I’m on a stage. Lights are blinding me. The ball gown costume I’m wearing is squeezing my stomach and I can barely breathe. My legs are shaking with nerves and I suddenly can’t remember why I’m even standing here in the first place. The music swells. I begin singing the first phrase. I now remember. All of the nerves are gone, and nothing but the music matters now. This is where I belong.
My dream career to sing on a professional stage. I want to sing in as many operas as I can. I want to make opera appealing to the younger demographic. I want to use my income to build a Performing Arts high school in the south eastern area, Charleston, in specific. My career will be built around performing and teaching others to follow the same dream. I would be singing for a living. I would be spending my time doing what I love to do. Famous opera singers get to live a glamorous life and travel the world to perform.
However, nothing is perfect, and therefore even the most incredible career will have some faults. Any career that is based around performing is highly subjective. One’s entire income is based on others opinion’s of the performer and what is “in” at that point in time. The economy also can put a damper on this kind of career. The less money people have, they are less willing to pay large amounts of money to go see an opera. Also, a simple cold can bring down an entire show. A case of laryngitis can put a singer out of work and practice for weeks at a time, which could be detrimental to this career. But the truly great performers and musicians come back from these set backs.
In order to fulfill this dream and become the best singer I can be I have to focus from now on. I have to devote at least an hour a day to practicing and learning new repertoire. Even though my major is Music Education, I can still take any chance I get to perform and audition for as much as possible to get my name, face, and talent known. I chose to major in Music Education for job security, but my true passion is in both teaching and performing. For the rest of my college career and beyond I must engage myself in every possible musical event and opportunity. Getting involved and making contacts is a major advantage in this kind of career and will also help me when I make my Performing Arts High School happen. But most importantly, practice makes perfect, and constant exposure will stretch my talent so I can eventually feel those lights on my face, and not just the ones in Daniel.
I am such a music-minded person that I can honestly listen to anything, but I am a sucker for good jazz, alternative, and of course, art music. As strange as this may seem, my ride to work in the afternoon has often become my solace from the stress level that continues to rise with every new assignment. When theory makes me want to cry, history makes me want to scream, and MacGamut makes me want to vomit, I know for a fact that these the following three songs will help me gain my composure, breathe, and move on.
The music of Adele puts me in the mind of blues, and for whatever reason I can connect with blues more than any other genre. I picked her amazing song, “Don’t You Remember” because it is basically the story of my past two relationships. (Remember the implied guy in the last section? Well, he broke my heart and thereby leading to this section.) I also used this song for my American Idol audition this summer. (No, I didn’t make it past the producers. But neither did Mercedes from Glee or Colbie Caillet, so I’m still good.) This songs urges me to contemplate my life, the decisions I’ve made, and where I’m headed, which, even though it can often be painful, gives me a break from thinking about triads, intervals and The Epic of Gilgamesh.
I grew up in a household with a mother who had a, in my opinion, totally rational obsession with U2. My mother successfully passed on that obsession to her offspring. My primary goal in life is to see U2 live before Bono kicks. I have compiled all of her U2 CDs and made two fantastic CDs for my car. My absolute favorite song is “Window in the Skies”. Something about the analogies and Biblical allusions in the lyrics intrigue me. The upbeat tempo and overall message of the song truly relaxes me, and it also helps me think of home, and of course, Ireland.
