Lots to report

Hello all,
Well, there is a lot to report for the last few weeks. First, in my previous blog, I mentioned the competition in Torino. That competition was a roaring success for me as I won the Nemorino role competition. In addition, I was awarded a secondary award as the 'most promising young bel canto singer'. As part of this award, I am given an opportunity next August to come back to Italy to study and take auditions in front of many Italian houses on an all expenses paid trip. Not a bad deal for me! The role competition awards me the opportunity to make my Italian debut as Nemorino in Elisir d'amore this coming spring in Torino. Also, a great opportunity.

As far as my experiences in the competition...It was a grueling couple days. There were many rounds in each day and often we started a round at 10am and didn't finish the last round until close to 11 at night. Each round consisted of different excerpts from the opera (i.e. duets, trios, solo arias, etc). Another interesting thing is that we were often asked to sing the same excerpt several times is a row as they mixed up the different singers to try and get the best combinations. Needless to say, it was quite tiring. Not to mention having 8 judges grueling you with different demands after each selection was tough as well. Oh, and did I mention, no one spoke English??

Yeah...No one spoke English. It was a great chance for me to use my Italian (thank you Professor Amodeo at the University of Maryland for scaring it into me). I haven't spoken Italian in 5 years, but it came back to me very quickly. It was a bit shocking being in Italy and realizing that no one spoke English. In France, more often than not, if I am stuck, someone can slip an English word or two in there for me to help me out. That is definitely not the case in Italy (and especially not in this competition). I must admit, I was almost happy to return to the cosmopolitan city of Paris...

That would be except for the food and hospitality in Italy. The people (even if they didn't speak a word of English) were some of the most warm people I have ever met. One example of this was on the first day of the competition. It was between rounds and I was quite tired (knowing we were going to be there until late in the night). Many of the competitors were staying in the same hotel (I was staying with a friend in a nearby town) and they proceeded to ask the hotel if it would be OK for me to have a room just to rest in for a few hours until the next round of the competition (and not pay for this). In the US, they would laughed and told you to get out of the hotel. In Italy, they said that it would be no problem and even proceeded to ask me if I needed and drinks or food. Unbelievable!

Continuing with the food, I was floored at the level of the food. I have never had food like this in any country I have visited. The tastes were almost like American food on flavor steroids and yet they were the most natural foods I have ever enjoyed. For all who plan to visit Italy...Please learn the language, but realize that even if you struggle, the food alone is worth the struggle. Trust me!

After arriving home (Paris) from Torino, I was shortly on the road again to another international competition in Marseille, France. This one did not turn out as fortunate as the last competition. Being that I am in a transitory stage in my voice, certain arias work better than others, and it turns out that when I listed the aria I wanted to sing for this competition 2 months ago, it was before I realized I was changing technique. This left me in a precarious situation with the aria I was to sing (because changes are not allowed). I sang as best as I could manage, but realized that my best with this aria would not be good enough to win on that given day. I also realized that while the competition was good, I was better, and had I been given the chance to change to something better reflecting my current singing style, I should have been able to win, almost convincingly. Another factor against me was that my rehearsal with my pianist was at 10am the morning of the competition and I did not take the stage until 11pm that night. Quite a long day and I will admit that I was having a hard time even staying awake minutes before walking on stage in front of 2000 people in the audience and the main judge, Rolando Villazon!!

All that being said, it bring me to a critical realization about my career. That realization is that regardless of whatever circumstances throw themselves in front of me, I need to be ready to sing at a high level. There is never an excuse as to why one can have a 'blah' performance. The audience paid good money to see me sing and I need to deliver even if it is 11pm at night and had been on my feet since early in the morning. This is the same as a pitcher who happens to be a closer in baseball and waits around all game until the 9th inning to make his appearance. He can't complain that it is past his bedtime; he needs to muster up the strength and will power to give a commanding performance to win the game for his team. I need to follow suit and force myself to stay focused and not meander through a performance. As a singer, I love to give excuses as to why something wasn't perfect, however to be truly great, I can no longer allow myself to make these excuses.

My wife has a habit of telling me that when I am competing at these international competitions and on an international level at European opera houses, that it is not just about singing the right notes, remembering the words, or even hitting the high notes. Instead, it is about absolute artistic perfection. If you want to win and be recognized, there can be no excuses, only results. As much as I love my ability to say that there will always be a next time, there comes a time when that next time is right now. There also comes a time when time does run out and if we are not making it as a singer, we need to consider other things. While I am not there yet, I realize that I need to really start deliberately seizing every opportunity in front of me and not just allowing myself to be slightly above average. If you want to be a truly great singer, then there is only one way to get there and that is to be tireless and unrelenting while in the practice room and on the stage. This is not a field for mediocrity, this is a field only for greatness.