Off and traveling

As I prepare for my next audition tour in Europe, I have decided to try and maximize my exposure to as many people as possible by including European vocal competitions in this tour as well. So far, I have nabbed spots in the: Concours International d'opera de Marseille (in Marseille, France), L'Opera Rinata Concorso Internazionale di Canto Lirico e da Camera e Barocco (in Torino, Italy), and the Premio Vittoria Caffa Righetti (in Cortemilia, Italy). In addition, my former advisor at the Peabody Institute, soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson, did me the pleasure of giving me a list of her contacts in Europe such that I could contact them to help set up more opportunities. As it stands...2 months in Europe is not much time when you start to meet people and realize there are a lot of people to sing for in this world.

Again, as with my last tour, my wife's apartment in Paris (right in the Marais for all you French fans out there) will serve as my home base. In addition, my friend Alex has offered my wife and I a place to stay in Asti, Italy while I do some singing in Italy. Another friend has put me in contact with several people in the Netherlands, and the list just goes on and on. I feel lucky to have such a supportive group of people around me as I embark on my career, but it reminds me of some of the people I have lost along the way.

Whilst in the gym this morning, the song, 'Shooting Star' by Bad Company came on the radio. There were a set of lyrics which grabbed my attention and they were as follows:

"Johnny told his mama, hey, Mama, I'm goin' away. I'm gonna hit the big time, gonna be a big star someday. Mama came to the door with a teardrop in her eye. Johnny said, Don't cry, mama, smile and wave good-bye"

This reminded me of how my Mother always had the habit of getting emotional every time I went off to go travel or sing somewhere and how she always worried that something might just happen where I might get into trouble. At the time it annoyed me (as it does most young men like myself), but looking back now, it has been almost a year since my Mother passed away to colon cancer, and these are the kinds of things that I miss most with not having my Mother around to watch me succeed as an opera singer. It is not often I deviate from singing in my discussions, but with the anniversary of her death approaching, I find it important to remind everyone to please go to the doctor at the first sign of any health problems. My Mother waited too long to get her colonoscopy and by the time she got checked, it was already a real problem. Getting a normal physical is a quick and easy thing (just like an oil change for a car) and can really help catch many diseases in their earliest itterations.

Also, it has been a month since I lost my 96 year old Grandmother to complications from heart disease at her nursing home. In this case, I plead with people to please check up on the staff at these nursing homes and hospitals, because as great as our medicine is, often things can slip through the cracks. I felt the care provided for both my Mother and Grandmother was insufficient and there were times where if my family had not pointed things out to the staff, certain mistakes would surely have been made (in addition to the sometimes egregious ones they made anyway).

That is all for my rant and on to more happy things...How about the opening of NFL training camps? Hope springs eternal for us Washington Redskin fans...Oh...and only 4 weeks until I leave for Paris!

Chris