SHH!!! Silent Auction!!! & My "Hollywood" Debut

I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday season, and the best of luck to you all during the new year.

I had an interesting last few days with my family.  A girl caught her hair on fire while singing on stage at the Christmas church service I went to.  I sang Schubert's Ave Maria after that but abruptly following me was the congregational hymn Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.  How's that for church?

Also, this coming Monday, I will share some great news about a new gig I got with film director and Senior Vice President of Talent for MTV, Randy Sosin.  He is casting something for the NFL that will involve me and we will be filming early next week!  I'll let you in on some secret info then, so be sure to check back.  Amazingly, I will be paid as part of the Screen Actors' Guild!

Anyway, this is the final blog entry for 2011 and I wanted to give you a peak at the KCVI Celebrity Auction that will begin next month!  If you don't already know, one of my biggest passions is the Kansas City Vocal Institute.  We provide free or greatly discounted music education to children and families in Kansas City.  Also, it is a free service for all of our teachers to use to acquire students during this tough economic time.  We have 19 teachers and all are either earning or have earned a graduate degree in Music.

I am so very proud of everyone who have given their time and talents to this, and part of keeping the price of lessons at significantly low or free of cost is with the use of our scholarships.  Last year, we had 24 scholarships created and sponsored by some of the world's greatest artists and musicians including: Angelina Jolie, Maya Angelou, David Cook, Melissa Etheridge, Yo-Yo Ma, Randy Newman, Stephen Sondheim, John Williams, and many more.

Last year, I asked our donors if they would provide any autographed items that we could auction and have all the proceeds go to their respective scholarships.  Because of how successful it was, we again asked our donors to do the same.  Many donated items once again toward their scholarships and we created several new scholarships as well.

This year, we will have a private and public auction.  The private auction will be a special silent auction for some items and the public auction will be utilized with ebay.  More information will be made available on New Year's Day at www.kcvocalinstitute.com.

So, here is a list of items for our second annual KCVI Celebrity Auction.  Some of these items may only be available in our silent auction, so if you are interested in any of these, be sure to apply for our silent auction online starting January 1.

List of current donors entering items into this year's auction:

John Williams (5 Oscars, 4 Golden Globes, 21 Grammies) once again has graciously donated the front page of the Star Wars orchestral score!

Eric Whitacre (world-renown composer, Grammy Award nominee) is donating a handwritten, autographed manuscript of one of his pieces to be selected by the highest bidder

Morten Lauridsen (National Medal of Arts recipient) donated an autographed score of "O Magnum Mysterium" and autographed CD of "Sure on this Shining Night" and a "Lux Aeterna" score

Zubin Mehta (former Director of the New York Philharmonic) donated an autographed baton.

Stephen Flaherty (Tony Award winner) donated autographed CDs of "Suessical: the Musical" and "New York Pops"

List of new donors and their items entered into this year's auction:

Joyce DiDonato (world-renown operatic soprano) donated two autographed posters from her production of "La Donna del Lago" at La Scala.  It is signed along with others in the production including Juan Diego Florez, one of the most famous opera singers in the world, as well as, John Osborn, Daniela Barcelona, and Roberto Abbado.

Kronos Quartet (Grammy Award winner) donated an autographed photo and an autographed CD "Rainbow"

The Kansas City Royals (Major League Baseball) donated four premium tickets to any game during the upcoming season.

The Lyric Opera of Kansas City donated 2 redeemable certificates for two seats to any upcoming operas this season or next season in the new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

Esperanza Spalding (Grammy Award winner) donated an autographed CD of her album "Chamber Music Society"

Chanticleer (Grammy Award winner) donated an autographed CD of their album "A Portrait"

Betty White (7-time Emmy Award winner) donated two different personalized autographed photos 

Donald Trump (business magnate) donated an autographed photo

Martina McBride (4-time CMA "Female Vocalist of the Year") donated an autographed photo

George Porter (Grammy Award nominee) donated an autographed CD of his album "Water"

Neil Armstrong (First Man on the Moon) donated a photo

Stanley Clarke (Grammy Award winner) donated an autographed photo

And there's still more to come! So, be sure to visit www.kcvocalinstitute.com on January 1.

Busyness Business

Hopefully everyone had a great time looking at my Basilio pictures.  And for your entertainment (and my embarrassment) here is yet another one from my facebook page.

I had several muses for the role, including a friendly drag queen and Jack Sparrow.

Hopefully, I will now be able to retire this character.  Where are all the heroic tenor roles?  I once had to play the role of a Rhinestone Cowboy in a Pasatieri opera.  I suppose I just give off some weird vibes in my opera auditions.

Anyway, I am very thankful to have a week free to celebrate Thanksgiving, watch football, and relax.  I haven't talked very much about my upcoming schedule, but it is packed with all kinds of awesome things.

YOU CAN CLICK HERE TO SEE MY FULL SCHEDULE

Once again, I have several auditions in New York next week.  I am trying to get them all during the same period so I don't have to make too many trips out there.  My schedule is packed as it is.  Anyway, for this trip, the companies that I received invitations from are New Jersey Opera, Saratoga Opera, Pine Mountain Opera, and (tentatively) Opera North.

Following that, I will be the tenor soloist in Messiah at Calvary Bible College on December 2 in Kansas City. I am so lucky to be just the kind of tenor that Messiah was meant for.  I have a feeling that I will have a lifetime of Christmas and Easter Messiah productions.  Luckily, I really enjoying singing the tenor arias, unlike many tenors.  The Baroque period was very unkind to tenors...the castrati ruined everything!

Also at the beginning of December, I will be singing with the Conservatory Choirs in their Christmas festival concert at Visitation Catholic Church on December 3rd.  We will use this unique space to sing some antiphonal pieces.

On the evening of the 10th of December, I have been asked to sing at the holiday party for a major American railroad company at Union Station in Kansas City.  I will sing some classical holiday selections in what will be an incredible venue for music, as the cavernous marble-laden lobby will certainly echo music like an enormous cathedral would.

The following day, December 11, I will be singing a Lessons and Carols concert with the Spire Symphonic Chorus at the Community of Christ Peace Temple, which is one of the most amazing music venues that I know of.  The concert will feature one of my good friends and certainly one of the world's greatest organists, Jan Kraybill.

On December 13, I am very excited for a special audition for the Kansas City Symphony that I was generously offered.  I don't have much to say about it right now other than it requires my Cyrillic Alphabet reading skills.

The following weekend, I will be singing with the Kansas City Symphony and the Kansas City Symphony Chorus in their Christmas Festival.  It will certainly be a blast and DON'T MISS IT IF YOU LIVE IN THE AREA!  There are many performances, and it will get you in the Christmas spirit.  Of course, this concert will be in Helzberg Hall at the beautiful Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

Additionally, I will be a soloist for a couple of concerts with the Village Symphony and Chorus on December 18 in their "Tidings of Joy" Christmas festival.  As you can see, if you need to get some extra Christmas spirit in you, just hang out with me!!  Unfortunately, I can get a little grouchy, scroogey, and grinchy with my life being a near endless stream of Christmas music.  (It can become annoying in a way...similar to how I can't ever figure out the words to Wooly Bully, and then it gets stuck in my head because I like the tune, which means I have to whistle it, all the while I still can't figure out the words, and frustration ensues.)  Christmas music so easily gets stuck in my head, partly because it is enjoyable or perhaps it is just simple and catchy, and becomes annoying over a long period of time if that is all that I can think about!  Nevertheless, I hope to see you in the audience, as these concerts will be a lot of fun!

I will soon have a lot more to say about my schedule for next year.  I am performing a recital in January dedicated to the memory of those lost in the Soviet genocide of the Volga Germans 70 years ago, featuring a new song cycle based on Volga German folk tunes written by composer John Mueter especially for this occasion.  I am so thankful for the work that he produced, and the enthusiasm that he had for writing this. And the day before the recital, I will be a soloist in a Bach cantata back at the beautiful Visitation church. 

In February, I will be singing with the Kansas City Symphony Chorus at the Kauffman Center in their production of Mahler's Second and I will be singing with the Conservatory Choirs later that month in a production of Carmina Burana also at the Kauffman Center.  

In March, I will be Don Jose in La tragedie de Carmen at the Conservatory, and then competing at the regional NATSAA competition in Chicago.  

In April, I will be singing with the Conservatory Symphony and Choir in a production of Chen Yi's Chinese Myths at the Kauffman Center and I will be a soloist for a production of the Pulitzer Prize winning composition The Little Match Girl Passion at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral in Kansas City.

And finally, I will be singing in a world premiere of a new Libby Moyer comic opera in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for Capitol Opera at the Whitacre Center in June.

Next week, I will have information about the celebrities participating in this year's KCVI Celebrity Auction! I'm so excited to tell you all about it, but I'll hold you in suspense until then.