Posts Categorized: Blog

After over a week’s worth of hotels, planes, trains, venues, and assorted electronics operating flawlessly, it’s time for a little chaos theory. The flight from California to Ohio went well, and following it immediately with 4 hours of auditions at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, while not a great idea, actually worked fairly well. But

OK, I promised. Here’s what’s still in play for possible operas at The Barns next summer. In no particular order. AlcinaA Midsummer Night’s DreamDie Entführung aus dem Serail The Rape of LucretiaL’étoileIl re pastoreI Capuleti ed i MontecchiLa pietra del paragoneSemeleLinda di ChamounixIl ritorno d’Ulisse in patriaVolpone Così fan tutte And, because of the peculiar

Transition from Houston to San Francisco. (View out the my hotel window at left.) It’s a good thing we’re not trying to combine travel with auditions today, because I’ve hit my first wall. An early morning, an uncomfortable flight, and accumulated mental fatigue. The Short List Did some work on the plane… Mostly trying to

As of midday, it was 6.5 days down, 6.5 to go! The nasty part is that the remaining half of the tour is the most high-maintenance, travel-wise. The Houston Report Sopranos – Consider Bubbles, Beautiful Bubbles from Pasatieri’s Goose Girl. It’s in one of the new anthologies (I’m on the road, so I can’t remember

You think you’ve had a rough audition day? Top this. It’s All About the ShoesTonight’s dinner conversation found its way to the subject of ladies’ audition and concert shoes. I don’t know how you girls do it. You look like a million bucks in those stiletto heels. But I’d have trouble staying upright, let alone

An absolutely beautiful day in New York, the second in a row. Makes up for those 18 solid hours of pelting rain on Wednesday. We relocated today, to the 10th floor of the Rose Building at Juilliard (white tower at left). Random Aria Comments“Caro nome” – That first E-natural (“Gualtier Maldé!”) has to be on

A busy day. Auditions for 30 singers and 1 apprentice coach. Interviews with conductors, directors. A brief visit with one of my colleagues from the San Francisco Opera Center, and a late night dinner with a long-time friend and colleague from my Washington (National) Opera days. Back then we weren’t “National”:) As a matter of

Greetings from this AWOL Virginian, whose absentee ballot is probably being counted as we speak. Dramatic day for politics. My daughter is studying political science and foreign policy, and I usually look to her to explain these things. She called me three times today to give me updates :o) Planning on staying up past my

Flat The first day of this year’s audition tour brings a rash of out-of-tune singing. Everyone has the occasional “off” day, and I’m well aware that a live audition isn’t going to have the pristine intonation of a recording. But I’ve been doing this for a while now, and I have to say that there

This is the time of year when the idea of balance seeps back into my consciousness. As exciting as the summer season can be, it’s rarely a time for anything approaching a healthy lifestyle. Of course, we in the performing arts are not alone in this sickness, but we’re pretty good at it. I do