In which I talk about my singing a bit

My genius plan for not feeling badly about not having plans for Valentine’s Day (insert Sherlock-levels of scorn and scoffing regarding commercialism and pointless sentiment here, but still) was to plan to be giving a concert tomorrow night, lol. 

(Personal life stuff here, feel free to skip!) 

Anyway: some of you might know that I am, among other things, a classical singer. I left the pursuit of a full-time career in it eight years ago now, but I still give the occasional concert and do other things for work (museum, teaching voice, various other freelance things including teaching workshops, writing articles, coaching weight loss, etc). Sometimes I miss having more to sing, but I don’t miss the rat race and constant competition, constant having to endure other people’s criticism, constant hustling to scratch up opportunities for oneself. I really love programming, though, so I love planning a concert. This one is particularly nice because it’s a house concert, so it will be a small, intimate setting with an audience of about 40 people. The host who hired me for it (she was at my last big concert in June and hired me right at it!) gave me a range of three months and asked me to choose a Friday night. When I saw that Valentine’s falls on a Friday this year, I jumped at that. However, a full evening of love-themed music seemed like a bit much, so I decided to make the second half sacred, looking ahead to Lent (which starts quite soon after Valentine’s this year). Just if you’re interested in classical music, this is my program: 

Nuit d’étoiles (Debussy)
Sérénade (Chausson)
C’est ainsi que tu es (Poulenc)
Toujours (Fauré)

Widmung (Robert Schumann)
Mein Stern (Clara Wieck Schumann)
Ich trage meine Minne (Richard Strauss)
Die Bekehrte (Wolf)
Von ewiger Liebe (Brahms)

La rosa y el sauce (Guastavino)
Al amor (Obradors)
El vito (Obradors)

-Intermission-

Victimae paschali laudes (11th century chant)

Wiewohl mein Herz in Tränen schwimmt… Ich will dir mein Herze schenken (Bach/St. Matthew Passion)
Blute nur, du liebes Herz (Bach/St. Matthew Passion)

From Hermit Songs (Barber): 

I - At St. Patrick’s Purgatory
V - The Crucifixion
VI - Sea-snatch
X - The Desire for Hermitage

Kaddish (Ravel/Deux mélodies hébraïques)

Benedictus (Haydn/Kleine Orgelmesse)

Simple Song (Bernstein/Mass)

I have a pianist playing for everything but the chant, and a cellist playing in the Bach arias and in the Bernstein at the end, so it should be a lot of fun! I’m wearing a gorgeous red, beaded, strappy dress for the first half, then a slightly more subdued, navy lace, empire-waisted one for the second half, changing jewellery and everything. I don’t know why I felt compelled to share about this concert in particular, but if you feel inclined, send good vibes and wishes my way tomorrow evening! :)

(And if you don’t mind, please don’t reblog this post. Feel free to reply or message me if you want to talk about it, though?) <3