Lazy afternoons with Madeline.

Balloon Boy Dance

Now offering voice lessons!!

3rd Place Winner!!

Bray took home 3rd place last night at the Opera Birmingham vocal competition! We are so proud of you!!

Opera Birmingham Competition!

Opera Birmingham Vocal Competition

THE 32ND ANNUAL OPERA BIRMINGHAM VOCAL COMPETITION

The annual Opera Birmingham Vocal Competition begins its 32nd year in Birmingham on May 22 & 23, 2010. The competition was founded in 1978 by W. Cassell Stewart to reward young singers with exceptional talent and motivation with both cash awards and future performance consideration. Prizes range from $3,500 for first prize to $1,000 for fifth prize, with an additional “audience favorite” award of $1,000.

Bray competed in this competition today, and has been moved on to the finals tomorrow! Over 20 singers competed, and only 5 are chosen to compete in the finals! They have a formal dinner/recital at 6pm, and then the winner is announced! We shall update after the results tomorrow...

the comedians.

The 'Comedians' in Ariadne auf Naxos-they were amazing! Bray is sitting on the stage to the right.

Dress Rehearsal Footage!

Check out the video clip from the latest Ariadne dress rehearsal!
http://www.seattleopera.org/tickets/yap_0910/ariadne/videos.aspx
In case you can't tell, Bray is the one in the plaid shorts, hat and funny glasses! Come and see the show if you're in Seattle!
Time and Dates:
April 1st, 7:30pm
April 3rd, 7:30pm
April 9, 7:30pm
April 11th, 2:00pm
all shows are at the Meydenbauer Event Center in Bellevue, WA.

Ariadne auf Naxos is coming!

Bray's last show with Seattle Opera's Young Artist program is fast approaching!! Check out the Director's Talk on the Seattle Opera website for info on the production and cast!
www.seattleopera.org

Little Sponges.

This morning, as I was on my way back from dropping Bray off at the transit station, I turned the radio to NPR. We usually listen to the kids' tapes, as Madeline loves to sing along, but today I wanted something a little bit more-well-educated. A dark, suspenseful passage, full of minor chord progressions came on, and I heard a little pretend-scared voice behind me say, "OH NO! It's the bad guy!" And then her brother chimed in, and as the music swelled, they both pretended that we were outrunning the 'bad' guy in the car. But, after a moment, the music changed, to light trills on flutes and oboes, high in the register. At this point, my daughter said, "Oh! That's not the bad guy! That's a biiird!" And my son agreed, saying, "Yes. There is the bird."
As I listened to this cute conversation, I was struck by how they so quickly picked up on the themes in the music. The dark sounds represented a 'bad' guy, and the light, fast, sweet trills were similar to the sounds of a bird. I, unfortunately, am rusty on my recognition of composers/pieces, and so waited till the piece was over to hear who and what it was. To my surprise, it was the Farewell (of Wotan) and Fire Magic section, from Wagner's Ring Cycle! If you recall, we took the kiddos to the children's version Seattle Opera put on several weeks ago. Not only did they pick up on the themes in the music, they remembered what the 'bad guy' part sounded like! Their brains are truly little sponges. And I need to brush up on my music skills-they'll be ahead of me before you know it!

Special skills.

Bray and I were glancing at the bios for the American Idol contestants last night (we don't actually watch the show, just wanted to know who was competing this year) and one contestant, who was born and raised here in the U.S. had "fluent in English" as a credential.
We have now decided that we will update Bray's resume to go something like this:
In addition to his operatic training, Bray is also fluent in English.
That should get him some extra jobs, eh?

The Bohemian Life.

Several years ago, when I was but a sophomore in college, studying piano performance, I was introduced to my first opera. A good (and handsome!) friend of mine who was a vocal performance major, had lent me La Boheme by Puccini. Up until that point, I had very little knowledge of opera, and could not have told you the names of any operas except for maybe the one that Looney Toons based their famous "Kill the Rabbit!" cartoon off of...I had grown up listening to Broadway musicals, and was a huge fan. But, I decided to give opera a try, if not to expand my musical horizons, then because I had a crush on the guy that had given it to me-and so I listened to it. And listened to it again, and again and again. And decided, that, perhaps opera wasn't so bad after all. Every time I heard Rodolfo (male lead) sing "Mimi!" with such agony at the end of the opera, I got shivers down my spine. And to this day, Che gelida manina (the aria Rodolfo sings when he first meets Mimi), is my absolute favorite operatic aria.
In fact, it was Che gelida manina that was sung at my wedding-by my new husband. It was a bit beyond him then, but he knew it was my favorite, and so he did the whole thing! I have yet to see Bray perform the role onstage, but I cannot wait for the day that he gets the opportunity to!

Whirlwind.

I am so sorry we haven't updated in awhile-in case I hadn't mentioned it before, the life of an opera singer is often representative of a whirlwind. Being in the young artist program means that Bray does not receive his schedule for the next day till about 6 or 7pm the day before. I typically work 4-5 mornings a week, and so we play a little tag-team with the car and the kiddos, and our day is already halfway over before we even knew it began!
Not that this is any excuse for not having blogged, just maybe a little background into why it is hard for us to sit down and talk about what we are actually doing.
We have also had the pleasure of having family in town a few weekends this month, and tomorrow, we get to celebrate Bray's-wait for it- 29th birthday!!! He has been busy finishing up Siegfried and the Ring of Fire, and sang in a Schubert/Goethe song recital this past Saturday. They begin rehearsals for Ariadne auf Naxos this week, and so we've got our nose to the ground and are trudging through!

Fire, Rings and Dragons

Ever since the kids were little, we've been excited for the day that they could begin attending operas. I always had it in the back of my head that, when they were older, I could send them to some of Bray's rehearsals after school, and they could watch their dad performing Mozart, Verdi and Rossini all while doing trigonometry and history homework. Now, of course, they aren't quite at that stage of life (unless we have some child geniuses on our hands-after all, they're only 2 and 4!) but they are old enough to sit still for a few hours, and listen fairly quietly.
Every year, Seattle Opera puts on a children's opera, and the last few seasons they have been doing an adaptation of Wagner's Siegfried and The Ring of Fire, Act III, by Jonathan Dean.
Bray thought that the kids would love it, and so decided we should take them for the last dress rehearsal. Since he shares a role with another tenor in the program, he was able to sit with us for the performance. I have to admit, I was a bit hesitant, as children are not generally welcome at operatic performances, but Bray reassured me that they wanted the kids there-as they perform it around Seattle's elementary schools.
On the day of the performance, we told the kids we were going to go see a dragon and fire at Daddy's work, hoping to get them excited for the show. They usually like to go 'get' Daddy from work, as there are 2 life-size plastic horses hanging from the ceiling in the storage area of the rehearsal building, but I wanted them to know this was different, special.
Since they take the opera around the area, the set pieces are minimal, but extremely colorful and dramatic. It is such a neat experience, because not only do they perform it for children age 7 and up, they also have 60 kids from each school perform certain parts and characters with them! A rare experience indeed in the opera world! They usually get to the school, and the 60 kids have been rehearsing their parts with their music teachers, so they then stage it, rehearse it with the kids, and the next day put on a full performance for the whole school, faculty, parents and anyone else invited to come.
I was fascinated at how well Jonathan Dean (who does all of Seattle Opera's super-titles) was able to translate Wagner to an elementary level. I don't know the story very well anyhow, but as I watched the show, I was also watching our kids and the others in the audience, and was amazed at how they seemed to understand it! Several times throughout the performance, I asked Madeline, our 2 year-old, questions about what was going on. Her answers showed me even she got the basics of the story!
For those of you who have never heard of Wagner or his ring, it shares similar story-lines as Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Now, lest I offend any operatic folk, I mean that it hails to the making of the ring, the fighting over it's power, changing the holder of it, etc.. The basic story as I saw it for the adaptation, is that Siegfried, who does not understand fear, must go on a journey to break the Fire-god's ring of fire, save the Earth-Goddess and free Brunnhilde, a Valkyrie and daughter of Wotan, the fire-god. In doing so, he kills the dragon, finds the ring, gives it to Brunnhilde, and they then fall in love. Thus ends the 3rd Act.
The performance was fantastic, and the kids loved it, from the music to the slaying of the dragon, they were enthralled! Hobbes, our son, kept asking if they were going to kill the dragon, and then after the dragon was dead, he wanted to know if it would be 'put back-together?'. I thoroughly enjoyed watching their faces as much as the opera itself, and I am excited to take them to more!

Red Carpets.

Although my opera-going experience is still rather limited, I have been to a number of live performances. I have enjoyed them all, but by far my favorite was this past fall. Bray had the wonderful opportunity to be part of a new opera, Seance On A Wet Afternoon, written by Broadway icon, Stephen Schwartz.
You will have to excuse me when talking about Stephen Schwartz, as I may geek out just a bit. For those of you unfamiliar with his work, he has written such musicals as: Godspell, Pippin, Wicked, and the music for movie musicals Enchanted, Hunchback, and Prince of Egypt, just to name a few! This was Stephen Schwartz's first opera, and has (so far) been a success! I will let Bray write more about the actual musical details of the opera, and I will tell you about my time surrounding the premiere event!
Opera Santa Barbara commissioned the work, and it was to be performed in the newly refurbished Granada Theatre in downtown Santa Barbara. The theater itself is amazing, and was a perfect venue for the opening. I had the privilege of going to 2 dress rehearsals before the actual opening night. This allowed me to get to know the story line quite well,and I was able to hear more of the complexity of the music, and how the orchestration became a key character in it's own right.














The set was fantastic, and was designed by Tony award-winner Heidi Ettinger. When I first walked into the auditorium, I saw a huge plexi-glass Victorian house onstage. It was 2 stories, complete with staircases, and was able to turn 360 degrees. This made it so the house 'moved' with the characters, giving it a cinematic feel. Combined with the lighting also by a Tony nominee, David Lander, put you in the perfect mood for a dark and moving story. My absolute favorite part of the set, though, was the 'curtain of chains.' I do not know how tall they were, but there was several full rows of chains that could raise up and down, and when touched or moved, sounded like rain.
Bray was in the chorus for this show, and Stephen Schwartz brought his own Broadway influences by having the chorus heavily choreographed. The colors were all within a gray/black palette, and the chorus members were dressed to match. They all had umbrellas that they used in their numbers to create different shapes and patterns, and at one point they all came together and formed a 'trolley.'
I had a glimpse of what it would be like to go to the Oscars or the Golden Globes on the night of the premiere. Bray of course had to be at the show early, and so I got to walk around beautiful State Street until the doors opened. The evening was gorgeous, and they had even laid out a red carpet in front of the theatre for the big names to walk on when entering. It was surreal to see all the people in their dresses and tuxes arriving in Rolls Royces and limos, having their picture taken on the red carpet, and then entering the theatre for the show that my husband was a part of!
The opening went very well, and afterwards, I was able to attend the elite after-party with Bray. They had a tent set up in a open courtyard with chocolate delicacies, champagne and fruit. Bray introduced me to all of the cast and designers, but the highlight of the evening (warning: geek out moment) was actually at the end of the party. Nearly everyone had left and it was close to 2 in the morning, and I had just said I was a little disappointed as I didn't get to congratulate Stephen Schwartz himself. Right after that I looked over, and saw Stephen talking to one of the last party-goers. Bray, knowing I would never do it on my own, asked Stephen if I could get a picture with him, and then we all walked to our cars with the composer, on the night of his world premiere.

Opera quotes.

Taken from Great Singers on Great Singing, by Jerome Hines.
(Jerome Hines to Marilyn Horne):
"Jackie, you have just reconfirmed my opinion that successful singers who endure are endowed...upstairs."
"Singing is ninety-five percent brains," she said.
"Ninety-five percent brains, Ha, ninety-five percent brains, ninety-five percent talent, ninety-five percent perseverance, ninety-five percent guts..."

(from a student to Luciano Pavarotti):
"Mr. Pavarotti, how do you get your high notes?" The questioner got what he deserved. Luciano promptly sang an ascending scale ending on a beautiful high A flat.
"There," he said emphatically, closing the subject.

Opera baby.

The first 'major' summer program Bray was accepted into was The Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, CA. At the time, I had just finished my senior year of college, and we were expecting our first child in late June. The program was scheduled to start in the second week of June, and so, without really hesitating, we decided to move down for the summer and have our son, Hobbes, there. Once again, the crazy label was applied to us, but we figured this was a great opportunity, and one Bray should not miss out on. Unfortunately, most summer programs do not provide married housing, so we found a place online in downtown Santa Barbara, and spent what little money we had at the time to rent it early. I have many stories related to that-I can't in good conscience say apartment-but I will save those for another day.

To make things even more interesting, Hobbes was 2 weeks late, and due to the 4th of July, I could not be induced until the 6th, much to the dismay of my parents who had flown down and needed to fly back for a conference on the 4th. On the 6th, I went and picked Bray up from rehearsal, and then went and checked in at the hospital. Hobbes was born the next afternoon, and Bray was able to spend the day with me. However, the show must go on, and so he had to be at rehearsals the next day. I was scheduled to be released from the hospital after 2 nights, but due to Bray's schedule, I had to wait till his lunch break so that he could come pick me up. He only had about 45 minutes, and after all the inspections, and double-checking to make sure they gave us the right baby, we went straight from the hospital to the campus where they rehearsed. I can still remember being in one of the beautiful, empty rehearsal halls, holding Hobbes and waiting for Bray to be done. Although unusual, it was actually a lovely afternoon, and I enjoyed sitting with my newborn son, listening to the sounds of opera singers rehearsing Cosi fan Tutte.

Hobbes was a hit with all the Music Academy members and audience, and was even given a lovely outfit from Marilyn Horne herself. He was a really good baby, and believe it or not, I brought him with me to most of the masterclasses. He has been listening to opera since before he was born, and I hope he continues to do so as he grows older!














Outside our 'apartment' in Santa Barbara, 1 week after Hobbes was born.

Pieces of the puzzle.

Once people learn that Bray is in opera, the next question is typically "How did you get into that?"
It is indeed not one of the careers kids say they want to be when asked on the first day of pre-school. For Bray, it was a series of people and events, all falling into line, and leading to opera.
Bray grew up in Monroe, LA, and began participating in the local community theatre at about 16. Believe it or not, he began as only a stage-hand, and was actually told by one of the directors (who had seen him goofing off backstage) that he had to audition for the next show. From there, a local church music director heard Bray in the show, and offered to teach him voice lessons. This uncovered Bray's love for music, but he did not discover opera until college.

Bray had several connections to Moscow, ID by the time he was looking at school, and when the University of Idaho offered him a full ride scholarship, he decided he would major in vocal performance there. At the time, the U of I did not have a music-theatre major, and so Bray was 'forced' to major in classical voice. By his junior year, he had fallen in love with (well, me for starters) the challenges opera presented; the beauty and complexity of the music, the vocal technical difficulties, the amount of work it demanded, and also the great return when done well.

Like any career, there are several hoops one must jump through in order to move up in (or, in our case, survive) the world of opera. Although Bray has gone through several of them (summer programs, young artist programs, numerous competitions) there is still a long ways to go. This is a career where things can change in a moment: someone gets sick, and you are called to take their place, and make your 'debut,' a friend mentions your name to a company, and your career takes off, or a representative from a company hears you at some competition or concert and decides to ask you to audition. Needless to say, there is not a lot of planning ahead in opera. The planning and preparation is done with the constant training, honing and perfecting of vocal technique, musical artistry, diction, and overall 'operatic package.' Opera singers live and breathe opera, and, to me, it seems like they never stop singing. Within moments of Bray waking up in the morning, the apartment is filled with the sounds of vocal warm-ups, and this continues throughout the day. The voice is an amazing instrument, and I never tire of hearing snippets of different arias and songs. It reminds me why Bray does this: he loves it.



















Bray as Luigi in William Bolcom's A Wedding, in Santa Barbara, CA, 2008.

Life as an Opera wife.

I am an opera-singer's wife. Whenever I tell people that, they usually stop for a minute, and ask me to repeat myself. It is not the everyday career, and when they find out we have a family, they usually just think we're crazy. Which we are. To make it in the opera world, you need to have an undying love of music, a great work ethic, years of training, and a willingness to put yourself at the mercy of other's judgement and whims. It can be as nerve-wracking as watching Olympic athletes, and as subjective as the world of fashion.
I can remember sitting in the audience at one of Bray's first Metropolitan Opera National Council competitions. They were about to give out the awards, and the speaker was praising the singers for 'doing what they do.' He said that most opera singers, when they have finished all their training, competing and auditioning, will have spent as much money as a medical student-but without the guarantee of a job. Although the rest of the audience was laughing, I was struck by the truthfulness of his words. What is it that we are trying to do? And why? These questions are ones that I still occasionally ask myself (okay, more than occasionally, but still.), music is powerful. There is so much that goes into it, and even more that comes out. And we love it. We may be crazy, but we've come this far, and we aren't going back.
We began this blog for several reasons:
1. My sister suggested it.
2. It's an easy way to keep family and friends informed about Bray's performance schedule, his shows, and what it is that we really do.
3. To keep a record of all our crazy stories, experiences and adventures, and share them with all of you.
So here goes. It's been a crazy journey so far, and it's still just beginning!