Perfectly Imperfect

So, as a couple of you already know, tomorrow I get to perform in the US premiere of one of Tarik O'Regan's choral works, which is made doubly awesome by the fact that O'Regan flew in to work with us and is going to be here for the concert. This is a really big deal, y'all. This guy is like a rising rock star in the choral world right now.

Also, he's totally my future husband. Or, well, he will be just as soon as he clues into that fact. Several of us had dinner with him on Friday night and I got to sit right across from him. He's charming, sweet, surprisingly down to earth for a composer, and absolutely hilarious. The parts of me that weren't already head over heels for him because of his music instantly fell. I was literally chinhanding at him in rehearsal today. I would be embarrassed if I had any shame left. As it is, I'm considering downing some alcohol at the reception we're having after the concert and asking him if he'd like to help me test my hypothesis that I don't have a gag reflex.

I wonder how badly my director would kill me if I did...

ANYWAY, this is all to say that I've been bogged down as hell the last couple of days with rehearsals and pining, and it's not going to get any better until probably Monday. I could probably respond to comments, but I'd kind of rather sleep. I still love you all so very much! But don't expect to hear from me at all again until Sunday night or Monday. :D

Thing I want: To sing Randall Thompson's arrangement of The Magnificat.

Thing I don't want: To pay $8 for the sheet music to a single song.

And O HAI, LIVEJOURNAL. Welcome back to my computer screen! ♥ Have a pretty. Maybe it'll make you think twice before you try to leave me again.



How does he manage to make even ATMs seem sexy?

I've come to some conclusions over the past couple of days after realizing that I hate, hate, hate my major--I love singing and always will, but studying it is quickly draining all the joy out of it--and the thought of going back to school in a month makes me feel physically ill. Basically, all I want to do with my life is make delicious baked goods that make people happy, sing songs that people think are pretty, and write stories that make people want to keysmash with glee.

All this to say, I'm seriously considering abandoning my music degree after this next semester and enrolling in the culinary program at a local technical college for a semester or two to see if I'm less miserable doing that. I've taken cooking classes in the past and, unlike with music, I actually enjoy learning all the little technical things that make it work, and there's something satisfying about making something tangible that I can taste and know whether or not it's shit, unlike with singing where I'm never satisfied with the results.

I'm watching the Tony Awards. Anyone want to flail and laugh and fangirl with me in the comments?


GUYS, I AM NOTHING BUT SMILES RIGHT NOW. NOTHING BUT SMILES! THIS IS MY FACE, FOR REAL! :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

It's the night before juries(final exam for voice where I have to get up and sing songs in front of all the teachers and have them tell me why I suck), which means I'm going to be up until the wee hours of the morning driving myself crazy over whether I really know the lyrics and doubting if I'm going low enough on that flatted note and pulling my hair out because my high As on 'O mio babbino caro' are shitty and all over the place. Here are the three songs I'm doing, if anyone's interested.



'O mio babbino caro' is one of my favorite arias in pretty much the history of ever. It's from Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi". The song is sung by Lauretta, whose father isn't letting her marry the man she loves. In the song, she talks about how she loves him, wants to be with him, and will kill herself if they're kept apart, and begs for her father to have pity on her.



'Der Ring' from Robert Schumann's Frauenliebe und -Leben (Woman's Life and Love) song cycle. I've had a pretty serious love affair going on with this song cycle for the past few years and have done most of the songs in it. Rings should be exchanged any time now, which is appropriate considering the song is all about a woman gushing over her engagement/wedding ring.



I can't find a single recording anywhere of a woman singing this song. On the one hand, that makes sense since it's sung by a man in The Student Prince. On the other hand, it's gender neutral and sits beautifully in a rounder, warmer female voice, so us ladies really need to start representing with this song. Trufax.

And because I feel like it, have a couple of my favorite modern songs.



Krzysztof Penderecki's "Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima" is one of those songs that never fails to get to me. It's beautifully hideous and hideously beautiful. It makes my hair stand on end and my soul cringe in the best way possible.



So, embarrassing story time. Consider it your reward for making this far. ;) I used to have recurring dreams about Milton Babbitt. And when I say recurring, I mean recurring. The same dream night after night for months. In the dream, he was chasing me around the quad of my old college in a golf cart, waving a score in the air, and screaming, "You'll never understand my music!" which is pretty much up there with 'water is wet' on the obvious statement scale. So, like I said, this went on for months, and eventually I broke down and told my voice teacher at the time about it. My voice teacher, who had performed at one of Babbitt's birthday celebrations and actually knew the man. Who then proceeded to write him an email and tell him that I was having dreams about him. I don't know whether to be incredibly proud or ashamed of the fact that Milton Babbitt knew I used to dream about him. Either way, he passed away at the beginning of this year and the musical world's a little less for it. RIP, man. I can never see a golf cart without thinking about you. ♥

I bought a new recorder today since my old one has been lost forever now and sometimes you just have to accept that things are gone and move on. Since I'm going to be using it to record voice lessons and practice sessions, I was playing around with it a little bit to get a feel for how it picks up. These two songs ended up sounding halfway decent, so I thought I'd share. Consider it a late Happy Valentine's Day from me. :)

No, I don't know why they cut off early. I'll look and see if I can't figure it out tomorrow when I have more time.

Title: Random Shuffle
Author: coffeebuddha
Rating: FRT
Characters/Pairings: Aaron Hotchner/Penelope Garcia, Derek Morgan/Spencer Reid, Jack Hotchner, Elle Greenaway, Spencer Reid/Nathan Harris, Diana Reid
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me.
1. Pick a character, fandom, pairing, friendship, whatever.
2. Put on your music program on shuffle/random and start playing songs.
3. For each song, write something inspired by the song related to the theme you chose earlier. You only have the song length. No pre-planning and no writing after the song is over. No skipping songs either.
4. Do 10 songs and post. Make sure to include the song name/artist.
( Here we go again... )

 

Title: Random Shuffle
Author: coffeebuddha
Rating: FRT
Characters/Pairings: Aaron Hotchner, Penelope Garcia, Derek Morgan, Spencer Reid, Emily Prentiss, David Rossi, JJ Jareau , Jack Hotchner, Henry Jareau, Kevin Lynch
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me.
1. Pick a character, fandom, pairing, friendship, whatever.
2. Put on your music program on shuffle/random and start playing songs.
3. For each song, write something inspired by the song related to the theme you chose earlier. You only have the song length. No pre-planning and no writing after the song is over. No skipping songs either.
4. Do 10 songs and post. Make sure to include the song name/artist.
( Read more... )

Title: Random Shuffle
Author: coffeebuddha
Rating: FRT
Characters/Pairings: Hotch, Garcia, Derek Morgan, Spencer Reid, Emily Prentiss
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me.

1. Pick a character, fandom, pairing, friendship, whatever.
2. Put on your music program on shuffle/random and start playing songs.
3. For each song, write something inspired by the song related to the theme you chose earlier. You only have the song length. No pre-planning and no writing after the song is over. No skipping songs either.
4. Do 10 songs and post. Make sure to include the song name/artist.
 

 

( Read more... )