I have a friend, a singer colleague and a person I admire very much as an artist and a human being, who's father was in a motorcycle accident on Nov. 10th. Since then she's been at her day job as well as her musical performances with a smiling face, going back home to visit her father who's in a coma whenever she can. She also has a blog... but it's about her father's progress in his physical and mental capacities. Needless to say, reading about their family's struggles makes all of the trials and tribulations of being a "starving artist" seem utterly trivial.
The holiday isn't much of a holiday this year, since I have five opera scenes and three opera chorus to have memorized for Sarasota. But I am so grateful to have the work. As young singers it's difficult to find consistent work, with even the most talented people taking temp jobs to pay for rent and groceries between gigs. Sometimes (heck, MOST of the time) I find myself really frustrated with this fact, seeing friend of mine from high school settling into lucrative careers, getting married and having babies. But I get to make music and get paid for it... AND move to sunny places during the worst of the Chicago winter. Believe me, I'm not complaining.
Opera singers live something of a double life... one night being glamorously dressed in satin and pearls and singing for high society, the next day the same person is serving you coffee at Starbucks. It's a bizarre dicotamy, and sometimes depressing dealing with the crazy ups and downs. The only real consistency is the music. Mozart's music has always been musically perfect and will remain so after all the singers of today are gone. Puccini and Massenet will always tug on audience's heart strings. The music remains and if we can just enjoy it and be grateful for every time it puts food on the table, then that is enough. I write this because, after finishing my degree, I'm feeling a little lost... so I'm speaking to my own subconscious. The music provides the answers... the journey of being able to sing it perfectly is an endless one, but can always be rewarding every step of the way. "Success" by typical standards... money, fame, "bling"... fades. I am grateful to spend Christmas was my family (which will include playing some rock 'n' roll with my dad and brothers) as well as Verdi, Mascagni, Rossini, Ponchielli and Mozart.
I had a lovely customer service representative with GoDaddy.com finally help me figure out why my website wasn't working. So now, feel free to visit www.caitlinmckechney.com and enjoy the new look!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
revisiting
I have not written at all over the summer and this past fall semester, but I felt like it might be time to revisit this blog... Ok, and I also just watched "Julie and Julia" and loved it, and, like Julie Potter, am feeling a bit lost. Will blogging help me to reconnect with my sense of self and purpose? Probably not directly, but it couldn't hurt.
The past months have been both successful and difficult. I loaded my plate too full (over compensating for a springtime of unemployment and a leisurely summer) and took on a full course load, my masters recital and two (yes, eins... zwei...) atonal operas (which, in technical terms, aren't actually "atonal", but I'll explain that at another point... or maybe I won't... needless to say, they weren't in C Major).
No Exit by Andy Vores, based on the famous existential play by Sartre, was a great success and an intensely fruitful learning experience for me as an actress. The opera is very true to the play itself, and therefore we all felt the need to be true to the characters and dive in head first. I was blessed to have three beautiful (inside and out) castmates--Susan Nelson as Estelle, Matt Newlin as Garcin and Peter Weathers (also acting as the producer and impetus for the mounting of the piece) as the Valet--who made it a safe experience on stage with their dramatic integrity and fiercely passionate and accurate musicianship. Directed by George Cederquist and conducted and music directed by Emmanuele Andrizzi, the show ended up being something we were all extremely proud of. Here is the review from the Chicago Classical Review:
http://chicagoclassicalreview.com/2009/10/andy-vores-riveting-no-exit-a-combustible-winner-for-chicago-opera-vanguard/
Eric Reda and the rest of the Chicago Opera Vanguard team have a really great company on their hands, and I'm so honored to have been a part of their first seasons. April 16th will be our production of Trouble in Tahiti, the one-act opera by Bernstein, as a part of COV's "Modern Marriage" concert at The Center on Halsted. With another cast and crew that makes me excited to go to rehearsals every day, I can't wait for this show to be put up in Chicago.
I was fortunate enough to sing the National Anthem on the Auditorium Theater stage with CCPA's wind ensemble, getting a taste of those beautiful lights and singing up to multiple balconies of people. It was supposed to be my graduation, but a couple of loose ends need to be tied up before I get that significant piece of paper. My final performance for my George Crumb seminar will have to happen after Christmas as the bass player from my ensemble burnt his hands so badly that he was unable to play for a number of weeks. Thank God he will recover fully. I will post our performance of Madrigals Book 1 on YouTube for all to see, as it promises to be VERY cool! This year has expanded my ears tremendously, where the tri-tone has begun to, in certain contexts, sound consonant and eerily beautiful.
On January 3rd I will hop in my Grandma Walsh's old '95 Buick and start my drive down to Sarasota, FL, where I will be an apprentice artist for their '10 winter season. I am thrilled to be making money as a singer... and to skip the Chicago winter. I guess part of my reason to start up this blog again is to keep people up to date on what I'm doing. If anyone reads this. Part of me still thinks it's pretty narcissistic to put your ramblings up on the internet... but then again, in this community of musicians, it's nice to know that others go through the same struggles and joys that you do. I read Joyce DiDonato's blog regularly because her perspective is refreshing. Also, for those who aren't a part of this musical world, they can get the inside scoop. Art is nothing if there isn't an audience to appreciate and care about it.
But really, I just totally identified with Amy Adams this afternoon. If I could have her journey over the course of the year, I would be satisfied. Go see the movie... perhaps not oscar worthy, but certainly inspirational.
The past months have been both successful and difficult. I loaded my plate too full (over compensating for a springtime of unemployment and a leisurely summer) and took on a full course load, my masters recital and two (yes, eins... zwei...) atonal operas (which, in technical terms, aren't actually "atonal", but I'll explain that at another point... or maybe I won't... needless to say, they weren't in C Major).
No Exit by Andy Vores, based on the famous existential play by Sartre, was a great success and an intensely fruitful learning experience for me as an actress. The opera is very true to the play itself, and therefore we all felt the need to be true to the characters and dive in head first. I was blessed to have three beautiful (inside and out) castmates--Susan Nelson as Estelle, Matt Newlin as Garcin and Peter Weathers (also acting as the producer and impetus for the mounting of the piece) as the Valet--who made it a safe experience on stage with their dramatic integrity and fiercely passionate and accurate musicianship. Directed by George Cederquist and conducted and music directed by Emmanuele Andrizzi, the show ended up being something we were all extremely proud of. Here is the review from the Chicago Classical Review:
http://chicagoclassicalreview.com/2009/10/andy-vores-riveting-no-exit-a-combustible-winner-for-chicago-opera-vanguard/
Eric Reda and the rest of the Chicago Opera Vanguard team have a really great company on their hands, and I'm so honored to have been a part of their first seasons. April 16th will be our production of Trouble in Tahiti, the one-act opera by Bernstein, as a part of COV's "Modern Marriage" concert at The Center on Halsted. With another cast and crew that makes me excited to go to rehearsals every day, I can't wait for this show to be put up in Chicago.
I was fortunate enough to sing the National Anthem on the Auditorium Theater stage with CCPA's wind ensemble, getting a taste of those beautiful lights and singing up to multiple balconies of people. It was supposed to be my graduation, but a couple of loose ends need to be tied up before I get that significant piece of paper. My final performance for my George Crumb seminar will have to happen after Christmas as the bass player from my ensemble burnt his hands so badly that he was unable to play for a number of weeks. Thank God he will recover fully. I will post our performance of Madrigals Book 1 on YouTube for all to see, as it promises to be VERY cool! This year has expanded my ears tremendously, where the tri-tone has begun to, in certain contexts, sound consonant and eerily beautiful.
On January 3rd I will hop in my Grandma Walsh's old '95 Buick and start my drive down to Sarasota, FL, where I will be an apprentice artist for their '10 winter season. I am thrilled to be making money as a singer... and to skip the Chicago winter. I guess part of my reason to start up this blog again is to keep people up to date on what I'm doing. If anyone reads this. Part of me still thinks it's pretty narcissistic to put your ramblings up on the internet... but then again, in this community of musicians, it's nice to know that others go through the same struggles and joys that you do. I read Joyce DiDonato's blog regularly because her perspective is refreshing. Also, for those who aren't a part of this musical world, they can get the inside scoop. Art is nothing if there isn't an audience to appreciate and care about it.
But really, I just totally identified with Amy Adams this afternoon. If I could have her journey over the course of the year, I would be satisfied. Go see the movie... perhaps not oscar worthy, but certainly inspirational.
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