Posts Categorized: Blog

Day 2 of NYC auditions. Today’s #ASQoD* comes from the iconic American musician whose centennial we honor in 2018. “To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan, and not quite enough time.” Leonard Bernstein We know we need a plan. A method in the middle of the madness. Both on the micro level (how to

Before we get to today’s #ASQoD*, I want to mention that we’re holding the first of four audition days at the National Opera Center in New York City, and today is the first day of National Opera Week! Take a moment to check out this video message from mezzo-soprano (and WTO alumna!) Denyce Graves. And now, on to one of

On our way from Houston to New York today, landing just in time for tonight’s premiere of The Exterminating Angel at the Met! Today’s post is as much for me as it is for you. I’ve reached the flash point in our audition/casting process where my anxiety dreams are playing out both sleeping and waking. :)  We all need

It’s the second day of Houston auditions, and we’re on our way tonight to the dress rehearsal of Julius Caesar at HGO’s Resilience Theater @ George R. Brown Convention Center (featuring 5 WTO alumni!) Today’s #ASQoD*… “For every complex problem there is an easy answer, and it is wrong.” H.L. Mencken Don’t underestimate the value of creativity in solving

Today’s the first day of auditions in Houston, and we are at Christ Church Cathedral. We miss being on the 6th floor of the Wortham for sure, but we’re grateful for this beautiful temporary audition space with abundant natural light and lovely people! This is a bit of a sobering#ASQoD*, but don’t take the first quote at

Flying to Houston today. We won’t be in our regular audition space at the Wortham, because our friends at HGO are away from their home for this entire season in the wake of hurricane Harvey. Not a bad day for this day 15 topic of #ASQoD* “Reculer pour mieux sauter” I have no idea where this

Every time a baroque da capo** aria comes into the audition room, I think of this, our 14th #ASQoD* “We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time.” T.S. Eliot Much of our study and development is

Tonight, we are back home for a performance at The Barns by violinist Lara St. John. Lara is the Artistic Advisor for our 2017-2018 Chamber Music series, curated by my colleague Lee Anne Myslewski. When you work for the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, it’s not all opera all of the time. And

We’re taking a pause in the middle of the audition tour, to reconnect with our lives… Hence, the inspiration for the 12th #ASQoD* “If ya ain’t got it in ya, ya can’t blow it out.” Louis Armstrong Pretty clear, eh? And straight ahead into another quote: “I used to think of Sisyphus as the patron saint of the workaholic….Until