Good News!

I was so relieved to wake up to the first of April this morning.  Spring really has come after a very long winter!  It seems like winter gets harder and harder to deal with every year.  The Viennese hate winter.  Everyone gets so grumpy.  Natives of Vienna will be the first to admit it, too.  It's incredible to me how everyone's moods are dramatically changing with the beginning of spring.

My mood drastically changed yesterday when I received an email from the IU Jacobs School of Music informing me that I've received an Associate Instructorship for my doctoral studies!  This means that I will have my own private voice studio, teaching undergraduate voice minors.  I'm really excited to have the opportunity to teach.  It's something I've always enjoyed, and I find it incredibly rewarding.  So, I will officially be returning to IU this fall to pursue the doctorate.   Whew, it feels so good to be able to say that.  I have a PLAN!

Of course, this wasn't originally what I had anticipated, but I think it's going to be good for me in the long run.  I've been doing so much thinking over the last month.  I don't want to feel like going back to Bloomington is a step backwards.  I don't think it will be, as long as I continue auditioning and performing.  With the Associate Instructor position, I will have the financial means to travel and take auditions while studying on a regular basis, and I hope to get the opportunity to perform again at IU as well.  I'll be making Bloomington my "home base".

It's now been about a year since I've performed, and it's making me go crazy!  After such a long hiatus, I have a whole new appreciation for that feeling of being on stage.  It's like nothing else in the world.  I've recently been reading bits and pieces of Jerome Hines's Great Singers on Great Singing, and I was truly moved by his interview with Beverly Sills.  Ms. Sills was not only a phenomenal singer and performer, but she was an extraordinary human being.  I had the opportunity to hear her speak several years ago at the Pittsburgh Speaker Series at Heinz Hall, and I remember being so impressed by Beverly Sills as a person, before I had even become familiar with her singing.

Here are a few excerpts from the interview that really stuck out to me:

"...I couldn't wait to get on the stage, and I think when you see a performer who is obviously enjoying herself like that, you are prepared to go along with her.  That's one thing.  Second of all, as I said before, I was a communicator.  The words meant as much to me as the music.  I wanted the people to have an emotional experience, which is why I never could be content with the 'stand up and sing' roles.  This joyfulness that I felt when I sang, and this need to communicate with people, these are my two strongest points.  I've always been a people person, I love people, I like to be with people, and when I got on stage, I was home free."

Beverly Sills was larger than life.  Her daughter, Meredith, was ironically born deaf, and her son Peter was mentally disabled.
When she retired from singing in 1980 at the age of 51, Ms. Sills became the General Director of the New York City Opera.  From 2002-2005, Beverly Sills served as the Metropolitan Opera's chairman.  Ms. Sills was also devoted to charity work in the prevention and treatment of birth defects. 

Beverly Sills passed away on July 2, 2007 after being hospitalized for lung cancer.  Jerome Hines ends his chapter on Sills with this:

"With that, Beverly had to dash.  I accompanied her out of the inner recesses of the theater into the bright, cold sunlight.  As I watched her quickly cutting her way through pedestrians and traffic, enthusiastically heading for her next appointment, I decided she must be more than just the twins of Gemini, it would take quintuplets to successfully race through the path of her life.  Beverly: no one will ever be able to think of you in the past tense.  You're always with it, no matter what it may be.  
Godspeed."

The quality of these clips isn't the best, but I think it's worth it.

 

Beverly Sills, you've inspired me!

I hope you all feel a bit inspired to start off this new month, too.  April first is a new start for me.  I'm getting a hold of my perspective again, and can look to the future with a feeling of excitement as opposed to that sense of uncertainty that had been weighing on me for so long.  Thank you all for supporting me throughout this journey, and for believing in me!

Enjoy this recording of one of my favorite mezzo-sopranos, Christa Ludwig, singing Schubert's "Frühlingsglaube" (Spring Faith).  Simple and beautiful, and the text is very appropriate for this post.

Die linden Lüfte sind erwacht,                  The balmy breezes are awakened
Sie säuseln und wehen Tag und Nacht,                              they sway and wave day and night
Sie schaffen an allen Enden.                                                 they are creating all around.
O frischer Duft, o neuer Klang!                                            Oh fresh scent, oh new sound!
Nun, armes Herze, sei nicht bang!                                       Now, poor heart, do not be afraid.
Nun muß sich alles, alles wenden.                                       Now all, all must change.

Die Welt wird schöner mit jedem Tag,                               The world will be more beautiful with every day,
Man weiß nicht, was noch werden mag,                             one doesn't know what is still to come,
Das Blühen will nicht enden;                                                the blooming does not want to cease;
Es blüht das fernste, tiefste Tal:                                           the furthest, deepest valley is blooming:
Nun, armes Herz, vergiß der Qual!                                      Now, poor heart, forget the torment!
Nun muß sich alles, alles wenden.                                       Now all, all must change.