Sunsets, Stars, West, Wind
In just a few hours I’ll be boarding a plane to the Pacific Northwest so I can visit my daughter and see her debut performance as Principessa in Suor Angelica for the Lyric Opera of the Northwest. This will be the second time this year I have seen this opera. Earlier this year, in May, Rachelle appeared at the Mistress of Novices for the St. Petersburg Opera.
Continue reading “My Daughter’s Debut as Principessa in Suor Angelica Tonight”I am guilty of advocating more women pursue STEM degrees, but I’m also one hundred percent behind my daughter’s choice of career in vocal performance. At one point in her life, she was perfectly happy to pursue a STEM related career in zoology or chemistry. But her talent and love of music won the battle for her vocation. I have a career, more aptly referred to as just a job, in technology, but I can in no way begin to claim it is a calling or satisfying as a true vocation would have been. Ah, the regrets.
Recently, a semi-prominent president of an educational institution told a group of music professors that they shouldn’t complain about the fact that they were paid less than professors in other disciplines or that they were required by the institution to work longer hours and more days than most other professors because they “knew what they…
via The Education/Business Fallacy — L.E. Modesitt, Jr. – The Official Website
I feel nostalgically melancholy today. I am remembering a time, about a decade ago, when I seethed with frustration surrounding a disappointing rejection my daughter suffered through. When I requested an explanation for the rejection, the response I received accused my daughter of “not being dedicated enough.” In my mind, “not dedicated enough” became “not rich enough” because the evidence supporting that theory appeared overwhelming. Other more affluent students with less talent and training achieved admittance, while my daughter was passed over.
Across the intervening years, I’ve watched and listened to my daughter devote countless hours in vocal training and coaching, music studies, daily practicing, auditions, rehearsals and performances. Her perseverance, tenacity and, yes, dedication, knows no bounds. Her vocal coach is amazed out how extraordinarily large my daughter’s voice is, the largest she has heard. I weep with pride, joy and love when I get a chance to hear her perform.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vism9va0CBk]
She recently performed the Contralto solo in several performances of Handel’s Messiah. My only regret is I couldn’t afford to fly to Seattle to listen to it live.
Next week, my daughter flies to New York for her last audition of the year. To date, she’s flown over 20,000 miles this year for auditions, all across the Continental United States: from San Francisco, to Chicago, to Houston, to Chicago again, to New York, etc. etc.
Where are these other ‘more dedicated’ students now? Personally, I could care less.
Break a leg next week Rachelle!
I’m amazed at how much I accomplished this past weekend, especially considering my husband had major surgery less than three weeks ago.
Friday night was our first venture out on a ‘date’ since the surgery. I signed up for a free lecture and screening at the National World War I Museum and Memorial entitled “Talking Tolkien: The Two Towers.” We arrived about fifteen minutes early to enjoy some hors d’oeuvres and drinks. We retired to the auditorium and waited a few minutes. At ten minutes or so after the hour, the lecturer strolled up to the podium and gave a meandering introduction of upcoming events in a clear effort to stall. He wanted to give the people in the lobby time to finish eating.
His lecture on Tolkien’s experiences during the Battle of the Somme was quite brief and rushed, not at all what I had been hoping for. He further devolved into a montage of photographs from the Museum’s collection delivered in the manner of a television show’s “Previously on …” wrap of the Hobbit and the Fellowship of the Ring. You could clearly see where Tolkien (and probably Peter Jackson) got his inspiration for scenes from Middle Earth and the conflict immortalized in the Lord of the Rings. After the lecture, the screening of The Two Towers began, for which Terry and I stayed only about thirty minutes before deciding the movie viewing experience was better at home.
Once back home, I decided to break out the Celestron C8 I had recently borrowed from my astronomy club. Despite dire predictions, the sky remained perfectly clear so I looked forward to an evening of planetary observing, since all five visible planets are ripe for the plucking at this time of year. I got everything attached to the tripod and manhandled it outside to my lower patio, giving it a quick leveling and orientation north so I could get through a polar alignment swiftly. Then I just had to wait for darkness to fall enough for me to see Polaris with my naked eye. Continue reading “Grande Finale to a Grand Weekend”
Reposting this in a non-Facebook location for friends and family who do not have Facebook accounts. For those of you new to my blog, Rachelle is my daughter.
Become a Musicians Friend by supporting one of our musicians for our January performance.
RACHELLE MOSS, $150*
SUPPORT RACHELLE at this link: https://www.crowdrise.com/queencitymusicians
Rachelle Moss is an American mezzo-contralto. She has been praised for her warm and sultry timbre.She performed the Alto Solo for Mozart’s Coronation Mass with the KCKCC Honorworks Choir. Rachelle received a Bachelor’s in Music History and Master’s in Vocal Performance from the University of North Texas.
During the summer of 2013 Rachelle worked with Spotlight on Opera in Austin, Texas. She portrayed Madame Larina (Eugene Onegin) and Gertrude (Romeo et Juliette) in scenes programs, and covered both Mama McCourt (The Ballad of Baby Doe) and Bianca (The Rape of Lucretia). Immediately following her return to North Texas, Ms. Moss sang the part of Maddalena in the Rigoletto Quartet for Verdi’s 200th Birthday at the University of North Texas.
Rachelle Moss now resides in Gig Harbor, Wa.
To read more about Rachelle: http://rachellemoss.blogspot.com/p/biography.html
*6 days of rehearsal as chorus, two performances.
Small Firms Are Making Big Bucks In The Analog Economy
Whoa! I never saw this coming. I got flashbacks to my own Prophet 5.
Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon
