NOA - ATLANTA

So, I'm finally updating my blog. Hopefully, each day I will have an update about any events that have been going on in 2010. I will not write too much about auditions immediately afterward until I heard from them, so if it seems ambiguous, I am sorry, but I will have something for you to read soon.

In January, I went to Atlanta with a group of students to attend and sing at the National Opera Association National Convention. We were part of an Opera Scene in the NOA Opera Scenes Competition. There were 9 scenes from 8 schools selected to participate. Our K-State group performed a scene from L'elisir d'amore. It is a really fun scene, and I thought K-State performed very well. We did not win - a couple from the University of Colorado won, however they were both Doctoral students and significantly older than us. I was the only graduate student in our group and the rest were undergraduates, and age in opera, especially at our age, is key to the maturity of the sound. We can't compete with age, but we were very entertaining and funny, I was very proud of the chorus girls who really stepped up and acted very well, they improved so much! Afterward, Dr. Pittman took me around to talk to many of the most important people in the National Opera Association, all really enjoyed our performance, and I received all kinds of info and requests to audition from Schools to professional programs, so I was very happy in the end to have been able to sing for all of them.

Besides the competition, we did go around the town and see the sights. I'm an Olympic junkie, so we had to go to Centennial Olympic Park. We took a picture of us doing the Willie the Wildcat "KSU" thing in front of the Olympic rings. I have pictures from all over the world of me doing that, it's kind of fun, I'll be sure to post those some time. But, we went to the Atlanta aquarium, the world's largest evidently, and I got to pet a sting ray (or some kind of ray) and all kinds of other animals, but the rays were just like little horses...I mean, I was feeding them, and they felt like a horse eating from your hand (I know, weird analogy). Dusti, who was able to join me on this trip because of some financial blessings, had a great time filming us...perhaps we can post that online too. Then, especially to Dusti's delight, we went to the CNN center and took a tour. Dusti got a picture behind the anchor's desk and we had a good time there as well. It was very very cold in Atlanta, and icy, which made for ridiculous driving. These people literally freak out like no other with icy roads. Timidness kills, that's all I have to say about that.

Later that night, we went to a restaurant called Uncle Julio's. Just in case you didn't know, I am a foody at heart (which means that I love artsy food and trying all kinds of weird things), I secretly want to have Anthony Bourdain's job. And, all the places that I travel to, I really like to try a local place where I can get something good and unique. I had an authentic deep dish pizza in Chicago, the Newman in New York City, and in Atlanta I had frog legs and quail. I was SO excited for this meal. I have never had frog legs, but it is a weird combination like fishy chicken. The meat though was so tender, just fell off the bones, the quail was great as well, I got the whole bird, but the dark meat on the quail was so flavorful, what a wonderful meal!

We left the next day and flew back to Kansas City. I had a week and a half break before my next trip to Tallahassee, Florida, for an audition at Florida State University. We'll pick it up there tomorrow.