Week 1 at AIMS

Hi again! So it is Saturday morning, and I'm reflecting on the past five days of my AIMS program. What a whirwind! It's been a stressful week, for many reasons. I'm settled into my dorm room, and getting the hang of things around the 'heim (Studentenheim = dorm). I've met a lot of really wonderful people, all in different stages of their careers with music. Most are students in college, but there are a lot of professional singers here to get additional training. I'm really enjoying talking with the other students and hearing their stories and where they plan on heading with their careers.

AIMS is so smart; they give us this week to really get settled and oriented to Austria. The schedule has been fairly loose this week so that we don't get overwhelmed. There is a LOT to take advantage of here, and so it's easy to get overwhelmed by it all if one isn't careful. One of the best parts about this program is that I can tailor my experience here to what I need. They offer a bunch of classes, and it's up to me which ones I want to attend. My daily German class runs from 10:30-11:30. It's fun to be learning German with the opportunity to use it every day in real life situations. I participated in a Period Movement course, where we learned how to use a fan, walk on stage, maneuver a cape. I attended a seminar by Roberta Cunningham, who had a very successful career here in Europe. She talked to us about the European music system - very informative! I've also attended hours of masterclass performances by other students...

We had our first masterclass instructor this week. Gabriele Lechner had a very successful career with the Vienna State Opera (Wienerstaatsoper), and even sang with Pavarotti. AIMS randomly selected students to participate in the masterclass with her, and I was one of them! My turn came on Thursday evening. I chose to sing "Depuis le jour" because I know the song really well, but want to fine tune it to the 'breathtaking' stage. I felt some anticipation earlier in the day because my body is still getting over the last bits of cold (some sinus congestion, dry throat). But once I got downstairs, I started to get nervous. It's been a while since I've sung in front of a room full of other singers. Being nervous is the worst thing that a singer can let happen, because it causes a person to stop breathing - and singers need to breathe!!!! Anyway, so I got up and tried to take a few deep breaths and talk to myself before singing the song ("I am in AUSTRIA singing! let's make this fun!"). I sang through the song with as much as I was able to give, but knew there were spots where I didn't support as well as I should have. Frau Lechner is a great teacher, and told me that I sang the song well and have a lovely voice. She acknowledged that it was a very difficult song, as it sits on the passagio (a part of my upper voice where I 'switch gears' to get to the even higher notes) and has massively long phrases. She completely called me out on being too tense and told me I needed to relax my throat more when I took a breath at the end of a phrase. She told me more things, but I'll save you... :) Overall, I felt disappointed in my performance because I let those nerves constrict my breathing. Other students told me that they really enjoyed it - but I know it wasn't as awesome as I have sung it before. I really need to learn to relax and get through the nerves and BREATHE!

When I went to bed that night, I told myself that I needed to put my disappointment away and analyze my nerves another day, as the following day I had my hearing audition and didn't want any residual emotions to cloud that experience. Friday was a new day, and I needed to focus on being open and relaxed so that I could bring positive energy into my audition. For my hearing audition I was able to choose two pieces that I felt best showed off my voice. I chose "O quante volte" and "Ach, ich fuhl's." I walked over to the audition location (a block away) with some other students, took a deep breath, and walked into the room. The room was incredibly hot, and filled with about 30 members of the AIMS faculty. I walked confidently to the stage and introduced myself and my first song. "O quante volte" went well. I tried to convey the emotion of the character, breathe, own the space. The accoustics of the room were pretty dry, so I didn't get much sound back. Just had to sing and trust that my technique was allowing my sound to fill the space. "Ach, ich fuhl's" went well too, but I almost wish I had chosen something a bit more upbeat, since both songs are sad and slow. I will make it a point to work on more upbeat songs with my voice teacher over the next few weeks. So I felt really pleased with my audition! I was way more relaxed than I was in the masterclass.

On Sunday night all the students will get their 'real' schedules for the rest of the program, with voice teacher and voice coach assignments as well as performances assignments. I'm so excited for the real work to begin next week. :) But for now, I'm heading to the local pool to relax for a few hours (I need to have down time too!). :) :) :)