Laudate Dominum

I'm excited about singing again. Not that I ever completely stopped, but I had considered myself as semi-retired from performing, meaning I would sing at my church job, for weddings, and anything else I was asked to do, but I wouldn't really seek out singing engagements or concentrate on expanding my technique and repertoire. The truth of the matter is, I've never had a big singing career and never will. I've enjoyed what I've gotten to do, but being out there performing is not the excitement it was when I was younger and dreamed of having a singing career. I became more interested in teaching others to sing, stage directing, and writing. I was working on a novel, I needed to devote time to that instead.But there are a few people who occasionally ask me to do things like sing solos in Mozart with orchestra . . .Now I realize that what I really miss is having an environment of musical colleagues with whom to collaborate, and an environment in which I am challenged musically. I still love to sing, and though I'm mature enough to realize that I have a dime-a-dozen soprano voice, I've got enough talent, musicianship, and drive that I can do much more than what I am currently doing.I've been considering going back for a doctorate, mainly to improve my teaching skills and have a shot at a full-time teaching position. But I thought that putting myself through the process of working seriously on repertoire and technique again would be too painful because I was just past the point in my life where I cared to do that sort of work on my own voice.I thought about going to school for creative writing instead. I'm not giving up writing. I still intend to get this novel edited, and other pieces, and someday get something to a place where I feel it is submission-ready, whether or not it ever gets published. I believe that my novel could very well be publishable, but it needs lots of work. I'm not prolific enough as writer to support myself that way even if I got regularly published, but I'd be a good writing teacher. The more I think about it, though, writing and teaching writing is an interest for me, not a career.When I was asked to sing the soprano solos in the Mozart Vespers, including the beautiful soprano Laudate Dominum, I knew my voice wasn't in the kind of shape it should be, partially due to the crud I was getting over and partially due to my not doing very much serious singing or practicing for the past two years. But I said yes. I couldn't imagine saying no. Turn down singing Mozart with orchestra? Not me! So I practiced and practiced. Really, I would have liked to have at least another month (not to mention another lung). But I was pretty happy with the result at the concert last night and got lots of nice compliments from people who I believe meant them sincerely. I enjoy this too much to not take it seriously.I started looking into doctoral programs and putting together an audition repertoire list. I sang through things I hadn't looked at in at least two years, fully expecting them to sound terrible but being pleasantly surprised that I wasn't as rusty as I thought. I've been singing Anne Truelove's aria from Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, which fits my voice like a glove and is pure joy to sing. My voice is well-suited to Baroque music, and this work is not really neoclassical as is often claimed. It's neobaroque. I'm incredulous that I had put it away. I even sang the act I aria from Lucia di Lammermoor, which is indeed rusty and I'm not even sure that repertoire ever suited my voice. But I've gained the maturity to "let go" on the high notes, which I didn't have in grad school, so who knows?What I need is a regular place to sing the music I love. I'm looking into taking voice lessons again, though finding a teacher locally with what I need is a bit tricky. I drove to Bloomington for several years to work with a teacher there who is now retired. I definitely need to work with a vocal coach/accompanist again on a regular basis. And I'm planning to have a screening cd ready to send to doctoral programs in December.