Posts
And once again it becomes clear that I'm really horrible at updating this blog, or even at remembering that it exists. Maybe I'll start writing shorter entries, more frequently. Would be more fun for both me and you that way.
Do I even attempt to update the story on my life since last March? A little can't hurt, I suppose.
The rest of the last academic year went extremely well, really. Got involved in a few really interesting and successful education projects (co-devised and performed a piece at the Queen Elizabeth II Hall for OAE and the Sinfonietta, sang a children's opera at King's Place, etc.), technique that Diane and Nick have been teaching me really started to sink in, and I even got a Distinction on my end-of-year singing exam at RAM.
Had a relatively relaxed summer. Spent as much time as possible on sunny days in Hampstead Heath, my new favourite place to spend a nice day in London. Even went swimming there. Found a house to move to, and moved to it. Had a brief visit to the States for Gram's birthday, and some time back in Ocean Grove.
Then the start of autumn again. Played viola on a couple of All Souls Orchestra tours, including with Keith and Kristyn Getty. Performed 'Mrs. Spencer Waits' for the OAE again. Technique really started sinking in, and my voice seems to have just about doubled in size. With absolutely no added effort to sing - less, really. Huzzah. Sang a scene from Barber's Vanessa, as Vanessa. Had an incredible master class with Dame Kiri te Kanawa, and coached both of the 'Contessa' arias from Mozart's Figaro with her.
Got ridiculously busy. Sent out a ton of applications for programmes for next year. Had 3 auditions in the UK, and will hopefully have 5 more in the States, and at least one on the Continent. Sang two performances of Handel's Messiah as the soprano soloist at Blenheim Palace, including one for the Duke of Marlborough himself.
Had loads of random visitors come through London, both family and friends. And family friends. Reconnected with people from home, Princeton, and Oxford. Strengthened bonds with Marshalls and RAM students, even as some ties change. Made new wonderful friendships. And a new wonderful 'framily' in my 4 housemates, as well as the ones who have switched out since I moved here. Feeling more settled in the city and in church here. Putting down more roots. All at the same time that I wonder if I'll still be here less than a year from now, depending on how applications and auditions pan out. The excitement and the stress of such an international profession. Will I ever have a real 'home' in the world again? Hope so. But probably won't be all that soon. Difficult realization, really.
Far from ending on such a fraught note, however, I have to state that I've been really happy in the past months. I feel more centred, more settled, and more confident that I'm doing what I'm meant to be doing, and that I'm even starting to do it well. Always more to learn and more progress to be made, but things are looking up, I think. Not bad for a girl who wasn't singing even close to full time two years ago.
Here's hoping it'll be less than 8 1/2 months until the next time I write here...
Wednesday 9 December 2009
Wednesday 25 March 2009
Settling
Time keeps ticking on.
Concerts have come and go, friends have visited and left, rainy days have come and come and come and went and came back again... (at least spring seems to have arrived, albeit with some brief reappearances of rainy winter weather every once in a while). And through all of this, I'm finally feeling considerably more settled in London.
The new term has, in general, been a lot better to me than the last - both in my programme and in life outside of it. I'm singing better, and keep making progress in improving what I'm doing and learning a lot of new repertoire and information. Still have a ways to go, but that's why I keep studying. At least feeling a lot better about my work here. Also, have made a few really solid friends who I can trust, talk to, and feel eminently comfortable with. It's amazing what a difference that makes in feeling at home somewhere - not to say I didn't have made some good friends last term, but having a few really close allies makes for a far more grounded existence.
Of course, there are always things that remind me that I'm not at home. The weather. The extreme habit of understatement. The reservedness. The lack of reliable public transportation. Wait a minute, considering NJ Transit and the MTA, maybe that's not so different, after all...
But, on the whole, I can honestly say that I feel at home in this city now. People stop me on the street to ask for directions, and I can point them in the right direction. I know where to go for which groceries. I have a couple of favorite cheap restaurants. I have to think twice to use American terminology, as the British words for things are what come out of my mouth first. And, most importantly, I know where to stand on the Tube platforms that I frequent so that when I get back off the train at that particular door, I will be directly in front of my next platform's exit.
Some of the most exiting developments have been in music (perhaps unsurprisingly for me). Sang in a really wonderful production of RAM opera scenes at the end of January, playing the title role in a duet from Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix. (No, there were no ski slopes in the opera. Sorry.) Then this past week, some of the best stuff yet: sang in the chorus for a mass performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, conducted by Sir Colin Davis in a joint project between RAM and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Getting to sing on the stage at the Barbican - to a completely sold-out audience - was an experience I'll not soon forget, nor the deafening roar of said audience after the final chord. Also got to sing on the stage of the Wigmore Hall (London's pre-eminent recital hall) for an education project performance there this past Saturday (even had Mom here visiting for both of those concerts!). And, get to play viola in the Royal Albert Hall in a week and a half. Things are looking up.
Perhaps most interestingly, I have discovered the art and joy of jazz performance this term. Got sort of dragged along to a meeting for a new Jazz Club here at Goodenough back in late January, and turned into a series of fun rehearsals, then a pair of gigs at Goodenough (after-party music for a Vagina Monologues performance; then a real gig as the entertainment for a champagne tasting that went well into the night!). Really loving it and seem to be doing well with it, have found a rhythm section I adore, and the 4 of us are now trying to 'make it' in the London jazz scene, putting together some sets to play in some jazz clubs. Should be an exciting new chapter in the musical adventures here, at any rate - and who knows where it'll go?
By the end of the week, I'll have made it through the end of my 2nd of 3 terms for the year. Amazing how time flies. Especially now that I'm really having fun. :-)
Concerts have come and go, friends have visited and left, rainy days have come and come and come and went and came back again... (at least spring seems to have arrived, albeit with some brief reappearances of rainy winter weather every once in a while). And through all of this, I'm finally feeling considerably more settled in London.
The new term has, in general, been a lot better to me than the last - both in my programme and in life outside of it. I'm singing better, and keep making progress in improving what I'm doing and learning a lot of new repertoire and information. Still have a ways to go, but that's why I keep studying. At least feeling a lot better about my work here. Also, have made a few really solid friends who I can trust, talk to, and feel eminently comfortable with. It's amazing what a difference that makes in feeling at home somewhere - not to say I didn't have made some good friends last term, but having a few really close allies makes for a far more grounded existence.
Of course, there are always things that remind me that I'm not at home. The weather. The extreme habit of understatement. The reservedness. The lack of reliable public transportation. Wait a minute, considering NJ Transit and the MTA, maybe that's not so different, after all...
But, on the whole, I can honestly say that I feel at home in this city now. People stop me on the street to ask for directions, and I can point them in the right direction. I know where to go for which groceries. I have a couple of favorite cheap restaurants. I have to think twice to use American terminology, as the British words for things are what come out of my mouth first. And, most importantly, I know where to stand on the Tube platforms that I frequent so that when I get back off the train at that particular door, I will be directly in front of my next platform's exit.
Some of the most exiting developments have been in music (perhaps unsurprisingly for me). Sang in a really wonderful production of RAM opera scenes at the end of January, playing the title role in a duet from Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix. (No, there were no ski slopes in the opera. Sorry.) Then this past week, some of the best stuff yet: sang in the chorus for a mass performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, conducted by Sir Colin Davis in a joint project between RAM and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Getting to sing on the stage at the Barbican - to a completely sold-out audience - was an experience I'll not soon forget, nor the deafening roar of said audience after the final chord. Also got to sing on the stage of the Wigmore Hall (London's pre-eminent recital hall) for an education project performance there this past Saturday (even had Mom here visiting for both of those concerts!). And, get to play viola in the Royal Albert Hall in a week and a half. Things are looking up.
Perhaps most interestingly, I have discovered the art and joy of jazz performance this term. Got sort of dragged along to a meeting for a new Jazz Club here at Goodenough back in late January, and turned into a series of fun rehearsals, then a pair of gigs at Goodenough (after-party music for a Vagina Monologues performance; then a real gig as the entertainment for a champagne tasting that went well into the night!). Really loving it and seem to be doing well with it, have found a rhythm section I adore, and the 4 of us are now trying to 'make it' in the London jazz scene, putting together some sets to play in some jazz clubs. Should be an exciting new chapter in the musical adventures here, at any rate - and who knows where it'll go?
By the end of the week, I'll have made it through the end of my 2nd of 3 terms for the year. Amazing how time flies. Especially now that I'm really having fun. :-)
Friday 6 February 2009
An American in London
Disclaimer: I realize this is now getting posted extremely late... this post got mostly written and abandoned a while ago, but I still wanted to get it up here!
My fellow Americans: we have a new President.
The honeymoon period is passing now - which is a good thing for all parties involved, I think - but I thought it might be worth looking back at the day Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States, from a slightly different perspective. Being in the UK on inauguration day was a very interesting experience, actually. As much as I felt some twinges of jealousy of my friends back in the States that day - and particularly those in DC - it was very enlightening to observe the whole thing from this side of the Pond. Newspapers here had been featuring his picture and news about the ceremony and those who would be in attendance for days and even weeks in advance, and sometimes it was easy to forget that it wasn't a leader of the UK being celebrated. Because of the close relationship between the two nations, and because of the general animosity and apathy towards the outgoing US leader, this was very big news for everyone over here. In fact, Londoners in general (at least, those I know) seem a lot more 'in the know' about the details of the American political system than the average 'Joe sixpack' in the States. They understand the whole electoral college system very well, know a lot of the ins out and outs of the two parties, are familiar with the key people and offices, and generally seem better informed than most of the people in the country who should be more concerned about these sorts of things. Perhaps this has something to do with the self-selecting group of people with whom I spend most of my time, but in general, my British companions seem to be a very well-informed bunch on the subject of American politics.
The mood that day was quite high, as well. Perhaps not quite as high as the Americans I know here, many of whom were wearing red, white, and/or blue, possibly with Obama t-shirts and buttons, and most importantly were sporting rather huge smiles (we are talking about Americans abroad, remember, who are a far more liberal sub-group of American citizens in general... and, let's be honest, Obama had the highest approval rating of an incoming President of anyone that anyone can think of). Still, there was an excitement in the air. People were talking about it all day. I received congratulations and high-fives from people throughout the day, regardless of how well I knew them. And, in the words of one English friend I asked about his attitude towards the whole thing, 'The way I see it, we've got a new leader of the free world. That should be exciting for all of us.'
As part of that excitement, Madame Tussaud's even had a special deal for American citizens on inauguration day: free entry for US citizens to celebrate the new President Obama wax statue. Considering the fact that said institution is about a 2 minute walk down the street from the RAM, I ran over with a couple of other Americans and we ran through to take a picture. (Didn't stop to really see anything else - sort of entertaining place, but definitely not worth the high price of admission, I don't think). They had a huge screen with a projector working to broadcast the BBC's coverage of the inauguration ceremony, and a huge line of people waiting to stand behind the desk in the 'Oval Office' to take their picture with 'President Obama'. We did it from the side, instead. Interesting to be in such a commercialized version of the political celebration, though, as well as to be surrounded by US accents for part of the afternoon!
In Madame Tussaud's
In terms of actual inauguration-watching, however, I ran back to the packed-to-capacity common room where the flatscreen TV was broadcasting BBC's coverage of the event. And their coverage was great, except for the commentary that talked over a lot of the MC's announcements about what was going on so we sat in a moment of silence not knowing what it was for, and had extremely irate student musicians yelling at the commentator when he kept speaking through the beginning of the 'Simple Gifts' performance, talking about how beautiful it was. (We'd know how beautiful it is if you'd just stop talking.) Students were everywhere in the room to watch the proceedings - on couches, over couches, on each other, standing in corners, on the floor, etc. To be sure, a lot of the people in the room were the Americans studying there (there are a few of us), but it was amazing to see how many students from elsewhere were glued to the TV, as well. With one notable exception. (Perhaps the most memorable moment of the day for me.) At one point, a student walked nonchalantly through the common room door, and then stopped and did a double-take at how many people were in the common room. He looked confused and slightly annoyed, then peered his head around the corner to see what we were all watching. Recoiling in disgust, he stood and faced all of us, and yelled, 'I am Russian. I do not care about this. We do not care about your country!', and then stomped out of the room. An interesting reminder that just because the Cold War is over, it doesn't mean that the old attitudes have ended with it for everyone.
For the most part, though, election time felt like being an American in London made one a celebrity. My amazingly well-informed, optimistic, excited non-American friends had so much goodwill towards now-President Obama and the change he represented. The glow's certainly gone now, but let's hope that the goodwill remains towards the country as a whole.
My fellow Americans: we have a new President.
The honeymoon period is passing now - which is a good thing for all parties involved, I think - but I thought it might be worth looking back at the day Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States, from a slightly different perspective. Being in the UK on inauguration day was a very interesting experience, actually. As much as I felt some twinges of jealousy of my friends back in the States that day - and particularly those in DC - it was very enlightening to observe the whole thing from this side of the Pond. Newspapers here had been featuring his picture and news about the ceremony and those who would be in attendance for days and even weeks in advance, and sometimes it was easy to forget that it wasn't a leader of the UK being celebrated. Because of the close relationship between the two nations, and because of the general animosity and apathy towards the outgoing US leader, this was very big news for everyone over here. In fact, Londoners in general (at least, those I know) seem a lot more 'in the know' about the details of the American political system than the average 'Joe sixpack' in the States. They understand the whole electoral college system very well, know a lot of the ins out and outs of the two parties, are familiar with the key people and offices, and generally seem better informed than most of the people in the country who should be more concerned about these sorts of things. Perhaps this has something to do with the self-selecting group of people with whom I spend most of my time, but in general, my British companions seem to be a very well-informed bunch on the subject of American politics.
The mood that day was quite high, as well. Perhaps not quite as high as the Americans I know here, many of whom were wearing red, white, and/or blue, possibly with Obama t-shirts and buttons, and most importantly were sporting rather huge smiles (we are talking about Americans abroad, remember, who are a far more liberal sub-group of American citizens in general... and, let's be honest, Obama had the highest approval rating of an incoming President of anyone that anyone can think of). Still, there was an excitement in the air. People were talking about it all day. I received congratulations and high-fives from people throughout the day, regardless of how well I knew them. And, in the words of one English friend I asked about his attitude towards the whole thing, 'The way I see it, we've got a new leader of the free world. That should be exciting for all of us.'
As part of that excitement, Madame Tussaud's even had a special deal for American citizens on inauguration day: free entry for US citizens to celebrate the new President Obama wax statue. Considering the fact that said institution is about a 2 minute walk down the street from the RAM, I ran over with a couple of other Americans and we ran through to take a picture. (Didn't stop to really see anything else - sort of entertaining place, but definitely not worth the high price of admission, I don't think). They had a huge screen with a projector working to broadcast the BBC's coverage of the inauguration ceremony, and a huge line of people waiting to stand behind the desk in the 'Oval Office' to take their picture with 'President Obama'. We did it from the side, instead. Interesting to be in such a commercialized version of the political celebration, though, as well as to be surrounded by US accents for part of the afternoon!
In Madame Tussaud'sIn terms of actual inauguration-watching, however, I ran back to the packed-to-capacity common room where the flatscreen TV was broadcasting BBC's coverage of the event. And their coverage was great, except for the commentary that talked over a lot of the MC's announcements about what was going on so we sat in a moment of silence not knowing what it was for, and had extremely irate student musicians yelling at the commentator when he kept speaking through the beginning of the 'Simple Gifts' performance, talking about how beautiful it was. (We'd know how beautiful it is if you'd just stop talking.) Students were everywhere in the room to watch the proceedings - on couches, over couches, on each other, standing in corners, on the floor, etc. To be sure, a lot of the people in the room were the Americans studying there (there are a few of us), but it was amazing to see how many students from elsewhere were glued to the TV, as well. With one notable exception. (Perhaps the most memorable moment of the day for me.) At one point, a student walked nonchalantly through the common room door, and then stopped and did a double-take at how many people were in the common room. He looked confused and slightly annoyed, then peered his head around the corner to see what we were all watching. Recoiling in disgust, he stood and faced all of us, and yelled, 'I am Russian. I do not care about this. We do not care about your country!', and then stomped out of the room. An interesting reminder that just because the Cold War is over, it doesn't mean that the old attitudes have ended with it for everyone.
For the most part, though, election time felt like being an American in London made one a celebrity. My amazingly well-informed, optimistic, excited non-American friends had so much goodwill towards now-President Obama and the change he represented. The glow's certainly gone now, but let's hope that the goodwill remains towards the country as a whole.
Saturday 3 January 2009
Starting Up (A Term Late)
So, seeing as most of my friends who are now graduated (like me) and transplanted to various parts of the globe far away from their homes/schools/families (also like me) have been keeping blogs to record what they're up to, and to communicate their experiences with friends and family, I thought I should jump on this bandwagon. So, I hope that this blog not only helps me to remember what it was like to embark upon this particular journey, but also to share with you a piece of my daily life here in London.
To start with a basic introduction to what I'm doing here: I graduated from Princeton with a degree in public policy and a certificate in music performance last June, and moved to London at the end of August to pursue a Masters of Music (MMus) degree in 'Vocal Studies' from the Royal Academy of Music. I am honored and blessed to be doing so with the help of a Marshall Scholarship, for which I am indescribably grateful. Eventually, I'm hoping to concentrate more specifically on opera - possibly with cultural diplomacy - but the degree I'm working on now is a broader singing degree, helping me to build a foundation in art song, oratorio, opera, and most areas of what we refer to as 'classical' singing. Since my undergraduate degree was definitely not a music performance degree, this broader foundation seemed like the smartest move for me, and it's definitely what I need to be doing right now. Classes range from subjects like acting and movement to Lieder, English song, and French song, and I also have a one-on-one lesson and coaching each week with a singing professor and coach at the RAM. I'm very lucky to be working with a pair of extremely challenging and supportive mentors. Professors are also wonderful, as I continually feel I get to work with the best the UK has to offer for what I'm studying. And although it's a very challenging programme (I think a lot of the time I may even be busier now than I was in my undergrad... which is hard to imagine), it's also an extremely supportive place that truly works to help its students achieve the best they can achieve. And, having homework that consists of practicing and learning gorgeous music sure beats problem sets and long, dry, policy paper reading assignments. :-)
I live in a private hall for international postgraduate students called 'Goodenough College'. No joke. Named after William Goodenough. (See more here). It's in a wonderfully central location, close to Russell Square and King's Cross Railway Station, and the facilities are quite nice for central London. I'm also surrounded by a lot of fascinating people, studying at every London university imaginable, in hundreds of fields, and hailing from over 90 countries worldwide. Also hang out with a few other American Marshall Scholars ('Marshies') who live here, and it's nice to have a connection to 'home' that way. Because, as adventurous as I normally am and as much as I love living and studying here, I do miss home.
Still, I'm thankful to have made some good friends here already, between RAM students in my programme, the Marshies, and also some wonderful people from All Souls Church, where I've become involved in music ministry and in a weekly student Bible study. A chord of three strands of friendship, as it were. So I can be grateful for having a pretty comprehensive support system!
So what am I up to now? One term down, and the next starts on Monday after a lovely 5-week winter break (amazing). Preparing to dive back in. As time goes on, I'll hope to include some pictures from my life here, and I'm sure more information about the time already passed will be referenced and included. But for now: looking forward to the next term!
To start with a basic introduction to what I'm doing here: I graduated from Princeton with a degree in public policy and a certificate in music performance last June, and moved to London at the end of August to pursue a Masters of Music (MMus) degree in 'Vocal Studies' from the Royal Academy of Music. I am honored and blessed to be doing so with the help of a Marshall Scholarship, for which I am indescribably grateful. Eventually, I'm hoping to concentrate more specifically on opera - possibly with cultural diplomacy - but the degree I'm working on now is a broader singing degree, helping me to build a foundation in art song, oratorio, opera, and most areas of what we refer to as 'classical' singing. Since my undergraduate degree was definitely not a music performance degree, this broader foundation seemed like the smartest move for me, and it's definitely what I need to be doing right now. Classes range from subjects like acting and movement to Lieder, English song, and French song, and I also have a one-on-one lesson and coaching each week with a singing professor and coach at the RAM. I'm very lucky to be working with a pair of extremely challenging and supportive mentors. Professors are also wonderful, as I continually feel I get to work with the best the UK has to offer for what I'm studying. And although it's a very challenging programme (I think a lot of the time I may even be busier now than I was in my undergrad... which is hard to imagine), it's also an extremely supportive place that truly works to help its students achieve the best they can achieve. And, having homework that consists of practicing and learning gorgeous music sure beats problem sets and long, dry, policy paper reading assignments. :-)
I live in a private hall for international postgraduate students called 'Goodenough College'. No joke. Named after William Goodenough. (See more here). It's in a wonderfully central location, close to Russell Square and King's Cross Railway Station, and the facilities are quite nice for central London. I'm also surrounded by a lot of fascinating people, studying at every London university imaginable, in hundreds of fields, and hailing from over 90 countries worldwide. Also hang out with a few other American Marshall Scholars ('Marshies') who live here, and it's nice to have a connection to 'home' that way. Because, as adventurous as I normally am and as much as I love living and studying here, I do miss home.
Still, I'm thankful to have made some good friends here already, between RAM students in my programme, the Marshies, and also some wonderful people from All Souls Church, where I've become involved in music ministry and in a weekly student Bible study. A chord of three strands of friendship, as it were. So I can be grateful for having a pretty comprehensive support system!
So what am I up to now? One term down, and the next starts on Monday after a lovely 5-week winter break (amazing). Preparing to dive back in. As time goes on, I'll hope to include some pictures from my life here, and I'm sure more information about the time already passed will be referenced and included. But for now: looking forward to the next term!
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