessons to kids?" (Why, yes. Yes I do.)

6. Two days later, fielded a phone call from a legendary music director at an Episcopal church in East Greenwich, RI. She was seeking a voice teacher for her choristers and had seen my website. Did a quick interview. Got the job!

So, starting next week I'll be teaching sightsinging and voice lessons at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, and may be helping with the Royal School of Church Music's summer camp for choristers, held at Salve Regina University (I teach there, too!)

As happy as I am about this development -- I totally support young kids learning how to sing beautiful sacred music -- I am still seeking a musical home in a Catholic church in my part of the diocese. When I moved here, I thought it would be possible to find at least a few -- okay, even just one -- Catholic parish with musical development programs like these, for children and adults. Or, I'd find a parish willing to start one. So far I have encountered the total, depressing opposite.

So, I feel a little like I just agreed to go to prom with the leader of the chess team, after being ignored by the football captain. Catholic parishes of Rhode Island . . . why don't you call me? Don't you know I love you? XO Eden

EC loves Ecclesia Consort

Continuing my not-at-all-penitential Lenten practice of listening to really great sacred music . . .I attended an Evensong at an Epsicopal parish in Newport. The Providence-based Ecclesia Consort was the guest choir -- one of their sopranos was the rector of this lovely church.

The all-volunteer group, led by Pierre Masse, is concluding its 19th season now . . .they'll kick off their 20th anniversary with the Bach B Minor Mass in late September. Heck yes I'll be there!

Here's the Consort singing Richard Farrant's Hide Not Thou Thy Face. What a wonderful blend. (What a terrible iPhone stealth audio engineer I am.) And here is their Ave Regina Caelorum.

I also met Brendan, a member of my Meetup group, "Chants Occurrence." We met at the front of the church following the concert. He went to seminary in my hometown and went to college in southern Michigan, near where I used to live. Small world! I'm more eager than ever to find more Chant and sacred music lovers in South County RI (South County is the nickname for this region, even though the technical name is Washington County).

Earlier that day, I cantored at St. Michael Catholic Church in Pawcatuck, CT, just over the western border. I had a great time with the organist -- we've been trying to get together for months and it finally worked out. I was in my element, sightreading music 30 minutes before Mass. I'll be joining her choir for a Lenten Evensong on April 3. So. . . I've met Catholic sacred music/chant lovers in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and now Newport . . . all of these areas are adjacent to South County. I keep telling myself, "You're getting warmer, you're getting warmer . . . "

Cats Occurrence

1. Tomorrow is my first "Meetup" with a fellow LOCAL chant lover. It was going to be "chant lovers" plural, but one got a last minute singing gig, so we're down to two. So at 4pm Sunday, two proud members of "Chants Occurrence" will be at Emmanuel Church in Newport, for a performance of early sacred music by the Ecclesia Consort. Here's my meetup info: http://www.meetup.com/Chants-Occurrence/events/16860707/?a=cr1o_grp&rv=cr1o 2. Choral Conductor Allegra Martin has a fun blog about all things choral in Boston . . . she also features Guest Cat Posts on Fridays -- how great is that? -- and this week it's my turn. Thanks, Allegra! I have two more cats ready for fame on a future Friday.

Cats and Chant. All in all, a good weekend. ;)

"Runaways," the little show of horrors

I saw a production of Elizabeth Swados' Runawaysover the weekend. The show debuted on Broadway in 1978 and ran for several months.

Since then, it has been a cult favorite for directors who recoil at Babes In Arms and want teens to do hard-hitting, "real" theater. For Runaways, Swados interviewed real teen runaways, and even put a few in the show. . .similar to what Michael Bennett did with dancers and A Chorus Line a few years prior.

Many musicals ask the audience to look at the unpleasant, the uncomfortable, or the downright awful. The heightened musical style actually amplifies the horror of reality -- each complements the other. A very incomplete list would include "If You Could See Her" from Cabaret, " "You've Got To Be Carefully Taught," from South Pacific, "Can't Help Lovin' That Man" from Show Boat, "A Little Priest" from Sweeney Todd . . or "Electric Chair" or pretty much any number from The Scottsboro Boys,which I had the pleasure of seeing during its short Broadway run last year. The humor and the lyricism lengthen the dark shadows of these scenes and lend them greater impact.

Runaways has shock value, but no lasting impact. I liked some individual performances, but didn't care for the show overall. Because it's a revue, we never really get to know the characters --  only their endless misery, which makes for some tedious theater: A kid shoots heroin, a kid's parents cut his back with shards from the broken TV, two kids kill another one, a teenager can't leave her pimp. When there's no contrast, the tragedies run together. The run time was over two hours (about an hour longer than I thought it needed to be), several monologues covered the same territory, and the songs were numbingly repetitive, both thematically and musically. The message: BEING A RUNAWAY IS REALLY AWFUL! Okay, okay, we get it. We got it in the first three minutes, and after that . . . .?

Hallelujah, it's Lent (almost)!

Father, forgive me: I love Lent. The Dogma Dogs of Franciscan University of Steubenville have the same idea.

In fact, I celebrate the liturgies of Lent! The first time I attended an Ash Wednesday service, I was in RCIA. I was so thrilled to get to participate in a sacrament. . . even though it was not technically required. I loved getting those ashes. I didn't wash my forehead for days. I love attending Stations of the Cross and recalling the Passion. I love having some special readings and devotions in my purse. I love the huge changes in the Palm Sunday Mass, from the triumphant "Hosanna" at the beginning of Mass to the too-quiet, unnerving ending, a foreshadowing of the Triduum. I love processing through the incense-filled church to "Pange Lingua," then watching the altar being stripped bare on Holy Thursday. I love the long, long line to kiss the Crucifix at Good Friday. I LOVE IT!

Musically, to me, Lent is the Most Wonderful Time Of The Year. Everyone seems to get more focused, and when they do get loud, it's not a boast or a joyful cry -- it's a supplication. Simple melodies. Aching, yearning music. Everyone hearkens back to the "churchy" sounds that remind them of, well, church. Chanted Psalms, or at least chant-like. Palestrina. Victoria. Byrd. Purcell. Bruckner. Bach. And -- one of my favorites -- Allegri's famous treatment of Psalm 51 (here's a zip file of yours truly singing the highest part of the "Miserere" several, uh, years ago). I also like some new music for the organ-free Triduum, especially this treatment of the "The Reproaches."

In many ways, Lent is a 40-day feast for my ears.When parishes reserve chant and Bach, etc. for Lent, it always makes me grin like a Cheshire cat. It's no penance for me to have such music. At my previous parish, we always switched to chanting the Kyrie  and the Agnus Dei . . I never wanted Lent to end!

Lent is arduous for me when there is little to no recognition of its uniqueness -- when the music is the same old, same old stuff from "Breaking Bread" and other recyclable Missallettes, played the same way. If I had to endure this version of "We Remember" every day of Lent, that might be a proper Cross-- and I'd probably lose weight, too. Instead of giving up Facebook, maybe I should give up the St. Matthew Passion. The thought makes me shudder enough that I probably ought to consider it.

HAPPY LENT, Y'all!

"Chicago" for kids?

I recently attended a high school performance of the musical Chicago. I don't know what percentage of Broadway musicals trickle down to community theater and high school performances, but I'm guessing it's a high number. The prospect of greater royalties is just too tempting. And so we have Chicago for kids. I'm conflicted. No matter how good the performance, I'm uncomfortable with teenagers doing a show like Chicago, that traffics so heavily in the sexual and especially the cynical. I know, we're in the age of hypersexualized youth, "it's the culture", "can't turn back the clock", Shakespeare isn't clean either. That might all be true, but it doesn't make it any easier for me to watch a (hopefully) virginal chorus girl flash her bike-short-covered crotch right at her dad holding the video camera in the fourth row. I grimace when a Roxie without a driver's license tells me how bad her husband is in bed. I bite my thumb when the six merry murderesses crow over killing their men, when the only thing they've ever killed is time in study hall. I like the reassurance of knowing Velma's husky voice is the result of steadily diminishing, perimenopausal female hormones, not too many runthroughs of "All That Jazz".

My queasiness aside, this Chicago had many good points. The directing and staging was excellent, and the pacing was superb. The acting, in big and small roles, was well prepared and well executed. The pit band, which was placed onstage, was a fanatastic group of pros and semi-pros. I love the music of Chicago and it was a thrill to hear it played live.

The dancing was well-organized and the chorus was lively and engaging, but I think it's an almost hopeless task to choreograph Chicago. Bob Fosse's choreography is extremely controlled -- a turn of the ankle, a soft bump of the hip, a splayed jazz hand, a slow split of the legs. These tightly edited details keep the dancing from falling into bad burlesque. Most time-strapped choreographers lift a few identifiable Fosse steps, then add in some eight count struts, a whole lot of crotch flashing and leg crossing, and inexplicable stand-up writhing. It ends up looking like a mix of Madonna and marching band. Examples are all over YouTube. I don't know if it's possible to teach subtle sensuality instead of sashays, but I would dearly love to see more choreographers try.

Singing Chicago as a teenager is like running a marathon after walking around the neighborhood a few times. A couple of songs seemed to have been transposed slightly higher, but the overall low vocal range of Chicago makes it extremely difficult for young singers. Neophyte belters tend to just haul up the heavier chest voice, pushing it through a tight throat and soft abdominals, in an effort to sound more dramatic and full. In fact, it just sounds really loud. Slower passages are often sung in a very breathy head voice, equating "slow" with "soft." This is baby belting, and it can lead to vocal damage. But, it's avoidable (or correctable) with the right instruction. True belting is an ever-changing mix of head voice and chest voice, with very solid abdominal support and a very free throat. It can be learned and practiced, even from a young age. I teach it in my studio, and I practice it myself.

The sole non-belt female role in Chicago is Mary Sunshine, the ever-optimistic reporter. Her operetta-style singing is played for laughs (and often by a male singing falsetto), but it got me thinking. If a school is ambitious enough to program Chicago, why not program an opera? Not La Boheme, of course, but why not Bastien und Bastienne or another early opera? Early operas are loaded with female parts and choruses in a healthy vocal range. There are loads of English translations. The dancing is based on the Minuet and crotches stay covered. The music is in the public domain. It's a thought.

Hats off to all who were involved with Chicago. Overall, I had a great time. The (very talented) Roxie was one of my former students, and it was a treat to see her and her family. I can't wait to see what she does next.

(Dear theater teachers: The next time you want to mount an ambitious show about a sexy, criminal-minded woman with man trouble -- and a low voice, may I recommend this?)

Ornamenting and "oversouling"

My True Love brought an article to my attention, laughing as he clicked "forward." It was a reaction to Christina Aguilera's unfortunate Lyrical Malfunction at the Super Bowl (poor girl) while singing the National Anthem, but it was also about pop singers' tendency to "oversoul" the melody -- the singer adds quick lines of decorative notes and musical frills between the actual melodic notes, overdoing it to the point the melody is an afterthought. Exhibit A: Mariah Carey oversouling Hero. (Also note Mariah's fluttering right hand -- it oversouls right along with her.) Exhibit B: This completely desecrated version of a famous Christmas song.

In classical music we have vocal decorations known as ornaments. In the Baroque era especially, singers would add embellishments all over the melodies. Even now, coloraturas like me are expected to tastefully ornament our most famous repertoire. First composed on the spot by the singer, the most successful embellishements were written down and are now considered standard.

Classical ornaments tend to happen after a melody has been introduced "plain." They highlight the fact that the melody is on its second hearing. Ornaments tend to be used at the very highest point of a phrase or to end musical idea and launch into another one -- they are not scattered in the middle and they are usually very clearly stated. Classical singers try, but they can't over-ornament much because conductors and pianists can instantly stop them with the crash of a chord. Classical singers can be guilty of choosing the wrong ornaments (or just executing good ones badly), but because so much of the repertoire is standard, the ornaments are part of the vocal furniture now and are practiced carefully, and rarely moved. I've composed a few ornaments for myself, borrowing a bit from this singer and that score, but I'm careful to remember melody first.

Ornaments are for tasteful classical singing, oversouling is the sin of pop divas, but the technical term for all singer-driven note addition is melisma. Melisma has been around as long as there has been singing. (Show me a singer and I'll show you someone willing to mess around with a melody.) But, it isn't always the right thing to do, unless you know when to stop. When my voice students ask if they can do it. I usually say no, at least not while I'm watching. Good melisma can be an indicator of a nice healthy, flexible larynx as well a nice, healthy ego. Bad melisma reveals breaks in the voice caused by laryngeal tension. For examples of bad melisma and criminal oversouling, watch American Idol, Seasons One through Twenty.

Melisma is heard clearly in chants of the Catholic church. A Kyrie ("Lord Have Mercy, Christ Have Mercy, Lord Have Mercy") can contain just a few notes -- or thirty five. They start out with the same couple of notes, but they're quite different after that. I like both versions heard here (there are hundreds more). Sadly, very few Catholic congregations sing either one, those that do restrict it to Lent. (I don't find singing chant during Lent to be penitential at all -- it's like Christmas to me!) It's been my experience that parishioners are attracted to melisma as listeners -- it sounds very showy and emotional -- but they don't dare try to sing it in a group setting. Only the monks and choristers are willing to give it a shot. As a chorister, I would be happy to be the Melisma Representative for any parish that would want one. Too bad so few do.

Here is another Kyrie in English by Marty Haugen, composer of the very well known setting, Mass Of Creation. Note how few notes are used in the melody, and how every word gets a note. I'm not a Marty fan and this Mass setting is sickeningly ubiquitous, but I recognize that he composed something that is singable for the average melisma-phobe. (Oversoulers, feel free to muck up Haugen as much as possible.)

The worst oversouling I ever heard was committed by a high schooler singing Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls. He oversouled "I'll Know," and the audience was instantly transported from 1950s Gotham to an Usher concert. Thankfully and incredibly, Broadway remains mostly free of oversoul. Hope it stays that way, but I'm not placing bets.

H/T Huffington Post

Ac-cen-tchu-ate The Positive

Well Hello There . . . I've had a lot of "Deep Thinking" this week . . . thinking a lot about music and liturgy, and faith, and life and love. This week marks the second anniversary of the death of my beloved teacher and friend, Prof. Paul Hickfang. I miss him more now than I ever did. He taught me a great deal about music, and life, and love. The more I teach, the more I wish I could pick up the phone and talk with him about my students and my life now. But, I believe he is happily watching me, and I talk to him anyway. That's not unusual.

In addition to wishing I could still have Prof. Hickfang on this Earth, I wish I could just walk into a parish down the road and open up the Liber Usualis and start chanting along with 200 other people, or even find a few sangin' friends and start a South County version of The Anonymous 4. But that's not likely to happen. So, I'm focusing on what I can do:

1. Play really good classical sacred music at home and in the car, and sing along. Or, when I'm feeling silly, I'll play the Dogma Dogs.

2. Volunteer for Catholic Charities, because works of mercy happen outside of choir lofts, too. I've volunteered for Salvation Army in the past and have supported seminary and pro-life fundraisers, but I think it's time to be a little more involved in the Church Universal.

3. Keep casting the net for like-minded musical friends, because even though I feel isolated sometimes, I can't be the ONLY person in a 50 mile radius who likes to sing traditional hymnody and chant!

4.  Relax and realize that all my frustrations are but temporary. The best is yet to come.

XO Eden

It's me or the vacuum

I recently attended a meeting of fellow liturgical laborers. It was a meeting of singing specialists who were not yet familiar with programming music for the Catholic Mass. I attended the meeting too, hoping to network with my fellow church musicians, maybe get a cantor gig here or there. Since I moved here I've heard a depressing sameness in the music in many parishes I've visited. There are organs, but they are all set to tremolo, which makes every hymn sound like it's coming out of a flocked-wallpaper funeral home. (I used to sell Lowrey organs, back in the day.) Hymn selection is heavily weighted towards folk tunes with lyrics my piano teacher used to jokingly call "Jesus-Is-My-Boyfriend." The cantors charged with performing this music are unpaid and untrained. One cantor I heard recently sounded like she had asthma, her voice was so small. The microphone had to be turned way up for her, so in addition to hearing her pitches, we could also hear every wheezy breath she took too. I was actually kind of worried for her.

Yep, I'm complaining, but this situation is not news to anyone who works in sacred music. Parishes everywhere have moved away from more classical sounds, and have embraced more contemporary sounds, rendering folks like me nearly obsolete. We dinosaurs have to sigh and admit that many people prefer contemporary worship music to what we would offer them. Even musicians trained in Bach and Mozart will program more Marty Haugen than George Frederic Handel -- it's easy, it's poppy, it makes people perky. Folks like me -- who go happily prostrate at the sound of transcendent Chant and powerful choral polyphony -- are fewer and farther between now. Prof. Thomas Day of Salve Regina University wrote a really funny book about this situation: Why Catholics Can't Sing.

Full disclosure: Even I like some contemporary music -- in very small doses. I like Gospel music in a Gospel church, and I love the traditional Gospel station on Pandora. But I don't want it at Mass each and every week. I just think if you're going to play music that sounds like Jesus whispering in your ear, play it on headphones or in a small space, not in a majestic, stone-built Catholic church. The church is a place for majestic music. I like to feel "out" of myself at Mass, and I feel very "out" of me and very close to God when I hear well-trained singers and organists playing centuries-old music expressly created for His praise in His temple. I like knowing that I am singing the same music that centuries of the Faithful have used to praise God -- it makes me feel connected to the saints. I fall right back to Earth when I am forced to watch cantors make YMCA signs at the front of the church while clunking loudly around the microphones.

I can't seem to find musical transendence in a Catholic church in my area at the moment, and it's very frustrating. I worry that I'm never going to find it.

I know there are many roads to God and that's a good and necessary thing. I like to imagine the road to God as a long, gold-paved majestic highway, that starts out as dirt and gets more golden as you get closer. The music helps keep me focused on the road ahead. When I hear music like this, it makes me imagine a road to God that meanders past a bunch of strip malls and county fairs, the kind of detour where you're forced to spend an hour watching someone demonstrate a fancy vacuum and then wheedle you for a sale. You can get distracted from looking forward. To me, it's distracting to the point of annoyance.

Even though I find the current music situation extremely frustrating, it's not going to keep me away from Catholic Mass. Sometimes I think that's the lesson that God is trying to teach me: Stay focused, Eden. The Eucharist trumps anything and everything. So I turn my focus to the readings, to the homily, to everything but the music, and I try to remember that it's not about me, it's about God. And there's always Adoration. And, I'm working on developing a small group of local, like-minded singers (yep, it will be a small group) who want to get together and sing a little traditional sacred music. If we're welcomed into a parish occasionally to share what we can offer, well, that would be nice but I'm not going to sit by the phone waiting for an invitation. Those vacuums are really loud.

Sometimes when I get out of Mass, I get in the car and crank up my iPod, and screech out of the parking lot to music like this. It helps.

How Not To Write A Play In Seven Hours

Hi All, I survived the 24-Hour Play Festival! My play Brother Will, Brother John was pretty lousy. I was cold and tired for the entire 7 hours I was writing, and I dozed through the auditions at 9:30am. But, I really want to write another play in 2012!

What I learned:

1. It's okay to have a few ideas beforehand. I had tried to empty my mind before I showed up for the midnight meeting. Unfortunately I succeeded. . .and it was really hard to generate ideas past a first page! I came up with 10 different scenarios but couldn't get anything going. I figured it would be cheating to have any preconceived notions; that was silly of me and yet another example of my diva perfectionism. Over the course of the year I'll write down a few scenarios that interest me, and then at least I'll have a small bank to draw on if I draw a blank. I'll also write down a few scenarios that I will forbid myself to use, so I don't turn into a cliche factory.

2. Don't read Sondheim. I received Stephen Sondheim's wonderful new book, Finishing The Hat, as a Christmas present and I savored a chapter each day. In the book, Sondheim dishes on how he wrote (and rewrote and rewrote) his brilliant lyrics, books and music. He also disses several of my favorite dead librettists. Reading Sondheim before writing dialogue makes one want to write like Sondheim, and that ain't possible. Everything I wrote felt clunky and uninspired after reading the lyrics to A Little Night Music, and I probably aborted several workable scenarios far too early. So, no more reading of the masters before this kind of assignment. Instead, I'll read the National Enquirer.

3. Good actors and directors can make anything better if you give them the space. I've written some pretty good stuff (no, no, really I have) and while sometimes things have gone well, I've also watched thoughtless directors and shaky actors suck the life and sparkle out of it.  I tried to control the damage, but was mostly unsuccessful. It was painful to witness and experience-- and it goes with being a writer.

I didn't know I could have the opposite experience. This time, the director and actors saved me. I turned in a ho-hum play at 7am and twelve hours later, I was amazed to find the actors rehearsing something that even they found amusing. They took my Edsel of a play and got it going, and I was amazed to hear actual laughter from the audience as they performed. I am grateful to them!

Les six

I'm one of six writers participating in the Contemporary Theater Company's Sixth Annual 24-hour Play Festival, January 8 in South Kingstown, RI. The writers will get some instructions at 12 midnight on the 8th, we turn in our plays at 7am, and then the directors and casts work on the shows for the rest of the day, culminating in a performance at 8pm that evening. I have never done anything like this, which is precisely why I am doing it. I'm a little unnerved about it. Could be entertaining, could be a trainwreck. Either way, I'm in!

Why yes, I teach

Want voice lessons? I teach in Charlestown, Rhode Island . . . with two shiny new annex locations coming soon to West Kingston and Westerly!! Contact me through this website. Prices are low, quality is HIGH!

Dr. Zauberflote

Hello friends, I'm in the middle of two shows at the moment! It's been great working with Connecticut Lyric Opera on their production of Die Zauberflote . . . .here are the Three Ladies, minions to the Queen of the Night.

And I'm working on Seussical: The Meussical at Courthouse Center For The Arts . . . it's a great show for families. Click here for tickets. They'll sell out FAST.

Happy Thanksgiving. . .. .I'm the kind of gal who has to keep herself from putting up the Christmas tree on the afternoon of Thanksgiving. We'll see how long I last. I predict I will cave on Black Friday.

Marry The Man Today -- or at least this week

Hello friends, Two good things coming up . . . my impending wedding and . . . I'll be singing First Lady in Die Zauberflote with Connecticut Lyric Opera! Performances are in mid November and early December, all over Connecticut. I'm excited to sing First Lady for the first time! I just wish the first rehearsal wasn't . .. .the day after my wedding. Oh well, every day's a honeymoon, right? ;)

What's A Lady Like Me Doin' In A Joint Like This?

Well . . . turn your volume WAY up. I'm cutting and editing the tracks from "I'm The Queen And You're Not," my April 29 farewell recital at an Unnamed Midwestern College That Educates For Liberty. Someone asked me not to mention the college by name if I uploaded tracks from this recital onto, say YouTube. I guess they feared that if people knew I was singing there, no one else would want to go there! I'm using Garage Band to try to fix some of the volume swings in the recording, but it's slow going. If anyone can recommend an easier audio editing program, I'm all ?. . . ears!

This is the second song from the show . . ?I opened with the Queen Of The Night's first aria -- but the sound really fluctuates so I'm not posting it yet. Then, I segued into this funny tune by Murray Grand, then into a little patter. Aren't sopranos hilarious?

What's A Lady Like Me Doin' In a Joint Like This?

Musical Theater Merry-Go-Round

Hello friends, I'm pleased to announce that I'll be music directing several shows with Courthouse Center For The Arts in their 2010-2011 season. First up is Seussical, which plays December 17, 18 and 19. Whenever I think of Dr. Seuss in "performance," I think of this and smile.

In 2011, I'll music direct Grey Gardens, Runaways, Happy Days: The Musical and Annie.

I'm also looking for more playwriting opportunities. . . working for this guy,?aka Mr. Big my fiance . . .singing here occasionally . . .and auditioning for this local opera company in Hartford, CT.?I like Hartford because my sweet mezzo friend lives nearby!

I'm still working on dividing up my "royal recital" and slew of springtime performances into digital bites suitable for YouTube. As the 'Net is my witness, I'll have it done . . . . .soon.

My favorite websites

Hello friends . . . I've been in The Ocean State for a month now . . . ?settling in! I've just concluded a month of teaching vocal technique to young performers. These talented kids have a "really big show" next week! I started working on the music with them this week . . . it was fun to share music history with them -- they'd never head of Cabaret except for this. It's been a while since I've taught tweens . . . it's exhausting, but in a good way. I only had to do two or three Tween Smackdowns for talking during rehearsal.

I'm still planning my wedding to Mr. Big, so I spend time online looking for the perfect little hair accessory (still looking) and flower ideas, and when I can't stand that any more, I flee to my favorite blogs and websites. I'm listing my top favorites here.

1. Conversion Diary.?Raised atheist, Jennifer Fulwiler is now a practicing Roman Catholic. How on earth did THAT happen? Her blog makes a lot of the head-scratching questions about faith and Catholicism easier to think about. (She's also writing a book.)

2. Christus Vincit. Brian Michael Page is an organist, composer and self-proclaimed "Snark" living in -- Rhode Island!! I found his blog several years ago while googling "terrible liturgical music" after a particularly rough weekend, and I landed in a wonderful sinkhole of snarky comments about bad sacred music and how to battle it. Other bloggers are more diplomatic, but I like Brian's misanthropic tone. I can't believe we now live in the same state. We haven't met yet, but that's but a matter of time. Brian. . . we're gonna snark at a Starbucks soon, man.

3. Musica Sacra. The go-to website for all things related to Gregorian chant and traditional sacred music. I attended the Sacred Music Colloquium hosted by CMAA back in the mid 1990s, after I converted to Catholicism. . . ?I still use the skills I learned there. Glad to see that the Colloquium is thriving!

4. Cote de Texas. "Interior design porn" for those attracted to Americanized French decor. Won't ever do it in real life but there is no harm in looking, right? Unless it leads you to buy?here. Then, you have a problem and you need professional intervention.

5. Intimate Weddings. This site helps me maintain perspective as I hurtle into planning my fall wedding. It reminds me to focus on?the relationship and the marriage, rather than the wedding. (Been there, done that.) Small is beautiful! It can be done!

6. And here's the polar opposite. Good for flowers, but awful in other respects because it makes me think I am a Bad Bride for not canning my own preserves as wedding favors. Why do we have wedding favors, again?

7. Garden Design is my new favorite magazine . . . I still like Fine Gardening and Better Homes and Gardens but I love the ideas I'm getting from this one! And the blog is great, too.

What? Did you think I'd tell you that my surf history also includes visits to here, here, and here?

Hello from the Ocean State!

I'm all moved in to my new home in Rhode Island. I'm getting married here in October. I'm in a beautiful house near the ocean, with four cats, a dog, a snake, and lots of weeds to pull. I'm teaching part time at Courthouse Center For The Arts.

And now . . I'm looking for new adventures. I'm a Catholic looking for a parish, a classically trained soprano cantor looking for a choir loft and a priest who likes "Ave Maria"s, an organist looking for an instrument. I'm a performer looking for a stage, a writer looking for a story (and some quiet place without boxes around, to write it!), a teacher looking for students to inspire. I'm a gardener looking for flowers and back yards to delight me, a traveler looking for new places to explore, a mom of a tween and a stepmom of a kindergartener looking for support and advice, a divorced woman looking for prayers as I take the ultimate leap of faith into the future.

So. . . email me, if I don't find you first. ;)

Soprano At Ease

All done! What a great time that was . . . I enjoyed singing for the last time (?) at Hillsdale College . . . ?I will post some sound files when the recordings are sent on . . . thanks to all who came out. Here's a shot of The Queen and her Prince, apres-show. Thanks, Jim Rowen . . .

And now, what? I'm moving to Rhode Island for a very good reason . . . will be working here for the summer . . . come sing with me . . . and after that, we'll see. ;) I have a few ideas. . . . but first, a nap . . .