The Daily Balance

Q: Tell us about your singing history! How long did you sing for? Did you study with a voice teacher? If so, who and for how long? What voice type are you? What pieces were in your repertoire? Do you still sing? Do you ever miss training?

A: I’ve been singing for as long as I’ve been talking. It had always been such a large part of my life, that it made sense to continue with it through college. So I enrolled at Otterbein College as a voice major. After attending the first day of classes, I dropped it. Why? I suddenly realized the thing that I had always loved and found solace in, was something I was beginning to hate. From opera workshops to music theory and piano classes, I would have had class from 9 a.m. – 10 p.m. I knew right away that I was not cut out for this program. I didn’t want to be a classical singer! I simply loved to sing and was doing it because I had no idea what else I would do. Not the best reason to invest 4 years into something, if you ask me

Anyway, I trained with one of the better-known vocal coaches here in Cleveland from 8th grade – senior year. I traveled with his adult choir (and was a featured soloist!) to England, Scotland, Whales, Lichtenstein, France, Germany, Austria, Hungry and Switzerland and performed in cathedrals throughout Europe (quite an experience!). In high school, I performed in Show Choir, as well as several other select groups. In addition, I was in all of the musicals (roles of note: Kim -Bye Bye Birdie, Adelaide – Guys and Dolls).

Do I miss it? Every day. It’s not that I miss signing — because I still cantor at my church, sing professionally at weddings and serenade the Mister in the car. I miss PERFORMING. I miss the rush of being on stage. I miss making connections with members in the audience and being part of their “escape from reality.” I miss the heat from the stage lights, the smell of stage makeup and the muffled whispers and chaos backstage. Most of all, I miss all the friendships made with other cast members. I miss creating magic with them and being part of something bigger than ourselves.

I hope to one day have the time to perform again, whether it’s in a summer stock show or community play.

Q: What is your favorite song to sing?

A: Because I have a soprano, musical-theatre quality voice, my favorite songs to sing are those that make my voice sound the best — that being said, they are mostly show tunes and church songs. But since you asked, I’ll tell.

• When I look at you – The Scarlet Pimpernel
• How Beautiful – Church song (I sing it at weddings all the time)
• Ave Maria
• Amazing Grace
• Defying Gravity and Popular - Wicked
• Any princess song from a Disney movie (haha!)
• Basically, any higher-range song from a musical – I’m such a nerd!

Want to hear me sing Silent Night? Just know that the sound is a bit distorted from the web cam! I promise I sound better in person

Do you want me to answer one of your (anonymous!) questions? All you have to do is ask!

Tags: Q&A

This entry was posted on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 6:43 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.