Best of Broadway I received a call this morning from Jane Cormier of the Lakes Region Opera Company in NH. They got my application for the vocal competition this fall. Along with that, Jane had a proposition for me. She had heard me sing at the Boston Singers Resource audition and they are in need of a Tenor for a concert series this summer. It lined up perfectly. I checked my schedule and am now signed up for 3 concerts, 2 in July and 1 in August. This is a great opportunity, but it is only 2 weeks until the first concert, so I will be under a bit of stress. I will now be studying selections from Broadway shows My Fair Lady, West Side Story and others. I will be working very hard to get them down in time. Along with Gianni Schicchi I am going to be doing a lot of singing over the next couple months, which is precisely where I want to be.

- Gregory - ¶ 12:38 PM 0 comments

Center Stage Things have been happening very fast lately. I have been hard at work learning Rinuccio, but that has not stopped me from trying to add things to my schedule. I just sent in an application to a vocal competition in NH. The Lakes Region Opera is holding their first vocal competition and since there are so few here in New England, I decided it was worth a shot. On top of that I am in the middle of scheduling another couple of auditions and I hope at least 1 of them comes through.

I had a pleasant surprise this morning while at work. I got the July issue of Classical Singer magazine and started to flip through it. Lo and behold, on page 6, there I was. I sent my information to them a few months ago and I was selected to be in the Center Stage article for this month. I have attached the image as I do not think I will be able to procure any other copies of the issue. I highly suggest getting a subscription to Classical Singer as the magazine is an incredibly good read for young singers. One of the nicer aspects is a list of upcoming auditions and competitions, which has been very helpful in my search for these things. All in all, it is very worth the subscription if you are planing on singing for a career. Enjoy!

- Gregory - ¶ 12:42 PM 0 comments

Good Things Happen.... Fast Recently I have been wondering about the idea of keeping a blog as a young tenor. Restricting myself to writing about my musical life (and random bits of code I've done for the website) makes for a dull and not often updated blog. As things tend to do, they go in spurts. It is very interesting, as I was just reading an article in this months Classical Singer about what to do with yourself when you have a summer where nothing comes from your many auditions. I had planned on spending the time finishing wedding plans and getting married, not focusing as much on my singing, therefore limiting the auditions I would attend. I think it ironic that sometimes you try your best to do something and then nothing pans out, while at the same time, you plan on doing nothing and an opportunity springs from the ground.

When I woke on Wednesday morning for work, I had an e-mail from the Musical Director of Opera del West. She wanted to let me know that they were auditioning some tenors for a production of Gianni Schicchi they are doing in August. As this was a tremendous event, I was both excited and upset. I knew I would miss a lot of rehearsals for the wedding, so I replied and said that I would, regretfully, have to decline from the audition. To my surprise, she contacted me that afternoon and made it clear that she was still interested in having me sing. The next night I traveled to Boston and sang both "Che Gelida Manina" and "Una Furtiva Lagrima" for them.

This morning I received an e-mail from the Music Director. She had offered me the role of Rinuccio in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi for August and Don Ramiro (or Dan Marino according to my sister) from Rossini's Cenerentola in a scenes program this September. I have accepted both and have begun working on the parts fervently. Now, I am again studying hard, completely the opposite of how I envisioned my summer being. I never expected to bookend the wedding with rehearsals and a show, but at least now I can't complain about not having things to write about. I now begin my journey of being a Puccini tenor.

Moral of the Story - Never ever stop practicing, even when you think you are done for a while. You never know when you will be called for something the next night, leaving you scrambling for your most recent work. Take heed young singers.

- Gregory - ¶ 10:21 PM 0 comments