From Russia With Love Last Tuesday I made a brief mention of an audition for Mass Theatrica that I would be doing the next evening. It was one of the easier auditions to get to as it was in Lynn instead of Boston. I am so use to driving 1-2 hours for everything, that a short 30 minute trip felt like nothing at all. When I got there, a few of the other people auditioning were late, so I got to fill out my information sheet and go right in.

They were holding the auditions for a set of concerts they are doing next spring. One of which is a Russian song and aria concert. I was interested in the Russian concert because the first aria I learned was in Russian. Therefore, I brought "Kuda Kuda", Lenski's aria from Eugene Onegin, and the 131st Psalm from Hines' "I Am The Way" to sing. I only needed to sing the Lenski's aria though as they were pressed for time. It was the best I had ever sung that song. I pushed the line and went vowel to vowel like Craig pushes me to do and it was so much easier to navigate through the passaggio and stay piano on the high notes.

Even though I sang well, there was one minor hiccup. They had a small keyboard and amp for the accompaniment. As soon as I started singing, I had a very difficult time hearing the music playing, so I got off a few times, but nothing disastrous.

Last night, just before bed I checked my e-mail and it was from one of the ladies who sat in on the audition, Angeliki Theoharis. They have invited me to sing in both the Love Songs concert in February and the Russian concert in May. This will be a great opportunity for me to get a few more performances and get to sing some music I would not normally sing.

With that audition over, both my friend Daniel Draper (baritone) and I are preparing to audition for Orient Heights Music next Friday. They are holding auditions for the first act of La Boheme. I will be working hard over the next week to get "Che Gelida Manina" back into top form as well as "Addio Fiorito Asil" and "Mattinata". La Boheme is my favorite opera by far and the first act the best of them all (to me, the Tenor), so I am really working hard to get this.

Along with working for this audition, I am singing Don Ramiro from "Cenerentola" in a scenes program in September and singing with Craig over Labor Day weekend. Once these things clear up I then have to prepare for the Boston Singers Resource Select Auditions and the Lakes Region Opera vocal competition, both of which are in November. This fall is looking to be just as busy as the summer. If I do well, it might even make the spring busy too. :)

- Gregory - ¶ 8:43 AM 0 comments

Site Update - Archive If you are interested, I am currently working on the archive section for the site. Take a look and leave me some comments if you feel so inclined. I should be able to have it finished and working within the week and then populated with data within the month. Enjoy.

- Gregory -

P.S. It looks as though I will be performing as Borsa from Rigoletto this fall. More details to come. ¶ 2:49 PM 0 comments

Rinuccio and Lauretta 8-11-07 This past weekends performance of Gianni Schicchi went off without a hitch. Even though we only had one performance, I felt like everyone really sang well and did a great job. It was a little tiring on my part, but now that I have sung through my first lead role, I know that I will be able to do more. I was only slightly nervous before the show, what with having to sing with a bunch of great voices and all. My first role is done now and I hope it leads the way to more.

If you were not able to make it, I encourage you to look at the posters that were made for the show and also read through the program. The program has very good details on all of the singers and which part they sang. I have photos of the show on the way and they will soon be available for viewing in the photos section.

My voice teacher, Craig, advised me to make a digital archive of my career (ie posters, program notes, reviews, etc). That is the main reason I have made these two files available. I am going to be creating a file archive section of the website which will allow you to search through my opera past. Hopefully I will be able to get it to display a chronological tree type map and let viewers download any information from any show I have been in. I highly suggest getting digital copies of everything you are in to other singers as it is not very difficult to do and it is nice to look back and see where you have come from.

Tomorrow night I have another audition for a concert series with Mass Theatrica and I will be singing in New Hampshire with Craig during the weekend of Labor Day. More details on that will follow as they come in. The summer is over and the fall auditions will begin soon. Good luck to all singers in their upcoming auditions!

- Gregory - ¶ 3:12 PM 0 comments