Oregon will always be my home for a few reasons. 1) I was born and raised here. 2) All of my family lives here (with the exception of Ashley and Jared, but they're moving back asap) 3) and my best friends are here.
However, the third reason is becoming less of a stronghold. Right after their wedding Stephanie and Keith moved down to Corvallis. Not too far away, but not convenient. Sean is staying in Montana this year. Brent is going to Costa Rica until December or January. And the toughest one: Lydia might get a job and move to Walla Walla.
It sounds like it's going to be a great job. She had a successful interview. I just wish she wouldn't have to live four hours away. While it wasn't what I was looking forward to, our friendship can certainly handle another distance. At least this time it is less than 1,000 miles.
This weekend Brent had a going-away, weekend-long, boating trip on Lake Billy-Chinook. It was so much fun and Brent's friends from his paramedic program were really great people. Mark was home from Belgium so he was able to come, fortunately. We camped out at Cove Palisades camp ground. It was pretty posh and too comfortable to be camping, but it had a great view of Mt. Jefferson and perfect for our trip. Lydia, Cat, and I drove up on Friday and joined everyone else on the boat in the afternoon. We were certainly exceeding the boat's capacity with nine adults on the boat. I went intertubing and unfortunately got two massive bruises on each buttcheek when I decided to sit in the tube rather than lay on my stomach. The next day I got up with the early crowd and headed down to the lake at 8:30 for the clear, wake-free water. From then until noon, I had managed to try wake boarding and knee boarding, though neither were a success. However, I was successful at somehow managing to lose my brand new Sigg waterbottle overboard. I had heard a thunk and thought it hand fallen into a cubby on the boat or under the seat, but I do believe it hopped out and is now floating on the lake. After a full day of boating, we were all wiped out and sun-burnt. Each night we'd walk out to the edge of the canyon and watch the sunset behind the mountains.
It was such a great trip! I hadn't been on a lake since the last time Brent took me boating summer after senior year of high school. I love being in the water. In fact, the best part of all the water sports is when I fall in (minus the possibility of losing ones shorts, the one time thunder thighs do come in handy). I even would jump in when the boat would stop for changing of riders.
This weekend was a wonderful last hurrah of summer!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Minnesota, my second home
My summer has had a few surprises so far, but nothing too extraordinary. Two weeks ago I had a wonderful week in Minnesota. My friend Kaitlin picked me up from the airport and we got to chat and have dinner my first night. I started by visiting my friend Lauren who was in production up in Alexandria. Then I had a chance to drive down to campus and chat with my old voice teacher. I met up with Angela, my host teacher from student teaching. My last night I stayed with Emily, one of my fellow Hoyme staffers. And of course I spent as much time as I could with my old roommate and "favorite", Abby.
My main reason for heading over this time was to see my friends Stephanie and Nick get married. Steph was a fellow music-ed major and she took my place in our Minneapolis apartment. In fact, I ended up staying with her at the apartment for a few nights. I even got to sleep in my old tiny room under the stairs. Steph's bachelorette party was thursday night. The best part by far was going to the dueling piano bar and having the piano player serenade Steph while she sat up on the piano. Steph asked me to read at the wedding. They picked some good ones. It was such a great experience for me. Surprisingly there was no choir, but when the organ cut out for that third verse of a hymn, there was most definitely 4-part harmony happening. It was small, but I knew almost everyone there. After the reception, us Oles moved the party to the cow where we continued to catch up and just enjoy our time together. It was especially great to see Cindy who had been in Germany for the last year.
I headed back to Oregon after Abby and I spent a day with our friends Hannah and Levi, who were married at the end of May this year. It was so good to be reunited with everyone. I wish I could have both Oregon and Minnesota all in one place. It was nice to visit, but Oregon will always be home for me.
My main reason for heading over this time was to see my friends Stephanie and Nick get married. Steph was a fellow music-ed major and she took my place in our Minneapolis apartment. In fact, I ended up staying with her at the apartment for a few nights. I even got to sleep in my old tiny room under the stairs. Steph's bachelorette party was thursday night. The best part by far was going to the dueling piano bar and having the piano player serenade Steph while she sat up on the piano. Steph asked me to read at the wedding. They picked some good ones. It was such a great experience for me. Surprisingly there was no choir, but when the organ cut out for that third verse of a hymn, there was most definitely 4-part harmony happening. It was small, but I knew almost everyone there. After the reception, us Oles moved the party to the cow where we continued to catch up and just enjoy our time together. It was especially great to see Cindy who had been in Germany for the last year.
I headed back to Oregon after Abby and I spent a day with our friends Hannah and Levi, who were married at the end of May this year. It was so good to be reunited with everyone. I wish I could have both Oregon and Minnesota all in one place. It was nice to visit, but Oregon will always be home for me.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Kitchen creativity
For the past couple days I've been busy cooking in the kitchen. While it is a lot of fun and exciting for me, I'm learning still that I am not perfect and things go wrong all the time. I've been wanting to make my own spring rolls for the longest time (the fresh ones, not fried). However, I accidentally bought lumpia wrappers. They didn't have spring roll wrappers at A-Dong Market. I considered throwing everything out, but decided to go for it and make lumpia with the prepared vegetables instead. I added tofu to it as well. lumpia can be served fresh, but it isn't that good and it falls apart very easily.
Yesterday, I didn't plan on making anything, but I just had to do something in the kitchen. So before Lydia came to pick me up for ultimate frisbee I baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies.
Tonight I wanted to try three different recipes. They all are very different foods. I made a shrimp and spinach salad, sweet potato fries, and beet/blue cheese deviled eggs. The only one that seemed to be completely successful was the deviled eggs. They are pink in the middle because of the beet puree and the blue cheese is just a nice dash of zip. The shrimp salad was quite good (Cooking Light recipe). However, I had to improvise on the dressing when the stopper/spout on the olive oil bottle decided to fall out giving me more than the 1 Tablespoon needed. The sweet potato fries were my attempt at making them better than my mom. Her fries are always soft and never crispy. I sliced them thinly with my mandoline, hoping this would improve on crispiness factor. Alas, they just burned faster. I think the only good way to make fries is by actually frying them. That's why they are called fries, not bakes.
There are other deviled egg recipes on chow.com (my new favorite website). I'd really like to try the wasabi and roe deviled eggs:
http://www.chow.com/stories/11747
I also received help as to how to peel a hard-boiled egg. Every method I've tried has been a failure with me taking huge chunks out of the egg white. This is a fool-proof method: http://www.chow.com/stories/10879
If you have the time, just check out more from chow.com. I really love watching the obsessives videos (especially the sake, absinthe, and offal ones).
Yesterday, I didn't plan on making anything, but I just had to do something in the kitchen. So before Lydia came to pick me up for ultimate frisbee I baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies.
Tonight I wanted to try three different recipes. They all are very different foods. I made a shrimp and spinach salad, sweet potato fries, and beet/blue cheese deviled eggs. The only one that seemed to be completely successful was the deviled eggs. They are pink in the middle because of the beet puree and the blue cheese is just a nice dash of zip. The shrimp salad was quite good (Cooking Light recipe). However, I had to improvise on the dressing when the stopper/spout on the olive oil bottle decided to fall out giving me more than the 1 Tablespoon needed. The sweet potato fries were my attempt at making them better than my mom. Her fries are always soft and never crispy. I sliced them thinly with my mandoline, hoping this would improve on crispiness factor. Alas, they just burned faster. I think the only good way to make fries is by actually frying them. That's why they are called fries, not bakes.
There are other deviled egg recipes on chow.com (my new favorite website). I'd really like to try the wasabi and roe deviled eggs:
http://www.chow.com/stories/11747
I also received help as to how to peel a hard-boiled egg. Every method I've tried has been a failure with me taking huge chunks out of the egg white. This is a fool-proof method: http://www.chow.com/stories/10879
If you have the time, just check out more from chow.com. I really love watching the obsessives videos (especially the sake, absinthe, and offal ones).
Sunday, July 5, 2009
4th of July
Today I drove down to Eugene to hang out with my Bach Festival YCA co-workers from last year. It is always much further south than I anticipate. It's not quite like driving to Corvallis. I got there towards the end of their last rehearsal. As I was trying to find my way around the remodeled music building I ran into Angela, one of the other singers from Salzburg. She was singing with the festival choir again. Another person I was surprised to see was Sonja. This is her first year singing with the festival choir. She was in Ole Choir with me but we got to know each other a bit more when we both sang in the church choir at IHM in Minnetonka. When I was talking to her, I of course mentioned my plans to move away from teaching and go for performance. She was very enthusiastic and totally understood. Everyone I have talked to has been very supportive. I'm always a little hesitant to tell people, especially people I've known through choir and education, that I don't want to be a choir teacher right now. I was getting high-fives and people say "go for it!" or "awesome!" It makes me feel really happy.
Of course I saw some of my favorite people: my fellow chaperones from last year. It was so much fun to just goof around with them again. We all ate dinner together in Barnhardt and of course laughed over and over. After dinner, Chelsea and I went to Prince Puckler's ice cream shop. I had been craving one of their chocolate-dipped, frozen bananas with nuts. Chelsea was my roommate our first year of YCA. She chaperoned last year. I just love hanging out with her. She has a very positive and uplifting spirit. I call her my future neighbor. Last year when walking around Eugene's Saturday Market I told her that I would love to live next door to her. Today, we talked a lot about how much we've grown over the last year with our post-college experiences. She's been working on a farm in upstate NY that hosts outdoor school children.
I then got to pose as a YCA chaperone as we loaded the buses to their performance in the park. The kids sounded great. I didn't recognize too many because it's a very new group. Only 1/3 of the group returned this year. On the bus rides i got to chat with Cole, a fellow Ole alum and the choir teacher at LO, and Peter, a student from South Salem who I'll be working with at St. Paul's in the fall.
Which reminds me... I got a job! It's part time, but it'll take care of health insurance and loan payments. I will be the assistant director for the music ministry at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. They have some of the best music in Salem. It'll be a great opportunity for me. The director also volunteered the church for me to teach voice lessons in. That's going to be so helpful.
Things I Liked about today: (almost everything) chatting with g+g Zielinski, seeing YCA people and just picking up where we left off, seeing people I didn't think I'd ever see again, frozen banana, good conversations, my awesome blueberry pancakes, and cleaning up the kitchen
Things I didn't like about today: mosquito bites, almost falling asleep on I-5, I smelled by the end of the day
Latest song: "Cecilia" by Refice- an opera about the life and death of St. Cecilia
Of course I saw some of my favorite people: my fellow chaperones from last year. It was so much fun to just goof around with them again. We all ate dinner together in Barnhardt and of course laughed over and over. After dinner, Chelsea and I went to Prince Puckler's ice cream shop. I had been craving one of their chocolate-dipped, frozen bananas with nuts. Chelsea was my roommate our first year of YCA. She chaperoned last year. I just love hanging out with her. She has a very positive and uplifting spirit. I call her my future neighbor. Last year when walking around Eugene's Saturday Market I told her that I would love to live next door to her. Today, we talked a lot about how much we've grown over the last year with our post-college experiences. She's been working on a farm in upstate NY that hosts outdoor school children.
I then got to pose as a YCA chaperone as we loaded the buses to their performance in the park. The kids sounded great. I didn't recognize too many because it's a very new group. Only 1/3 of the group returned this year. On the bus rides i got to chat with Cole, a fellow Ole alum and the choir teacher at LO, and Peter, a student from South Salem who I'll be working with at St. Paul's in the fall.
Which reminds me... I got a job! It's part time, but it'll take care of health insurance and loan payments. I will be the assistant director for the music ministry at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. They have some of the best music in Salem. It'll be a great opportunity for me. The director also volunteered the church for me to teach voice lessons in. That's going to be so helpful.
Things I Liked about today: (almost everything) chatting with g+g Zielinski, seeing YCA people and just picking up where we left off, seeing people I didn't think I'd ever see again, frozen banana, good conversations, my awesome blueberry pancakes, and cleaning up the kitchen
Things I didn't like about today: mosquito bites, almost falling asleep on I-5, I smelled by the end of the day
Latest song: "Cecilia" by Refice- an opera about the life and death of St. Cecilia
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
New Summer
Well... it's a new summer. 2009 is here. I've never known how to appreciate summer vacation until now. After teaching middle school choir for 6 months, my brain, body, voice, was ready for the summer. I learned a lot from my experience at Parrish M.S.: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Now is not the time for me to continue teaching in a classroom. While I have the chance to pursue a singing career I need to take it.
The summer started with one of my best friends getting married. Stephanie and Keith tied the knot on June 20th with a beautiful mass at St. Vincent's, the church where we all met through youth ministry. I was a bridesmaid and sang throughout the wedding. Though I had been looking forward to it for over a year, it was a relief to be over. I felt like a zombie by the time we cleaned up the hall. I never thought wearing heels all day, singing, and smiling could be so exhausting.
This summer I've been teaching music for the musical at CET. It's a great show written by the director, Greg Bowers. He's been composing it for the last two years. This will be a world premiere. The show is called Lewis and Alice and it goes back and forth between Victorian England where Lewis Carrol is telling his story and Wonderland. You really should come and see it: Thursday and Friday, July 23rd and 24th, 7:00 PM at South Salem High School auditorium.
My position at CET is very part-time and I only need to be there for two hours each day. I've had lots of extra time to practice voice lately and get some exercise in. It's my goal to lose 50 pounds by the end of the year. I love the Group Groove class at the Courthouse. It's an aerobics class with a lot of fun dance stuff. The other class that I like is called Group Centergy and it's a lot of yoga and pilates strength training and balance. I need to head back to a spin class as well.
I used to exercise in the evenings, but now I have a conflict. Every night but fridays and saturdays, I have rehearsals for My Fair Lady with the Pentacle Theatre, our community theatre. It's fun being in the chorus, they let me sing soprano and I'm so excited to start dancing.
I had a wonderful voice lesson yesterday, though today I'm frustrated with my voice. We picked out new literature and surprisingly a fair amount of it is coloratura stuff. Not at all what I thought I might audition for grad school with. But it works. I have much more agility than I thought. I don't know if I'm ready to tackled the big stuff, but I can handle cadenza stuff and trills. This week she had me look at "Villanelle" by Dell'aqcua "Ach, Ich Ful" from Die Zauberflote, an American art song by a new composer, an aria from Die Fledermaus and one from Ballad of Baby Doe. She's trying to pick out stuff that will show my high notes as well as the strength in my lower range.
Things I liked from today:
riding the scooter around town, learning some dance steps for the play, pear soda, successful shaving of the legs in the locker room, group groove, seeing my cousin, singing
Things I didn't like today:
Saigon Vietnamese restaurant, going to TJ Maxx three times, getting pelted by bugs when driving the scooter, getting frustrated with certain phrases in songs, cramps, my room is still a disaster area and it's spreading to the living room
Song of the Day:
"I'm Getting Married in the Morning" from My Fair Lady
The summer started with one of my best friends getting married. Stephanie and Keith tied the knot on June 20th with a beautiful mass at St. Vincent's, the church where we all met through youth ministry. I was a bridesmaid and sang throughout the wedding. Though I had been looking forward to it for over a year, it was a relief to be over. I felt like a zombie by the time we cleaned up the hall. I never thought wearing heels all day, singing, and smiling could be so exhausting.
This summer I've been teaching music for the musical at CET. It's a great show written by the director, Greg Bowers. He's been composing it for the last two years. This will be a world premiere. The show is called Lewis and Alice and it goes back and forth between Victorian England where Lewis Carrol is telling his story and Wonderland. You really should come and see it: Thursday and Friday, July 23rd and 24th, 7:00 PM at South Salem High School auditorium.
My position at CET is very part-time and I only need to be there for two hours each day. I've had lots of extra time to practice voice lately and get some exercise in. It's my goal to lose 50 pounds by the end of the year. I love the Group Groove class at the Courthouse. It's an aerobics class with a lot of fun dance stuff. The other class that I like is called Group Centergy and it's a lot of yoga and pilates strength training and balance. I need to head back to a spin class as well.
I used to exercise in the evenings, but now I have a conflict. Every night but fridays and saturdays, I have rehearsals for My Fair Lady with the Pentacle Theatre, our community theatre. It's fun being in the chorus, they let me sing soprano and I'm so excited to start dancing.
I had a wonderful voice lesson yesterday, though today I'm frustrated with my voice. We picked out new literature and surprisingly a fair amount of it is coloratura stuff. Not at all what I thought I might audition for grad school with. But it works. I have much more agility than I thought. I don't know if I'm ready to tackled the big stuff, but I can handle cadenza stuff and trills. This week she had me look at "Villanelle" by Dell'aqcua "Ach, Ich Ful" from Die Zauberflote, an American art song by a new composer, an aria from Die Fledermaus and one from Ballad of Baby Doe. She's trying to pick out stuff that will show my high notes as well as the strength in my lower range.
Things I liked from today:
riding the scooter around town, learning some dance steps for the play, pear soda, successful shaving of the legs in the locker room, group groove, seeing my cousin, singing
Things I didn't like today:
Saigon Vietnamese restaurant, going to TJ Maxx three times, getting pelted by bugs when driving the scooter, getting frustrated with certain phrases in songs, cramps, my room is still a disaster area and it's spreading to the living room
Song of the Day:
"I'm Getting Married in the Morning" from My Fair Lady
Friday, August 15, 2008
Auf Wiedersehen Salzburg!
I am now in Roma. It's nice, but it really makes me miss Salzburg. I knew downtown Salzburg like the back of my hand. I knew which bus to get on and when the next bus would be arriving. It was hot when the Fohn was in town, but there was always a guaranteed breeze by the Salz River. Almost everyone spoke some English, and I knew enough German to get by.
When I left Salzburg at 4:30 AM I slept the entire way to MUC. I said my goodbyes to folks and then found the AirBerlin counter. The goodbyes were nothing emotional. I don't know if I'll really miss anybody all too much. I'll miss Lindsey. Otherwise, I didn't really get to know anybody else that well. The dynamic of the group this year was very different from last year, or so I hear. It was definitely less talented and there were lots of cliques. There were also a number of dramatic people. When at Cafe Republic with Lindsey, Stephen, and Chelsea we talked about how we won't miss and are glad to be leaving dramatic people. Stephen said that when he gets back to Boulder he's going camping with his straight friends who aren't musicians.
After walking all the way to the other terminal, I finally made it to AirBerlin. The Munich airport had no moving walkways to help with the distance. Apparently My blue carry-on could not be a carry-on since I already had a backpack (which I later learned to be rucksack in German while I listened to Dora the Explorer- instead of teaching spanish, she teaches english). In the US I'm always able to pull off the backpack as the one personal item because it can fit under the seat. I could have done the same thing on this plane but the lady wouldn't believe me. So, I ended up having to pay 40Euro for the extra weight (it could have been worse, but I just bought a membership and then got the service for free).
I ate breakfast at an overpriced cafe in front of my gate. It was my last chance to indulge in the Nutella stuffed croissant and espresso that comes from a machine. On the plane I sat next to a young Italian boy, Frederico. I think he was probably almost 2 years old. He was so cute, but very fidgety. He thought it was fun to lower the tray table multiple times.
My first thought of the Rome airport was that it was like the U.S. It was definitely not as well kept as the German airports, people are noisier, like Americans. The cab driver the hotel sent me, Emiliano, was gorgeous. The cab was a Mercedes mini-van, I wonder if they sell those in the U.S.? While driving, I was very discouraged. It was very bleak looking and reminded me of a mixture of Southen California and Mexico: smog, heat, graffiti, and no vegetation. It is also a huge city. So it was like moving from Corvallis to LA.
My room is very small, but all I need is a bed (and it comes with a firm pillow, yay!) I have to leave my room key at the front desk everytime I leave. I got to the convent at 4 in the afternoon and headed for St. Cecilia's at 4:30. I didn't think I would be able to get much done, but I got back by 9ish and pretty much saw the majority of Trastevere on this side of the river.
I took the bus because I wasn't sure how far S. Cecilia's was. But it ended up not being that far away so I walked back and saved my 2nd bus pass.
I didn't have enough money to go to the cript, well actually I had 100E but she couldn't break it. I'm finding that I really like sculptures more than the other visual art forms. I got to see one of my favorites: St. Cecilia as she appeared when pulled from her tomb (don't worry, it's not gross, she was an incorruptible). My other favorite I will see tomorrow (Pieta by Michaelangelo). I spent some time in St. Cecilia's. It wasn't that fancy of a church and the organ was incredibly out of tune, I hope my 40 cent donation will help pay for tuning.
I then decided to head to the more signifcant church in the area: St. Maria. It is believed to be one of the oldest churches in the city (220 AD). The dome above the altar is and incredible gold mosaic and it is believed that a fountain of oil miraculously appeared on this site.
The square in front is a nice place to take a break, so I chilled out and ate some gelato. The gelateria also was unable to take my 100. But we didn't realize this problem until after they had scooped up my scoops of soy hazelnut and soy chocolate gelato. They were very nice and just gave it to me for free. Anna was right, Italians know how to do ice cream better than the germans.
I then looked in my guide book and they said that if i was willing to take the climb to Paul's Fountain that I should. They build it up to be something steep, or atleast that's what the Austrians mean. It was not that bad and again surprisingly close. The view was great and the sun was setting, so I got some good lighting for pictures. I also thoroughly enjoyed taking pictures of people hanging out at the fountains and in the parks. I was so joyous for the rest of the evening. I felt like my legs were invincible. I eventually made my way down the hill and just wandered. I ran into the college that my friend Matt goes to (he's gone to Torino for a few weeks, so I can't hang out with him). I found that you can only go down one side of the hill (the side opposite of my convent). Then I got lost wandering around a parking garage trying to figure out how to get the the 5th level the signs kept taking about (restuarants, etc.) Just below the garage is the tunnel that I came through on the bus, but I wasn't sure if I could walk through it. So I just walked further and looped around by St. Peter's.
I wasn't able to use my cell phone (you have to dial 00 then country code), so I called Lydia from a payphone to wish her a happy birthday and left a message.
I then grabbed a late dinner from one of the 5 pizza places right at the end of the street. Finally, somebody was able to take my 100 Euro note. Then I headed back to the convent for a night of trying to sleep. It's so hot here. I'm learning to just live through the sweat.
So my pictures aren't always that thorough. I don't take pictures of the breath-taking moments. They can't be recreated, therefore why try. I'd rater just remember them in my mind than some photo. They will be up soon...
When I left Salzburg at 4:30 AM I slept the entire way to MUC. I said my goodbyes to folks and then found the AirBerlin counter. The goodbyes were nothing emotional. I don't know if I'll really miss anybody all too much. I'll miss Lindsey. Otherwise, I didn't really get to know anybody else that well. The dynamic of the group this year was very different from last year, or so I hear. It was definitely less talented and there were lots of cliques. There were also a number of dramatic people. When at Cafe Republic with Lindsey, Stephen, and Chelsea we talked about how we won't miss and are glad to be leaving dramatic people. Stephen said that when he gets back to Boulder he's going camping with his straight friends who aren't musicians.
After walking all the way to the other terminal, I finally made it to AirBerlin. The Munich airport had no moving walkways to help with the distance. Apparently My blue carry-on could not be a carry-on since I already had a backpack (which I later learned to be rucksack in German while I listened to Dora the Explorer- instead of teaching spanish, she teaches english). In the US I'm always able to pull off the backpack as the one personal item because it can fit under the seat. I could have done the same thing on this plane but the lady wouldn't believe me. So, I ended up having to pay 40Euro for the extra weight (it could have been worse, but I just bought a membership and then got the service for free).
I ate breakfast at an overpriced cafe in front of my gate. It was my last chance to indulge in the Nutella stuffed croissant and espresso that comes from a machine. On the plane I sat next to a young Italian boy, Frederico. I think he was probably almost 2 years old. He was so cute, but very fidgety. He thought it was fun to lower the tray table multiple times.
My first thought of the Rome airport was that it was like the U.S. It was definitely not as well kept as the German airports, people are noisier, like Americans. The cab driver the hotel sent me, Emiliano, was gorgeous. The cab was a Mercedes mini-van, I wonder if they sell those in the U.S.? While driving, I was very discouraged. It was very bleak looking and reminded me of a mixture of Southen California and Mexico: smog, heat, graffiti, and no vegetation. It is also a huge city. So it was like moving from Corvallis to LA.
My room is very small, but all I need is a bed (and it comes with a firm pillow, yay!) I have to leave my room key at the front desk everytime I leave. I got to the convent at 4 in the afternoon and headed for St. Cecilia's at 4:30. I didn't think I would be able to get much done, but I got back by 9ish and pretty much saw the majority of Trastevere on this side of the river.
I took the bus because I wasn't sure how far S. Cecilia's was. But it ended up not being that far away so I walked back and saved my 2nd bus pass.
I didn't have enough money to go to the cript, well actually I had 100E but she couldn't break it. I'm finding that I really like sculptures more than the other visual art forms. I got to see one of my favorites: St. Cecilia as she appeared when pulled from her tomb (don't worry, it's not gross, she was an incorruptible). My other favorite I will see tomorrow (Pieta by Michaelangelo). I spent some time in St. Cecilia's. It wasn't that fancy of a church and the organ was incredibly out of tune, I hope my 40 cent donation will help pay for tuning.
I then decided to head to the more signifcant church in the area: St. Maria. It is believed to be one of the oldest churches in the city (220 AD). The dome above the altar is and incredible gold mosaic and it is believed that a fountain of oil miraculously appeared on this site.
The square in front is a nice place to take a break, so I chilled out and ate some gelato. The gelateria also was unable to take my 100. But we didn't realize this problem until after they had scooped up my scoops of soy hazelnut and soy chocolate gelato. They were very nice and just gave it to me for free. Anna was right, Italians know how to do ice cream better than the germans.
I then looked in my guide book and they said that if i was willing to take the climb to Paul's Fountain that I should. They build it up to be something steep, or atleast that's what the Austrians mean. It was not that bad and again surprisingly close. The view was great and the sun was setting, so I got some good lighting for pictures. I also thoroughly enjoyed taking pictures of people hanging out at the fountains and in the parks. I was so joyous for the rest of the evening. I felt like my legs were invincible. I eventually made my way down the hill and just wandered. I ran into the college that my friend Matt goes to (he's gone to Torino for a few weeks, so I can't hang out with him). I found that you can only go down one side of the hill (the side opposite of my convent). Then I got lost wandering around a parking garage trying to figure out how to get the the 5th level the signs kept taking about (restuarants, etc.) Just below the garage is the tunnel that I came through on the bus, but I wasn't sure if I could walk through it. So I just walked further and looped around by St. Peter's.
I wasn't able to use my cell phone (you have to dial 00 then country code), so I called Lydia from a payphone to wish her a happy birthday and left a message.
I then grabbed a late dinner from one of the 5 pizza places right at the end of the street. Finally, somebody was able to take my 100 Euro note. Then I headed back to the convent for a night of trying to sleep. It's so hot here. I'm learning to just live through the sweat.
So my pictures aren't always that thorough. I don't take pictures of the breath-taking moments. They can't be recreated, therefore why try. I'd rater just remember them in my mind than some photo. They will be up soon...
Monday, August 11, 2008
I performed my opera scene tonight. It went pretty well. My high stuff seemed a little pinched, that's frustrating since I know I can sing it so well. But it was better than I was afraid it might be. I did however, make the mistake of drinking some wine before the performance. After the masterclass we had an hour and a half before the performance. I ordered my favorite: weisswein gespritzt. Basically, it's white wine with soda. I didn't think it would affect me, and I don't think it really did. But I was a little paranoid at the start of the concert.
I sang in the masterclass today. I was somewhat disappointed with it. The clinician was Betty Bullock. She really didn't offer any advice about my singing, but mostly about interpretation, which I've heard already multiple suggestions of how to sing the b section of the song. It was mostly just trying stuff out. Nothing earth shattering. I wish I could have sung in more masterclasses.
I sang in the masterclass today. I was somewhat disappointed with it. The clinician was Betty Bullock. She really didn't offer any advice about my singing, but mostly about interpretation, which I've heard already multiple suggestions of how to sing the b section of the song. It was mostly just trying stuff out. Nothing earth shattering. I wish I could have sung in more masterclasses.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Last weekend
So It's my last weekend in Salzburg and it sucks! It was raining buckets this morning. I was wanting to go to Monchsberg and Nonnberg Abbey. But instead I managed to walk down to the supermarket.
I'm sick. I have a sore throat, congested chest (as usual), and now drippy nose. I'm also coughing a bit and have an occasional ear ache. I can't sing because anytime I sing above a D I start to have a coughing attack. I wish my technique was good enough to sing through being sick, but I'm not there yet.
Because I can't practice, I am getting kind of depressed. I need to be patient and work on things like text, etc. that doesn't require me using my voice. But I just really want to sing. This is the first time that I am really frustrated that I'm sick. I started crying in the practice room when I realized that I couldn't practice yesterday. I skipped my German test to sleep. Then went to lunch and the dress rehearsal for the opera scenes. I was able to sing, for that since the duet is in a comfortable spot in my voice, but I definitely sounded weak.
On the bright side of being sick, all that I crave right now is fresh fruits. I ate so many grapes (but they take a while since these ones have seeds), nectarines, and cherries.
I'm now having to get ready to leave and it makes me sad. But I'm also excited to start things back home: lessons, practicing, cooking, etc. I am actually not as excited to start student teaching as I should be. Right now I'm just seeing it as something to get through. It will definitely feel more like a job that I have to do for the money. But in this case, the salary is not in dollars, but a Bachelor's degree.
On the brightside I don't think I will need to take anymore money out for Salzburg. I also found 30 Euros in my pocket today when I put on my rain jacket.
I'm sick. I have a sore throat, congested chest (as usual), and now drippy nose. I'm also coughing a bit and have an occasional ear ache. I can't sing because anytime I sing above a D I start to have a coughing attack. I wish my technique was good enough to sing through being sick, but I'm not there yet.
Because I can't practice, I am getting kind of depressed. I need to be patient and work on things like text, etc. that doesn't require me using my voice. But I just really want to sing. This is the first time that I am really frustrated that I'm sick. I started crying in the practice room when I realized that I couldn't practice yesterday. I skipped my German test to sleep. Then went to lunch and the dress rehearsal for the opera scenes. I was able to sing, for that since the duet is in a comfortable spot in my voice, but I definitely sounded weak.
On the bright side of being sick, all that I crave right now is fresh fruits. I ate so many grapes (but they take a while since these ones have seeds), nectarines, and cherries.
I'm now having to get ready to leave and it makes me sad. But I'm also excited to start things back home: lessons, practicing, cooking, etc. I am actually not as excited to start student teaching as I should be. Right now I'm just seeing it as something to get through. It will definitely feel more like a job that I have to do for the money. But in this case, the salary is not in dollars, but a Bachelor's degree.
On the brightside I don't think I will need to take anymore money out for Salzburg. I also found 30 Euros in my pocket today when I put on my rain jacket.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Sorry I have not written in a while. I've been trying to get to bed early and not spend so much time on the computer because I am starting to get sick and am needing to sleep and drink water. I was still able to sing this week, except today I'm just not feeling like my voice wants to do it. Though, I think I could still practice a bit.
I need to spend so much more time in a practice room. I got some of the best advice the other day. So remember how we sat in the masterclass with Christa Ludwig and there was this awesome Chinese baritone and Turkish mezzo who sang? Well we ran into them at the bus stop. They happen to ride the same bus as us and get off at our stop as well. Angelina asked them who they'd recommend for voice teachers, since both of them studied in the US. They said that in the end you are your best voice teacher. Then they went on to recommend Barbara Bonney who they said explains things so clearly and is such a caring person. But that really struck me, I am my best voice teacher. I'm the one who has to work at this and make my voice better. Teachers are only there to give suggestions. I then considered this in all aspects of my life. I'm the only one who can make myself better. The people we meet along the way are just inspiration or they introduce us to things. The next day I had one of the best practice sessions I have ever had. What used to happen was that I would just sing through things and memorize and then go find what i need to fix at my voice lessons. Instead, I started a new aria and found the things I needed to fix in the moment of learning the piece. I need to be a set of ears like my teachers before I get to the lesson, so much more can be accomplished. So I was super knit-picky when learning the aria. I sang through each phrase on my most resonant vowel 'ee' and focused on line and constant moving forward then sang just the vowels in the music, and then finally added the consonants, if it wasn't just right I went back and did it again. It took so much more time, but it was totally worth it.
The next morning I went to my voice lesson. I asked to sing the aria I had worked on ("Kommt ein schlanker bursch gegangen" from Der Freischutz) This was my first time bringing it to a lesson. It was going very well. When the accompanist came in to play, my teacher said to her "She's singing the poop out of this piece." I really liked it. So now I'm trying to memorize it for the final. That is, if my voice holds up. I actually don't have to do the final since I am in one of the opera scenes. But my opera scene is quite short and was a breeze to memorize, so I don't feel I qualify to take the free ticket out of the final, since i could easily do both.
Yesterday I bought more cherries from the outdoor market in front of the University Church. I am on fresh fruit withdrawal and bought nectarines and cherries. Which will both be gone by the time I get home. So yummy!
The last couple days we had masterclasses with Mary Dibbern, one of the leading French diction experts. The diction coaching can get a little tedious, but it was very helpful. There were a number of diction things with French that I had been taught incorrectly. When Mary explained how things should be pronounced, like the schwa, etc. it actually made it easier to sing French. It's not as closed as we think it needs to be.
After yesterday's masterclass, Lindsey, Ryan, and I went to dinner at Cafe Republic, the popular place to go after the day (just down the street). Lindsey and I were heading to the concert/opera and Ryan was heading to see Romeo et Juliette (he payed 390 Euros for a return ticket, but it was 4th row center). I went and saw the Vienna Philharmonic perform and evening of Bartok. They first played his Four Pieces for Orchestra, then the Cantata Profana: The Nine Magic Stags, then the second half was his only opera Bluebeard's Castle. It's a one act opera. The soloist, Michelle DeYoung, is an American dramatic soprano and will be singing Isolde this year for the Met. The production was very minimalist, especially since it was on the giant stage and all the action was on the front central part of the stage. there were one black backdrop with light shining through, three dresses, and Duke Bluebeard was in a wheel chair. That's all that the set was. But the music painted an even better picture. It was amazing when he opens the 5th door and she sings some bombastic high note and the brass pulls out all of the stops. It was so cool especially since they had the trombones up in the balcony for that moment, where we were sitting. Of course it's going to be good, it's the Vienna Philharmonic. Though, I was surprised that there were only 5 women or so in the entire orchestra.
Today Michelle came to give a masterclass. The first half was a question answer session. She was so much fun to listen to speak, good personality. I liked that she joked around too.
Tonight La Traviata, the Netrebko and Villazon production, is playing on the large screen in the domplatz. I might just not go, but I do really want to see it, it depends on if I feel well.
I need to spend so much more time in a practice room. I got some of the best advice the other day. So remember how we sat in the masterclass with Christa Ludwig and there was this awesome Chinese baritone and Turkish mezzo who sang? Well we ran into them at the bus stop. They happen to ride the same bus as us and get off at our stop as well. Angelina asked them who they'd recommend for voice teachers, since both of them studied in the US. They said that in the end you are your best voice teacher. Then they went on to recommend Barbara Bonney who they said explains things so clearly and is such a caring person. But that really struck me, I am my best voice teacher. I'm the one who has to work at this and make my voice better. Teachers are only there to give suggestions. I then considered this in all aspects of my life. I'm the only one who can make myself better. The people we meet along the way are just inspiration or they introduce us to things. The next day I had one of the best practice sessions I have ever had. What used to happen was that I would just sing through things and memorize and then go find what i need to fix at my voice lessons. Instead, I started a new aria and found the things I needed to fix in the moment of learning the piece. I need to be a set of ears like my teachers before I get to the lesson, so much more can be accomplished. So I was super knit-picky when learning the aria. I sang through each phrase on my most resonant vowel 'ee' and focused on line and constant moving forward then sang just the vowels in the music, and then finally added the consonants, if it wasn't just right I went back and did it again. It took so much more time, but it was totally worth it.
The next morning I went to my voice lesson. I asked to sing the aria I had worked on ("Kommt ein schlanker bursch gegangen" from Der Freischutz) This was my first time bringing it to a lesson. It was going very well. When the accompanist came in to play, my teacher said to her "She's singing the poop out of this piece." I really liked it. So now I'm trying to memorize it for the final. That is, if my voice holds up. I actually don't have to do the final since I am in one of the opera scenes. But my opera scene is quite short and was a breeze to memorize, so I don't feel I qualify to take the free ticket out of the final, since i could easily do both.
Yesterday I bought more cherries from the outdoor market in front of the University Church. I am on fresh fruit withdrawal and bought nectarines and cherries. Which will both be gone by the time I get home. So yummy!
The last couple days we had masterclasses with Mary Dibbern, one of the leading French diction experts. The diction coaching can get a little tedious, but it was very helpful. There were a number of diction things with French that I had been taught incorrectly. When Mary explained how things should be pronounced, like the schwa, etc. it actually made it easier to sing French. It's not as closed as we think it needs to be.
After yesterday's masterclass, Lindsey, Ryan, and I went to dinner at Cafe Republic, the popular place to go after the day (just down the street). Lindsey and I were heading to the concert/opera and Ryan was heading to see Romeo et Juliette (he payed 390 Euros for a return ticket, but it was 4th row center). I went and saw the Vienna Philharmonic perform and evening of Bartok. They first played his Four Pieces for Orchestra, then the Cantata Profana: The Nine Magic Stags, then the second half was his only opera Bluebeard's Castle. It's a one act opera. The soloist, Michelle DeYoung, is an American dramatic soprano and will be singing Isolde this year for the Met. The production was very minimalist, especially since it was on the giant stage and all the action was on the front central part of the stage. there were one black backdrop with light shining through, three dresses, and Duke Bluebeard was in a wheel chair. That's all that the set was. But the music painted an even better picture. It was amazing when he opens the 5th door and she sings some bombastic high note and the brass pulls out all of the stops. It was so cool especially since they had the trombones up in the balcony for that moment, where we were sitting. Of course it's going to be good, it's the Vienna Philharmonic. Though, I was surprised that there were only 5 women or so in the entire orchestra.
Today Michelle came to give a masterclass. The first half was a question answer session. She was so much fun to listen to speak, good personality. I liked that she joked around too.
Tonight La Traviata, the Netrebko and Villazon production, is playing on the large screen in the domplatz. I might just not go, but I do really want to see it, it depends on if I feel well.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Last night I saw one of the best performances ever. Ok I'm sure I'll see more operas like this. But still, it was awesome! I wasn't there in person though. Jesus, Jessi, and I went to Jessi's home to watch the live television broadcast of Romeo et Juliette's opening night performance. Her host family was gone for the weekend, so it worked out perfectly.
The opera starred Rolando Villazon as Romeo and a new singer to the Salzburg stage, Nino Machaidze, who is only 25 and from the Republic of Georgia. Both were stunning. The acting was amazing. Every moment they were able to embody the characters and mannerisms of youthful love. It was hott!
There were certainly a number of mistakes, some I didn't even notice (like too many notes in one of the ornaments in 'Je Veux vivre'). The best was Rolando was tripping all over the stage (it was a stage made mostly of stairs). The one were it actually was almost a huge hiccup was when one of the Montagues didn't hand Romeo the dagger soon enough. So Tybalt could technically have gotten out and not died, but they stuck to the fight choreography.
It got over at about 11:45. I was afraid that the buses stopped running at 11. When actually it runs until 1:15 AM.
I wore my dirndl to mass at the cathedral. Oh my goodness. I have never heard such beautiful music at mass before. I believe they sang parts of the mass by either Haydn or Mozart. And during the collection they sang the Laudate Dominum that YCA sang with Maria Jette this summer. It just soared in the cathedral. I didn't understand most of the readings. I was zoning out in the middle of the gospel reading, but then somehow tuned in to hear 'brot und fisch' and figured it must have been the miracle of the loaves and fishes. Good thing we've been learning food in German class. I think I'll have to go again next week, I probably will never get this kind of music at a Catholic mass in the U.S. the soloists were wonderful and there was a choir and orchestra as well.
The opera starred Rolando Villazon as Romeo and a new singer to the Salzburg stage, Nino Machaidze, who is only 25 and from the Republic of Georgia. Both were stunning. The acting was amazing. Every moment they were able to embody the characters and mannerisms of youthful love. It was hott!
There were certainly a number of mistakes, some I didn't even notice (like too many notes in one of the ornaments in 'Je Veux vivre'). The best was Rolando was tripping all over the stage (it was a stage made mostly of stairs). The one were it actually was almost a huge hiccup was when one of the Montagues didn't hand Romeo the dagger soon enough. So Tybalt could technically have gotten out and not died, but they stuck to the fight choreography.
It got over at about 11:45. I was afraid that the buses stopped running at 11. When actually it runs until 1:15 AM.
I wore my dirndl to mass at the cathedral. Oh my goodness. I have never heard such beautiful music at mass before. I believe they sang parts of the mass by either Haydn or Mozart. And during the collection they sang the Laudate Dominum that YCA sang with Maria Jette this summer. It just soared in the cathedral. I didn't understand most of the readings. I was zoning out in the middle of the gospel reading, but then somehow tuned in to hear 'brot und fisch' and figured it must have been the miracle of the loaves and fishes. Good thing we've been learning food in German class. I think I'll have to go again next week, I probably will never get this kind of music at a Catholic mass in the U.S. the soloists were wonderful and there was a choir and orchestra as well.
Friday, August 1, 2008
I am soaked to the bone. I look like a wet puppy dog, or better yet the tragic Hollywood, my boyfriend just dumped me and I'm forced to walk home in a rainstorm look. In the middle of dinner (9:00) it started pouring. Then, we tried hanging around the Afro-Cafe a bit more (it's our favorite restaurant) but we had already paid and more people were wanting to sit down. Since then it's been pouring, a good old fashioned deluge. After we left the bar because it was claustrophobic and lot's of smoking, we hopped on the first bus we could find. Then we just rode the bus around awhile until we realized it was heading in a direction we did not want to go. We all just decided to go home. unfortunately we were on bus 7 and the stops were all atleast 300M from any of the stops for 3, my bus. Being waterlogged was unavoidable.
Today, when it was sunnier, I ended up buying a dirndl. I had been wanting one ever since I got here. I found a store with a decent price on them. The one I really wanted was only 98 Euro, but it was too small. The one I ended up getting fits perfectly, is black, and cotton instead of polyester like some of them. The apron is a bit too christmas-time for me, but I can always make my own aprons to change in and out. I would have worn my dirndl to the midterm recital tonight, but it was quite hot and humid out and I would have been the only one wearing one.
The midterm went well. I was a little nervous at the beginning because it was a rather dead room. But after the first line I just allowed myself to relax and sing to myself. The song flew by after that. It certainly wasn't my best singing because I have not had enough time to really solidify the new things I've been learning, but I felt good when I sang. Some people were ridiculously upset that the teachers/coaches didn't give them any praise. Well, they didn't do the best job. I think I'm pretty realistic about things, I know that it was not my best singing, therefore I do not expect any compliments saying that it was or that it was any better than lessons. Singers are a bit too dramatic for me sometimes.
Here's an important announcement: My roommate from freshman year, Lindsey, is in a scholarship competition for a law school scholarship. The winner is selected by votes. Place your vote today! Visit: http://www.accessgroup.org/onelessworryfiles/index.html?utm_campaign=VideoContestLaw&WT.mc_id=VideoContestLaw
and then vote for Lindsey Meyer's video. You should watch the video, it's pretty hilarious, and once again she puts her accordion skills to work.
Today, when it was sunnier, I ended up buying a dirndl. I had been wanting one ever since I got here. I found a store with a decent price on them. The one I really wanted was only 98 Euro, but it was too small. The one I ended up getting fits perfectly, is black, and cotton instead of polyester like some of them. The apron is a bit too christmas-time for me, but I can always make my own aprons to change in and out. I would have worn my dirndl to the midterm recital tonight, but it was quite hot and humid out and I would have been the only one wearing one.
The midterm went well. I was a little nervous at the beginning because it was a rather dead room. But after the first line I just allowed myself to relax and sing to myself. The song flew by after that. It certainly wasn't my best singing because I have not had enough time to really solidify the new things I've been learning, but I felt good when I sang. Some people were ridiculously upset that the teachers/coaches didn't give them any praise. Well, they didn't do the best job. I think I'm pretty realistic about things, I know that it was not my best singing, therefore I do not expect any compliments saying that it was or that it was any better than lessons. Singers are a bit too dramatic for me sometimes.
Here's an important announcement: My roommate from freshman year, Lindsey, is in a scholarship competition for a law school scholarship. The winner is selected by votes. Place your vote today! Visit: http://www.accessgroup.org/onelessworryfiles/index.html?utm_campaign=VideoContestLaw&WT.mc_id=VideoContestLaw
and then vote for Lindsey Meyer's video. You should watch the video, it's pretty hilarious, and once again she puts her accordion skills to work.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Last day of July
I can't believe August is already here. Yesterday the buses had a major break down. Apparently there was a power outage on the electrical lines that the buses run on. Traffice was backed up in town from Mozartsteg to Theatergasse. We had to switch buses earlier at Akademiestrasse. When we got off the bus and where waiting for the new bus to come, I heard an old lady swear at the bus in German. The Austrians are nice, but don't mess with their bus system.
Because of the buses, I thought I was late for my coaching at 9. It turns out though that it really was a 10. So I was able to warm up and get ready for the coaching. This coaching was with Prof. Ragsdale from Oklahoma City University. I liked it, we worked on In Waldeseinsamkeit. He made a good point, and I am making this discovery too: I'm smart, I can pick up things quickly and make changes when they are asked. What I need to work on is maintaining these changes by putting them into practice. I really am regretting not bringing my italk microphone for lessons and just borrowing someone's ipod. Its too late to buy and overpriced recorded here as well. I think that's the best way for me to remember what happens in lessons, is by listening to them. I also need to listen to how I sing more. When I sat down with Ragsdale at the beginning of the coaching, he asked me what I like most about my voice. I kind of didn't know, because I have no idea what I sound like.
In the evening we went to the Christa Ludwig masterclass. Oh my goodness, the singers were amazing. One of them was last year's winner of the Cardiff Singer of the World competition. He is only 24 and has this amazing baritone voice. The singers were from all over. The ones we heard were from Turkey (she actually was in the UMiami program, the one I'm in now, four years ago), China, SouthAfrica/Canada, Hungary, and Ukraine. They are all part of the Young Singers Project through the festival. It's a program that Barbara Bonney started. They learn roles from the festival shows, sing in masterclasses, etc.
Because of the buses, I thought I was late for my coaching at 9. It turns out though that it really was a 10. So I was able to warm up and get ready for the coaching. This coaching was with Prof. Ragsdale from Oklahoma City University. I liked it, we worked on In Waldeseinsamkeit. He made a good point, and I am making this discovery too: I'm smart, I can pick up things quickly and make changes when they are asked. What I need to work on is maintaining these changes by putting them into practice. I really am regretting not bringing my italk microphone for lessons and just borrowing someone's ipod. Its too late to buy and overpriced recorded here as well. I think that's the best way for me to remember what happens in lessons, is by listening to them. I also need to listen to how I sing more. When I sat down with Ragsdale at the beginning of the coaching, he asked me what I like most about my voice. I kind of didn't know, because I have no idea what I sound like.
In the evening we went to the Christa Ludwig masterclass. Oh my goodness, the singers were amazing. One of them was last year's winner of the Cardiff Singer of the World competition. He is only 24 and has this amazing baritone voice. The singers were from all over. The ones we heard were from Turkey (she actually was in the UMiami program, the one I'm in now, four years ago), China, SouthAfrica/Canada, Hungary, and Ukraine. They are all part of the Young Singers Project through the festival. It's a program that Barbara Bonney started. They learn roles from the festival shows, sing in masterclasses, etc.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
A Day of Surprises
So my roommate and I were woken up by our buzzer ringing at 3:45 AM. Some guy said something in German, rang the buzzer again, and then opened our door. He just stood in the hall with the door open and said something. I just replied "I don't know what you are saying". I think he must have been too drunk to figure out that I was speaking English. Then he said something else and I said to go away and that we were trying to sleep. He sounded frustrated and then shut our door. My roommate then went and locked the door. I would have gotten out of bed to talk to the guy or slam the door in his face, but I didn't have any pants on. After Julie locked the door, she said that it was so scary and her heart was pounding. I guess I'm such an optimist that I just thought that it was a confused person, which I'm pretty sure it was. Once she mentioned how scared she was, I then had a bit of trouble falling back asleep because I was thinking of how it could have gone completely wrong and how we really should lock our door every night now. I wonder how he got in since the building is locked every night. It was probably some drunk guy. The other strange thing was that I still heard people socializing in the courtyard outside at this time 4 AM. What the heck?
I was a little upset because I was supposed to sing in a masterclass today and needed to be well rested and I had to wake up at 6 to meet my accompanist in town at 8:30. I had a good lesson, but it was cut short so that I wouldn't over sing. "Oh Had I Jubal's Lyre" by Handel is coming along well. It's not easy yet, I don't know if it ever will be, but it's getting better. I've always hated that song and refused to learn it, but now it is actually working in my voice. "In Waldeseinsamkeit" by Brahms was ready for the masterclass. However, it was cancelled today.
This week Annette Dasch agreed to come talk with our group and give a brief masterclass. However, she's been sick and cancelled today. I had just found out that I was singing in the masterclass yesterday. This gave not much time to be fretting over it, but it was enough to give me heartburn this morning.
Annette Dasch is kind of a big deal. She currently is singing the role of Donna Anna in Don Giovanni here at the Salzburg Festival. She's sung all over Europe. I hope that she is able to reschedule and I will get to sing for her.
Our group will get to sit in on a masterclass of another famous singer. Prof. Schiller was able to get tickets for all of us to the Young Singers Project (through the Mozarteum) masterclass with Christa Ludwig. Christa Ludwig was one of the leading mezzos from the 50's-90's and continues to be an amazing teacher. I'm excited, but hopefully she'll give some of the masterclass in English.
Some of us might go hear another famous mezzo. Grace Bumbry, an American mezzo who was carmen in the 1967 festival production, has now moved to Salzburg and is singing at her church on Sunday. If any of you have seen pictures of different Carmens, she's the black Carmen from the 60's. It was on the festival big screen last night. I stayed for the first act because I needed to see my favorites songs, the duet, the fight, and the seguedille. I would have stayed longer but needed to sleep and didn't want to miss the bus. Also, it had started raining, but they handed out ponchos for everyone.
The last two days we had masterclasses by a couple who live in Vienna. The wife, Sylvia Greenberg, is a singer and teacher who is originally from Israel. The husband, David Aronson, is one of the vocal coaches for the Vienna State Opera. He was especially entertaining and a great clinician. Afterwards they answered questions about the opera scene in Europe, particularly in Germany and Austria. There are so many job opportunities over here. Much more, than in the U.S. I guess I really should start learning German just in case.
Another surprise today was that my birkenstock sandals arrived. Just as I was headed out the door, the DHL man rode his bike up to the college. I didn't think they would arrive so soon. Another surprise was that I had to pay an extra 15 Euro (probably for tax) when I picked them up. I like them. The reason I got them online from an American company is that I couldn't find any store in Salzburg that had them and the dollar is generally more affordable and these were on sale. Though, after talking to Emily, I realized that I could have had the group that Munich last weekend pick up a pair for me. Oh well. I'm keeping these ones.
German is finally starting to make sense. I've figured out that I do need to use my dictionary because the provided textbook sucks and is inconsistent with new vocabulary. I was just so used to having an awesome Norwegian textbook and having my Norwegian professor scold us for looking at a dictionary.
I was a little upset because I was supposed to sing in a masterclass today and needed to be well rested and I had to wake up at 6 to meet my accompanist in town at 8:30. I had a good lesson, but it was cut short so that I wouldn't over sing. "Oh Had I Jubal's Lyre" by Handel is coming along well. It's not easy yet, I don't know if it ever will be, but it's getting better. I've always hated that song and refused to learn it, but now it is actually working in my voice. "In Waldeseinsamkeit" by Brahms was ready for the masterclass. However, it was cancelled today.
This week Annette Dasch agreed to come talk with our group and give a brief masterclass. However, she's been sick and cancelled today. I had just found out that I was singing in the masterclass yesterday. This gave not much time to be fretting over it, but it was enough to give me heartburn this morning.
Annette Dasch is kind of a big deal. She currently is singing the role of Donna Anna in Don Giovanni here at the Salzburg Festival. She's sung all over Europe. I hope that she is able to reschedule and I will get to sing for her.
Our group will get to sit in on a masterclass of another famous singer. Prof. Schiller was able to get tickets for all of us to the Young Singers Project (through the Mozarteum) masterclass with Christa Ludwig. Christa Ludwig was one of the leading mezzos from the 50's-90's and continues to be an amazing teacher. I'm excited, but hopefully she'll give some of the masterclass in English.
Some of us might go hear another famous mezzo. Grace Bumbry, an American mezzo who was carmen in the 1967 festival production, has now moved to Salzburg and is singing at her church on Sunday. If any of you have seen pictures of different Carmens, she's the black Carmen from the 60's. It was on the festival big screen last night. I stayed for the first act because I needed to see my favorites songs, the duet, the fight, and the seguedille. I would have stayed longer but needed to sleep and didn't want to miss the bus. Also, it had started raining, but they handed out ponchos for everyone.
The last two days we had masterclasses by a couple who live in Vienna. The wife, Sylvia Greenberg, is a singer and teacher who is originally from Israel. The husband, David Aronson, is one of the vocal coaches for the Vienna State Opera. He was especially entertaining and a great clinician. Afterwards they answered questions about the opera scene in Europe, particularly in Germany and Austria. There are so many job opportunities over here. Much more, than in the U.S. I guess I really should start learning German just in case.
Another surprise today was that my birkenstock sandals arrived. Just as I was headed out the door, the DHL man rode his bike up to the college. I didn't think they would arrive so soon. Another surprise was that I had to pay an extra 15 Euro (probably for tax) when I picked them up. I like them. The reason I got them online from an American company is that I couldn't find any store in Salzburg that had them and the dollar is generally more affordable and these were on sale. Though, after talking to Emily, I realized that I could have had the group that Munich last weekend pick up a pair for me. Oh well. I'm keeping these ones.
German is finally starting to make sense. I've figured out that I do need to use my dictionary because the provided textbook sucks and is inconsistent with new vocabulary. I was just so used to having an awesome Norwegian textbook and having my Norwegian professor scold us for looking at a dictionary.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Extended weekend
On Thursday, I did not get to sing in the masterclass; I was the alternate. After the masterclass the whole group walked to the Augustina Bier Haus. It was a very different atmosphere. It was interesting how they have concession stands from other vendors and then the bierhaus provides the bier. The school paid for our first drink. It was a good idea they put us in a room off to the side away from the main hall. We were so noisy.
I had to wake up really early on friday morning. I got on the bus at 6:30 so that I could meet up with the group for hiking at 7 at the train station. We got a group pass (28 Euro) for all five of us. We took the train to Werfen. Then in Werfen we took a bus up the mountain. They dropped us off 5 minutes from the gondola. Many people take the gondola up to the ice cave, but we chose to do the 90 minute hike up the mountain. It was rather steep. After the first 2 minutes I was thinking (I should have taken the gondola), but it actually wasn't that bad, my body adjusted to it quickly. It was worth it. I went with a good group of people: Jackie and Stephen (CU-Boulder), Lindsey (Luther), and Ryan (Carnegie Mellon). Before heading further up the mountain into the ice cave, we thought it would be a good idea to cool down and dry off the sweat before heading into freezing temperatures. So we had our packed lunches at the restaurant at the top of the lift. The cave is called Eisriesenwelt, and it is the largest ice cave in the world. http://www.eisriesenwelt.at/site/content/CB_ContentShow.php?coType=home&lang=EN There is still another 5k of cave that we did not see. There are huge ice formations that grow every year. I was not allowed to take pictures because it slows the group down. We had to go up 700 stairs and down 700 stairs. It didn't seem that bad, it was just a little dizzying when we just kept going up and up and I couldn't see my feet. Every fourth person had a lamp. I got to carry one, it was really old-school with a gas and flame, no flashlights. The lamps put off very little light, just enough to see the path. The guide would burn magnesium for us to see the ice formations. After the ice cave tour, we went back to the restaurant and warmed up with hot chocolate and dessert, I had my first apfelstrudel of this trip. I took the gondola down with Ryan because we both were feeling weak. My hip was also acting up, I think I had pulled something. Surprisingly, most of us didn't feel that sore the next day.
That night I went with Lindsey to the Marionette Theater to see Sound of Music. It was good and it stuck to the original musical, not the movie. It's quite amazing what they can do with those puppets.
Saturday morning I met the other Lindsey, the one from Oklahoma, at the college. We walked along the river, they have a saturday market set up everyother saturday. Then went to lunch at the Afro Cafe. It's my new favorite restaurant in Salzburg. It's food with an African flair. They have couches and chairs to sit in outside under the awnings, very relaxed. All dining in Salzburg is relaxed, they expect you to sit for atleast 2 hours. By no means to they intend to push you out the door. Waiters don't get huge tips like they can in the US so they aren't concerned about getting lots of customers through.
After lunch we got some eis and walked around to Getreidegasse. Salzburg was so packed! It was the start of the festival! Lions club was selling cherries for a charity and glasses of champaigne outside of Residensplatz. So we stopped and enjoyed some cherries. When we asked if they were from Austria, they said that they were actually from Canada. Oh well, they were still really good.
We still had time to kill before the festivities of the festival opening happened, so we sat down to people watch in the Domplatz. We were sitting right next to the giant chess board and a group of University students from England started playing.
The three guys played the game and the one girl in the group sat next to us. We had a lovely conversation, she was from Bath and the four of them were just traveling through Europe by rail. In the middle of the game, the canons went off from the fortress overhead. We then headed over to the steps of the cathedral where some of the opera stars were signing autographs. I didn't know any of them, so I decided not to get in line. We ran into the other Lindsey and Zach, and then Stephen, Jackie, and Ryan. We all just sat down and enjoyed the jazz band playing all american music.
The guys split off and had dinner with their host family and we sought out the other side of the river and found a schnitzel restaurant just down the street from Mirabell Gardens. After that I was quite tired and just wanted some time to myself. I headed back to the hotel and watched some episodes of my new favorite TV show online.
Today I went online and chatted with the family on skype and then did some translating of my duet that I am singing and then slept again until 2:30. I ended up going to Jedermann tonight, which was not my original plan but my friend Angelina was feeling sick and wanted to trade tickets. Little did I know that tonight's performance was at 5:30, not 7:30 like I had thought. So I ended up not being able to go to mass in english at 5:00. The Jedermann play was well acted, though I had no idea what was being said. But I certainly could feel what was going on. Jedermann is based off of the medieval play called "everyman". It has been performed every year of the festival since 1920. Jedermann was adapted by an Austrian playwright. The story goes that God sends a messenger to tell Everyman (this is the main character's name), that he will die. When Everyman is looking friends to take with him at the end of his life, they all abandon him. Such friends as Goods and Fellowship won't come when he requests it. Good Deeds is the only character that is willing to go with him, though he had been ignoring Good Deeds for such a long time. Basically he dies with Good Deeds and the moral of the story is that only your good deeds can follow you in the after-life. All other things are lost.
This was performed on the steps of the cathedral. It was really cool how they used the bells of St. Francis church (directly behind) and a bell of the Cathedral for affect.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to practice today like I thought I would. I guess I'll have to do some more score study instead. The practice facility's close so early.
I had to wake up really early on friday morning. I got on the bus at 6:30 so that I could meet up with the group for hiking at 7 at the train station. We got a group pass (28 Euro) for all five of us. We took the train to Werfen. Then in Werfen we took a bus up the mountain. They dropped us off 5 minutes from the gondola. Many people take the gondola up to the ice cave, but we chose to do the 90 minute hike up the mountain. It was rather steep. After the first 2 minutes I was thinking (I should have taken the gondola), but it actually wasn't that bad, my body adjusted to it quickly. It was worth it. I went with a good group of people: Jackie and Stephen (CU-Boulder), Lindsey (Luther), and Ryan (Carnegie Mellon). Before heading further up the mountain into the ice cave, we thought it would be a good idea to cool down and dry off the sweat before heading into freezing temperatures. So we had our packed lunches at the restaurant at the top of the lift. The cave is called Eisriesenwelt, and it is the largest ice cave in the world. http://www.eisriesenwelt.at/site/content/CB_ContentShow.php?coType=home&lang=EN There is still another 5k of cave that we did not see. There are huge ice formations that grow every year. I was not allowed to take pictures because it slows the group down. We had to go up 700 stairs and down 700 stairs. It didn't seem that bad, it was just a little dizzying when we just kept going up and up and I couldn't see my feet. Every fourth person had a lamp. I got to carry one, it was really old-school with a gas and flame, no flashlights. The lamps put off very little light, just enough to see the path. The guide would burn magnesium for us to see the ice formations. After the ice cave tour, we went back to the restaurant and warmed up with hot chocolate and dessert, I had my first apfelstrudel of this trip. I took the gondola down with Ryan because we both were feeling weak. My hip was also acting up, I think I had pulled something. Surprisingly, most of us didn't feel that sore the next day.
That night I went with Lindsey to the Marionette Theater to see Sound of Music. It was good and it stuck to the original musical, not the movie. It's quite amazing what they can do with those puppets.
Saturday morning I met the other Lindsey, the one from Oklahoma, at the college. We walked along the river, they have a saturday market set up everyother saturday. Then went to lunch at the Afro Cafe. It's my new favorite restaurant in Salzburg. It's food with an African flair. They have couches and chairs to sit in outside under the awnings, very relaxed. All dining in Salzburg is relaxed, they expect you to sit for atleast 2 hours. By no means to they intend to push you out the door. Waiters don't get huge tips like they can in the US so they aren't concerned about getting lots of customers through.
After lunch we got some eis and walked around to Getreidegasse. Salzburg was so packed! It was the start of the festival! Lions club was selling cherries for a charity and glasses of champaigne outside of Residensplatz. So we stopped and enjoyed some cherries. When we asked if they were from Austria, they said that they were actually from Canada. Oh well, they were still really good.
We still had time to kill before the festivities of the festival opening happened, so we sat down to people watch in the Domplatz. We were sitting right next to the giant chess board and a group of University students from England started playing.
The three guys played the game and the one girl in the group sat next to us. We had a lovely conversation, she was from Bath and the four of them were just traveling through Europe by rail. In the middle of the game, the canons went off from the fortress overhead. We then headed over to the steps of the cathedral where some of the opera stars were signing autographs. I didn't know any of them, so I decided not to get in line. We ran into the other Lindsey and Zach, and then Stephen, Jackie, and Ryan. We all just sat down and enjoyed the jazz band playing all american music.
The guys split off and had dinner with their host family and we sought out the other side of the river and found a schnitzel restaurant just down the street from Mirabell Gardens. After that I was quite tired and just wanted some time to myself. I headed back to the hotel and watched some episodes of my new favorite TV show online.
Today I went online and chatted with the family on skype and then did some translating of my duet that I am singing and then slept again until 2:30. I ended up going to Jedermann tonight, which was not my original plan but my friend Angelina was feeling sick and wanted to trade tickets. Little did I know that tonight's performance was at 5:30, not 7:30 like I had thought. So I ended up not being able to go to mass in english at 5:00. The Jedermann play was well acted, though I had no idea what was being said. But I certainly could feel what was going on. Jedermann is based off of the medieval play called "everyman". It has been performed every year of the festival since 1920. Jedermann was adapted by an Austrian playwright. The story goes that God sends a messenger to tell Everyman (this is the main character's name), that he will die. When Everyman is looking friends to take with him at the end of his life, they all abandon him. Such friends as Goods and Fellowship won't come when he requests it. Good Deeds is the only character that is willing to go with him, though he had been ignoring Good Deeds for such a long time. Basically he dies with Good Deeds and the moral of the story is that only your good deeds can follow you in the after-life. All other things are lost.
This was performed on the steps of the cathedral. It was really cool how they used the bells of St. Francis church (directly behind) and a bell of the Cathedral for affect.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to practice today like I thought I would. I guess I'll have to do some more score study instead. The practice facility's close so early.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Tickets
I also forgot to mention that tickets for the Salzburg Festival were handed out today. Everyone got a ticket to the masterclass and Jedermann. Then everyone got either the Schubert szene or the Mozart Matinee, some lucky people got a ticket for the Vienna Philharmonic. For the opera almost everyone got a ticket to Don Giovanni. I, however, got a ticket to The Magic Flute. While I haven't found anyone else who is going, I am fortunate enough to have a 50 Euro ticket in a seat. Everyone going to Don Giovanni has to stand through the entire performance. Yay! That will be a great way to end the program (It will be on my last night in Salzburg). I've never seen the Magic Flute before.
Free afternoon
Because it was in the 50's and raining, we post-poned our trip to Hellbrunn (a park with water fountains that spray you, and there is a palace and the infamous Sound of Music gazebo). Instead of sticking to my original plan of practicing and taking a nap, I went to Cafe Republic and had some tea with a shot of rum in it (quite good). It was such a good time. I hadn't laughed so hard since I've been here. Then Fiona, Lindsey, and I went shopping down Getreidegasse (we're calling it Diagon Alley).
This morning I had a coaching session again with Enman. We worked on the Mahler. It felt like a completely different song after the coaching. I liked it. He complimented me by saying that I have the personality of a choral singer, but the voice of a soloist. Because I was an idiot and left all of my music on my desk in a folder, I only had my German Lied Anthology with me. He circled some of the songs that I should look at. Then he also said that I need to learn the Frauenliebe und Leben song cycle by Schumann. He helped me figure out how to sing a piano without contorting and sounding awful (which is what I have always done for choir). To sum it up, I wish I could have coaching sessions everyday.
This morning I had a coaching session again with Enman. We worked on the Mahler. It felt like a completely different song after the coaching. I liked it. He complimented me by saying that I have the personality of a choral singer, but the voice of a soloist. Because I was an idiot and left all of my music on my desk in a folder, I only had my German Lied Anthology with me. He circled some of the songs that I should look at. Then he also said that I need to learn the Frauenliebe und Leben song cycle by Schumann. He helped me figure out how to sing a piano without contorting and sounding awful (which is what I have always done for choir). To sum it up, I wish I could have coaching sessions everyday.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Weekend as a tourist
This weekend I was a typical tourist. Lindsey and I went to the salzburg fortress, ate lunch up there, and then went shopping and bought souvenirs and walked through the Mirabell Gardens.
It was a very nice day, but I was certainly exhausted by the end. After Saturday night mass at the Franciscan church, I just came back to the hotel and watched episodes of 'How I Met Your Mother'.
Earlier in the morning I sang in the auditions for the recital competition. Dr. Moteki asked me to sing the one song I was least prepared with. Oh well, I forgot the words and breathed in really awkward spots. I was just auditioning for the experience and I'm glad I can start with new music, though my voice teacher wants to keep working on the Rossini with me and I'm singing the Mahler in a masterclass with Wolfam Rieger on Thursday.
Our lunch up at the fortress had the most amazing view of the mountains.
Upon the recommendation of our German teacher, Lindsey and I tried the Salzburg Nockerl. It's a egg-meringue-like dessert that tastes very much like a crepe. They give you fruit to add to it. Little did we know that it is definitely something to share with a larger party than two.
The view from the fortress is quite fantastic. We were lucky that it was such a clear day. It has been raining most of last week and it started again on Sunday.
On Friday night, a group of us went down to Mirabell Gardens to hear traditional music and see traditional dancing.
On Sunday, the entire group went the Salzkammergut region out side of Salzburg. This is in the mountains and there are a number of lakes. We went to Moondsee, St. Wolfgang, and Hallstatt. Moondsee church is the site of the wedding scene in Sound of Music. St. Wolfgang was maybe one of my favorite places. The lake is soooooo clear there and the church some how caught my attention (the altar carving artwork was made by a famous Baroque artist who was actually from Austria).
After spending about an hour in each city we made one last stop to the Gosausee, a glacial lake further into the mountains that was Wagner's inspiration for Parsifal. It was breathtaking. We couldn't see the peaks of the mountains entirely because it had been cloudy.
It was a very nice day, but I was certainly exhausted by the end. After Saturday night mass at the Franciscan church, I just came back to the hotel and watched episodes of 'How I Met Your Mother'.
Earlier in the morning I sang in the auditions for the recital competition. Dr. Moteki asked me to sing the one song I was least prepared with. Oh well, I forgot the words and breathed in really awkward spots. I was just auditioning for the experience and I'm glad I can start with new music, though my voice teacher wants to keep working on the Rossini with me and I'm singing the Mahler in a masterclass with Wolfam Rieger on Thursday.
Our lunch up at the fortress had the most amazing view of the mountains.
Upon the recommendation of our German teacher, Lindsey and I tried the Salzburg Nockerl. It's a egg-meringue-like dessert that tastes very much like a crepe. They give you fruit to add to it. Little did we know that it is definitely something to share with a larger party than two.
The view from the fortress is quite fantastic. We were lucky that it was such a clear day. It has been raining most of last week and it started again on Sunday.
On Friday night, a group of us went down to Mirabell Gardens to hear traditional music and see traditional dancing.
On Sunday, the entire group went the Salzkammergut region out side of Salzburg. This is in the mountains and there are a number of lakes. We went to Moondsee, St. Wolfgang, and Hallstatt. Moondsee church is the site of the wedding scene in Sound of Music. St. Wolfgang was maybe one of my favorite places. The lake is soooooo clear there and the church some how caught my attention (the altar carving artwork was made by a famous Baroque artist who was actually from Austria).
After spending about an hour in each city we made one last stop to the Gosausee, a glacial lake further into the mountains that was Wagner's inspiration for Parsifal. It was breathtaking. We couldn't see the peaks of the mountains entirely because it had been cloudy.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
First Coaching
Today I had my first vocal coaching session. It was with Tom Enman from the Longy School of Music. 'What is a voice coach?' you might ask. Well in Tom's words: a voice coach is a bastard. They're the ones who say 'that was beautiful tone, but the consonants sucked... nice, but... etc.' They knit-pick every detail in a performance and help you perfect it. They help singers come out of mediocrity. I love it!!!
We were going to work on the Verdi, but instead spent the entire hour working on vowels and En Svane. It feels like a whole new piece. I love it and it is so much easier to sing than before. I'm hoping they'll ask me to sing it at the recital auditions this Saturday. That was the other thing, Prof. Enman helped me pick out what to sing for the auditions. I'm not sure if I want to sing the Rossini or the the Bernstein. My character seems very clear with the Bernstein, but the Rossini can show off a bit more.
One funny thing, while in the middle of the session, he randomly said 'wow you look a lot like Kirsten Flagstad'. I had no idea who that was. Aparently she was a famous Norwegian Wagnerian soprano in the 30's. Anyway, I can kind of see a resemblance, but not that much.
There was a masterclass today. It was really good, and I loved how Professor Ragsdale ended it. He said that we need to adopt the Austrian mentality of we instead of me. And that if we ever are just singing for ourselves, our egos, we need to sit down, because that performance will be in vain. All the performances were great. I especially liked the performance of Willow's Song after Ragsdale had worked with her on making it more reflective and private.
After the masterclass, I went to the mall and found a shawl for my brown dress at one of the department stores. I now no longer need to be in search of anything from the stores, except souvenirs.
I also found out today that my friend, Angelina, was on "Clash of the Choirs" the reality American-Idol-like show that all of my music education major friends watched to make fun of. Haha! I love it. She was in the choir from OK City.
We were going to work on the Verdi, but instead spent the entire hour working on vowels and En Svane. It feels like a whole new piece. I love it and it is so much easier to sing than before. I'm hoping they'll ask me to sing it at the recital auditions this Saturday. That was the other thing, Prof. Enman helped me pick out what to sing for the auditions. I'm not sure if I want to sing the Rossini or the the Bernstein. My character seems very clear with the Bernstein, but the Rossini can show off a bit more.
One funny thing, while in the middle of the session, he randomly said 'wow you look a lot like Kirsten Flagstad'. I had no idea who that was. Aparently she was a famous Norwegian Wagnerian soprano in the 30's. Anyway, I can kind of see a resemblance, but not that much.
There was a masterclass today. It was really good, and I loved how Professor Ragsdale ended it. He said that we need to adopt the Austrian mentality of we instead of me. And that if we ever are just singing for ourselves, our egos, we need to sit down, because that performance will be in vain. All the performances were great. I especially liked the performance of Willow's Song after Ragsdale had worked with her on making it more reflective and private.
After the masterclass, I went to the mall and found a shawl for my brown dress at one of the department stores. I now no longer need to be in search of anything from the stores, except souvenirs.
I also found out today that my friend, Angelina, was on "Clash of the Choirs" the reality American-Idol-like show that all of my music education major friends watched to make fun of. Haha! I love it. She was in the choir from OK City.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
First Lesson
Today was my first lesson. I was barely late. I didn't allow myself enough time for the bus to travel to the musikum. I had a really good lesson. One of the accompanists will always come for the last half hour of my lessons. My teacher understands where I'm coming from as a choral singer. She too was a choral singer and is a Lutheran from the midwest. She's already getting me to produce more sound than I am used to. I'm also finding that in practice, I really have to do more grunt work (ie stopping and reworking phrases, until I truly get them to be consistent).
Today was the first masterclass. Dr. Hardengbergh was teaching it. The emphasis was on German diction. It made me feel alot better. I was really afraid that I would be not nearly as good as the other students here. The four students performed very well, but I was glad to see that they weren't perfect and had stuff to work out, just like me.
Today was the first masterclass. Dr. Hardengbergh was teaching it. The emphasis was on German diction. It made me feel alot better. I was really afraid that I would be not nearly as good as the other students here. The four students performed very well, but I was glad to see that they weren't perfect and had stuff to work out, just like me.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Today was a fairly condensed schedule, but I still felt like there was a lot of time where I was just sitting around. Once I have lessons and coaching sessions, there are going to be even more odd gaps of time (ie I have an hour between voice lessons and german lessons to get to the college).
We went on a guided tour of historic Salzburg (the area around our school). The tour guide was so knowledgeable. She talked about the history of Salzburg. It was quite fascinating. I never knew that it was an independent country until 1800, ruled by Prince Archbishops. Not until the Viennese Congress (I think that's what it was called) in 1816? did it become part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. She also gave us in-depth history about the Salzburg Festival as we passed the Festival buildings (which were once the Bishop's horse stables.) I had no idea that the Festival is such a big deal to the people of Salzburg. I am eager to see how it changes in a few weeks.
I didn't finish the tour at the Mirabell Gardens because I wanted to get my stuff from the college and head to the store. The tour was going over time anyhow. Once we were at the grocery store it took me forever to decide what to get. I was thinking about frozen dinners, but since I don't know German I wouldn't know how to follow the directions. When we got to the cashier, they didn't take visa so I panicked, but fortunately I spent E49 when I only had a 50. I think the people in line were a little frustrated because we had so much stuff and we didn't know that we needed stickers for the produce that is by the gram. They also make you buy grocery bags. So bring your own or you'll have to buy either paper or plastic (I think they should make this a requirement in the US as well). Overall, Austrians conserve so much more than Americans do.
The clouds finally gave way this morning. The sun was out at it was actually a very pleasant day. I was beginning to doubt whether or not Salzburg was in the Alps, but now that the clouds have moved on, I can see the real mountains. Kim was thinking it wasn't a big deal (she's from Salt Lake), but they are still gorgeous. The cool thing is that they are so close. There is a mountain right behind our hotel and supposedly a hiking trail. I must seek this out.
While I would love to go to Vienna for our free weekend. I've decided that I'd rather not spend the money and instead go hiking all weekend. I think on Saturday, after my recital audition, a few of us are going to hike up the mountain that our college is built into and scope out the Salzburg Fortress and Museum of Modern Art.
Here are some pics from today's tour:
(Mozart's Birthplace)
(Saint Rupert, he helped build the city after the Romans left)
(The Cathedral, the original one was torn down by the Archbishop, who had returned from studying in Italy, and built a new Baroque cathedral. Leopold and W.A. Mozart worked as musicians here)
(The Benedictine Abbey)
(The Franciscan Abbey)
(Salzburg Fortress)
(Salzburg University. It is being re-opened after it was closed in 1810 when Salzburg was annexed by Bavaria)
We went on a guided tour of historic Salzburg (the area around our school). The tour guide was so knowledgeable. She talked about the history of Salzburg. It was quite fascinating. I never knew that it was an independent country until 1800, ruled by Prince Archbishops. Not until the Viennese Congress (I think that's what it was called) in 1816? did it become part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. She also gave us in-depth history about the Salzburg Festival as we passed the Festival buildings (which were once the Bishop's horse stables.) I had no idea that the Festival is such a big deal to the people of Salzburg. I am eager to see how it changes in a few weeks.
I didn't finish the tour at the Mirabell Gardens because I wanted to get my stuff from the college and head to the store. The tour was going over time anyhow. Once we were at the grocery store it took me forever to decide what to get. I was thinking about frozen dinners, but since I don't know German I wouldn't know how to follow the directions. When we got to the cashier, they didn't take visa so I panicked, but fortunately I spent E49 when I only had a 50. I think the people in line were a little frustrated because we had so much stuff and we didn't know that we needed stickers for the produce that is by the gram. They also make you buy grocery bags. So bring your own or you'll have to buy either paper or plastic (I think they should make this a requirement in the US as well). Overall, Austrians conserve so much more than Americans do.
The clouds finally gave way this morning. The sun was out at it was actually a very pleasant day. I was beginning to doubt whether or not Salzburg was in the Alps, but now that the clouds have moved on, I can see the real mountains. Kim was thinking it wasn't a big deal (she's from Salt Lake), but they are still gorgeous. The cool thing is that they are so close. There is a mountain right behind our hotel and supposedly a hiking trail. I must seek this out.
While I would love to go to Vienna for our free weekend. I've decided that I'd rather not spend the money and instead go hiking all weekend. I think on Saturday, after my recital audition, a few of us are going to hike up the mountain that our college is built into and scope out the Salzburg Fortress and Museum of Modern Art.
Here are some pics from today's tour:
(Mozart's Birthplace)
(Saint Rupert, he helped build the city after the Romans left)
(The Cathedral, the original one was torn down by the Archbishop, who had returned from studying in Italy, and built a new Baroque cathedral. Leopold and W.A. Mozart worked as musicians here)
(The Benedictine Abbey)
(The Franciscan Abbey)
(Salzburg Fortress)
(Salzburg University. It is being re-opened after it was closed in 1810 when Salzburg was annexed by Bavaria)
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