Big News!

Back in May 2009, on a whim I auditioned for Opera Fairbanks. It's a very young opera company, which means lots of opprotunities for pre-professional singers like myself. I wasn't sure what would happen, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to at least audition.

They wanted me to do a callback for a specific role: Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni. I was SO excited! It was a great roll for me, and it would be an excellent opprotunity. However, I never quite made it to callbacks. The first time, I came down with the flu (I was so disappointed!), and the second time the conductor I was auditioning for hit his head during Tosca and couldn't hear my audition. So I never managed to do my callback before heading back to Alaska.

I still had some hope as I returned to school, however, but soon it was November and I still hadn't heard from them, so I assumed I wasn't being considered.

Well, yesterday I recieved an email, and as it turns out they've hired out the roles of Donna Anna, Don Giovanni and Leperello to Metropolitan Opera singers. However, they've asked me to cover (be the backup) for the role of Donna Anna! This means I will attend all the rehersals and learn the roll, get paid (cha-ching!), and if something should happen to the Met singer, I would perform in her place. The best part is that Alexandra Deshirties (the woman playing Donna Anna) is going to be 5 days late to rehersals, so I get to rehersal with these Met singers during that time!

I know this may seem like not such a big deal: I am not garunteed a chance to perform, but the opprotunity to work with these world class singers and learn from them is such an awesome opprotunity. My goal is to go into this as prepared as possible and to work really hard, and if I do well I will hopefully get hired in the future to be actual lead roles. I'm STOKED!

So I have to be in Fairbanks by June 19th which will be interesting... I'm waiting to hear when the actual performance will be, but I'm almost positive it will be sometime in June. For now, it means I have a TON of music to learn. My graduate recital is in early May, and then I'll have to get this role memorized, and then off to rehersals!