Posts Categorized: Auditions

Audition comments are back. Mostly because blogging is taking a back seat to my actual work, on which I am woefully and almost irretrievably behind. Photo at the left from a break during Friday’s chorus auditions, which went very well, thank you! Comments are excerpted but unedited, randomized so that they’re anonymized. (I know that’s

Maybe it was turning the calendar over to March that did it. But it’s all about the birds today. The robins have come back to the bird feeder outside my office window. The cardinal that spent the entire winter bashing himself against said window has mysteriously and thankfully moved on. And the woodpecker that marks

Prior to this winter, I’ve only blogged during the high-drama portions of our annual cycle – namely, the summer performing season and the autumn audition tour. The idea to continue writing throughout this winter was born of a desire to provide some continuity and to demonstrate how critical the rest of our operation is. You

Multiple requests this week to talk about last Saturday’s Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Mid-Atlantic Regional finals at the Kennedy Center. I was one of three judges, and I’ve gotten emails, calls, and blog comments asking for some detail on how the panel arrived at its decisions. Of course, that’s pretty much not possible without

A few weeks ago I started getting responses to the unedited audition comments that I’d begun to post. Some feedback came in the form of posted comments (anyone can comment on an entry by clicking the link at the bottom), some were emails sent to my address (see right), and others were posted on forums

…why I so enjoy these recitals with opera company alums. Well, there are lots of reasons, but one of the best is the chance to play with grown-ups again. Not to knock all of the amazingly gifted young singers that populate most of the rest of my life. They’re intuitive and musical, generally more talented

I’ve been silent for too many days, trying to dig myself out of what appears to be a bottomless well of administrative tasks. I’m afraid I’m surfacing mostly to whine. Don’t say you weren’t warned. What Do You Do in the Winter?Q: Where do you work?A: Wolf Trap.Q. That must be a great job. What

I honestly can’t remember where or when this image first grabbed me. But it has saved my sanity more than a few times. I’m one of those people who tries hard. Usually a little too hard. If a problem resists solution, if an obstacle seems insurmountable, well, I just dig in my heels and grunt.

January finds us in an exciting, thrill-a-minute phase of arts administration. The mounds of paperwork dwarf the memory of how exciting it was to hear the auditions and pick the operas. (Yes, I know I said I’d talk more about the operas, but I can’t just yet… Soon. Promise.) Auditioning and casting was tiring and

Feeling a little more human after a few days off. It always takes longer than I think it should to regain some sort of equilibrium. I am, however, getting much better at finding balance in my life over the last few years. Middle age has its benefits. Audition Results Notification As of this weekend, all