Luisa Fernanda

Hello family and friends! Sorry it's been so long since I've posted this semester has been crazy. I am taking 11 graduate credits, trying to prepare for auditions and on top of that I have been learning two roles for this semesters opera. After the initial auditions for the opera I was cast as the character Mariana. However, shortly after the auditions one of the Luisas got mono and so they asked me to cover (understudy) the role in the event that she was not able to sing because the other Luisa would not be able to cover performances as she would be out of town. I was happy to do it but didn't realize how much work it would be since both roles are rather large. This is not your run of the mill opera it is more like a musical in Spanish because there is spoken dialogue as well. Fortunately for me I speak Spanish! I worked really hard for almost five weeks but Melissa's health improved quickly so I was certain I wouldn't have the opportunity to perform. BUT about two weeks ago the assistant director pulled me aside and asked me if I'd like the opportunity to perform Luisa and I of course said yes! I guess she had spoken with the Opera director and told him she felt I deserved a chance to perform since I had worked so hard and memorized both roles. He agreed and said it would be fine if I would be willing to drop the role of Mariana and just focus on Luisa. I was happy to do so since I really felt like I connected with the role of Luisa better than Mariana. Since there are six performances each of us will be doing two shows. I will perform this Sunday, November 18th at 2:00 pm and closing night Saturday, December 1st at 7:30 pm. I wish that you all lived closer so you could come to the show but since you are not I have posted pictures from the piano dress rehearsal below. Thank you to all for your support all these years. I wouldn't have been able to get this far with out your faith and encouragement. Love you!

Luisa and Don Floro (father)

Vidal (rich land owner in love with Luisa), Mariana (friend & mother figure), & Luisa

Luisa seeing her boyfriend (Javier) with another woman, Carolina (the duchess)

Mariana, Luisa & Don Floro

Luisa & Don Floro

The Duchess Carolina being as rude as ever!

Watching the Duchess enter

Giving the duchess a verbal lashing

Luisa throwing herself inbetween the mob and Javier

Javier several months later after being exiled in Portugal coming to beg for Luisa's forgiveness



After Luisa send him away

Vidal (now her fiancee) discovers her weeping

Mariana sing Javier enter the party to once again ask for forgiveness

Almost done!

As many of you know I began the last year of my masters degree at ASU this fall. We're only half way through the semester and its been a whirlwind of activity! The things that have kept me the most busy are opera rehearsal and preparing for auditions. The opera we are doing this semester is called, Luisa Fernanda. It is by a Spanish composer named Moreno Torroba. The music is beautiful! I am playing the role of Mariana, who is the funny, sassy, busy body of the town. I have also been asked to cover (or understudy) the role of Luisa Fernanda. One of the Luisas contracted mono and they were unsure whether she'd be able to sing so learning two roles has kept me very busy. It looks like she is feeling much better and will be able to sing the role but it will be a great thing to put on my resume.

I have also been preparing for young artist auditions as well. Young artist programs are apprentice programs associated with large opera companies. Young singers are invited based on talent to participate in these training programs to help further their careers and give them experience in professional settings. If chosen they usually cover all expenses and give you a weekly living stipend which is great! Getting paid to sing is what every singer hopes for. It is however, very competitive as each program takes only 4-12 singers every year depending on how large of a company they are. There are WAY more singers than positions as you can imagine. You are required to prepare and offer five arias in at least four different languages, French, German, Italian and English and if you are invited for an audition you chose one and then they choose one. Intense no! Some of the companies require a preliminary CD to determine if you should be granted a live audition. I just finished making my CD last week and I think for the most part it turned out pretty good. Some programs run during the summer and some during the school year calendar. I have applied to some of both. Here are the places I'm looking at: Des Moines Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Seattle Opera, Utah Opera, New Jersey Opera, Virginia Opera, Ashlawn Music Festival (NC), Chautaqua Opera (upstate NY) and Pine Mountain Music Festival (Houston, MI). That's a lot I know but you have to cast your net wide in this business! :o) ANYWAY...I have attached the arias below in the event you are interested in listening. This process has made me realize that I still have A LOT of work to do but I guess you have to start somewhere. :o)

Crazy fun at Wal-Mart

Last weekend after my birthday party I needed to go to Wal-Mart to get some things for a Sunday dinner I was hosting the next day. My friends Melissa and Colte came along for the ride. It was of course really late and so we were all in a weird mood and Melissa got this crazy idea for me to dress up in the ugliest outfit she could find (she was the photographer). Why I was willing to go along with it, I don't know but it was pretty funny.

The hot outfit

My friend Colte right before I attempt to use my signature move to "hit on him". ;o)

Here I go with "The Bend...

...and Snap!"

Ha, ha, ha! Ok...I know! We're dorks...what performers will do for a laugh. I tell ya!

My Birthday Bash

Brandi proud of herself for lighting all 29 (yes, 29) candles on my cake.

Me waiting to blow out the cake.

Steady!

Woah! That is a lot of candles!

What a beautiful cake! Way to go Adele!

Make a wish! It was a great party. :o) Thanks everyone!

Sandiegopalooza!

This trip was a blast! There were so many people and we had so much fun. Especially Sunday night when we played Rook for five hours estraight. That bunch sure knew how to crack me up. And I don't know about you but I hate wrinkled clothes and so I brought a little secret along to solve the problem. Well my friend Karlie and I thought that it was so funny that we were both thought to bring travel size Downey Wrinkle Release we took some demonstration pictures.

I'm going to have to charge Downey to use this one :o)

It works!

Ah...The beach!

Karlie & Me

What a view!

My friend Karlie & I at Solona beach

My BFF Stephanie Zundel and I (Love ya girl!)

My Singing Telegram

My friend Derek who played Chuck in Footloose this summer sent me this singing telegram for my birthday. It made me laugh SO hard. Friends are awesome.

Happy Birthday to Me!

This weekend is my birthday and since it conveniently falls on Labor Day weekend I'm off to San Diego to hang out with one of my best friends Stephanie Zundel. She rents a beach house every year there and gets a bunch of people together to share the cost. The house sleeps 22 and I imagine it will be a pretty good time. She tried to get me to go last year but I couldn't but this year I decided it would be a birthday present to myself! Here are some pictures of where we are staying. CA here I come!!!!

Way back!

While I was waiting for calls to come in at work today I visted the music website for the university where I got my undergraduate degree and found these fun pictures. I guess they've been pretty busy up there because these were taken almost two years ago and are still on their homepage.

USU Chamber Singers Spring 2006

USU University Chorale Fall 2004

More Footloose!

Here is a video from the show last weekend. It is the opening number of the show. The choreography is really fun and I come in atthe end of it. Enjoy!

Not much to post

Hey Everyone...Sorry I haven't posted much lately. Not too much knew has been going on. I've been staying really busy doing "Footloose" this summer and it has been a blast! Thank you to everyone who has come out to see the show. Your support means a lot. We just finished our 14th show on Saturday and have 8 more to go. It's gone by so fast and I'm not tired of doing it yet. I guess I'm in the right profession! Next Monday I will be auditioning for their next show called "Lucky Stiff". I'll let you know how it goes. Here are a couple of shots from the show. I'm not in a lot of them becuase they are photos that some of the kid's parents took. I'll have more later.

Our First Sunday in Bomont

"I Need a Hero!"

Hero

"I'm Free" (The gym scene)

"Dancing is Not a Crime" (Town Council Scene)

Town Council

"Footloose" (The Dance)

Finale

What a show!

This is Lauren, she plays one of the dancers and does lots of cool flips and stuff, Everyone always thinks I'm her in the show so we decided to take a picture to see if we looked alike. I guess from far away we probably do. :o)

Scary!!

Yesterday we had our first big rain of the monsoon season. And during monsoon season when it rains it POURS!!! It rained really hard for well over an hour yesterday in most parts of the valley but Tempe got hit the worst. I left work at 5:00 pm and did not get to the theater until 7:05 and the show started at 7:30. Fortunately half the cast was stuck in traffic so I wasn't the only one late. I don't know how we did it but we started the show only 4 minutes late. But needless to say I was panicking the whole time I was in traffic. There was flooding everywhere. Below are some pictures of a neighborhood street I was on trying to avoid stop lights that were out and other flooded roads. The street looked fine but when I got near the intersection where I needed to turn onto the main road all of a sudden the water started rushing down the street and there was no escape but to wait in it to get out. It was SCARY. Then after sitting in the water for almost five minutes my brakes were soaked and didn't work right. I had to go really slow until they dried out a little. It was pretty stressful. Even the freeway was flooded in spots. I'm pretty sure this is just the beginning of the rains to come. They usually last well into August. But...since I live in the desert I can't complain when we get a little rain!

When I first came up the street it wasn't so bad

Then all of a sudden the water started rushing down the
street and this is what it looked like out my window.

This is another view out my window after I'd been sitting in the same spot for a while. As you can see the residents of this house had to be getting nervous. Every time someone went past water would almost splash up to my window. I was glad to finally get out of there, it was scary!

Twins Jumping

I went back to Utah this past weekend to help Shelley and Cason move into their new house. By the time I got there they were pretty much moved in but I got to play with my nieces a lot so my sister could run errands and we also unpacked some boxes and rearranged some furniture. It was a nice trip. I only got to see my nephew twice but he is SOOO cute. I didn't take any pictures but I did take this video of the twins jumping on their bed. Jocelynn is a hoot!

My Trip to Utah

A couple of weeks ago I went to Utah to visit my family and celebrate my Mom's 50th birthday. It was a a short but fun trip. I sure love my nieces and newphews!