Heute is Sonntag. Die Sonne ist schön und warm! JA!

hallo All- 

Today was a Meisterklasse mit Oresta Cybriwsky and was meant FOR pianists. Boy, was it tiring...but definitely super fun! What Oresta shows us is stuff that is sooo simple, almost common sense, but sometimes as pianists who play orchestral reductions or collaborate we just forget about it or dont think about it since we are just trying to make sure everything is perfect: are we with the singer; oh, theyre slowing down; oops, they missed a breath so I must speed up. I am not sure if I can at this moment put into words what I learned. I will just keep doing/practicing this new feeling of breathing with the line until it becomes ingrained into my body and then eventually find the words to describe this new sensation. hahaha...I know it all sounds really vague. I am still processing this. Other topics brushed upon were the difference in orchestral makeup for various composers and how to imply these instrumental sounds from just the piano. There are so many other questions that I have too...oh I wish there were more meisterklassen like this: just for us collaborating pianists! ^^ 

Oh, and kudos to the singers! Jack was worried about his "Il mio tesoro" which went fine. I am just so happy I didnt have to play that darn accompaniment. hahahaha... Alex, Warren, Tatiana = beautiful! Kristin...your "Donde lieta" was so pretty, and the fact that you were able to pull that out, and with us NOT even rehearsing at all, was amazing. ^^ Again, for those of you at home, I wish there was a way you could meet these fine folk here; I can just imagine the amount of wonderful music we could all make together, not to mention the awesome friendships that could blossom from our connection to music. 

Sidenote: we have had the privilege of having workshops on the business side of music led by the wonderful Carol Kirkpatrick. . I think I mentioned this in an earlier post come to think of it, but obviously it is on my mind so I am writing about it again. I cannot wait to try these new skills...and my lovely friends at home- you are my guinea pigs! bahahahahaha...there will be changes this coming semester. Lots of changes, and since you love me, you will go with the flow and just follow along. Carol is right: you could have the most fabulous (fabelhaft!) voice in the world, but if you have no business skills, you will never have a career. Plus, I might as well put my meticulous, almost OCD, side to use to aid me in my music making. 

I have only a few days here in Maurach. It seemed like the program would last forever, but now I cant help but count the days and get sad that it is almost over. I leave next Sonntag, most of the other participants will leave Samstag. :( Sigh...I just wish we had more time. But, at least we have Facebook to keep in touch! ^^ hahahaha...hey, it has its uses for sure. And then, I wouldnt be surprised if I saw some of these names in lights in the future. And who knows, maybe my name will be in the hefty program at these opera houses. At least I have VBS to keep my mind occupied when I get home so the TOP Blues wont hit me as hard. TOP Blues remind me of TAF Blues...which TAF is going on right now. I do miss that fun bunch of my friends. I hope Manchester treats yalls well! 

And speaking about Maurach, I wonder what it would be like if I did just pack up my life and move to Europe. They LOVE the arts here. As in, they get excited when you mention opera and music. The lack of receiving this excitement is something I will have to get used to again when I go back home to the states. 

Okies, wow, this was a somewhat downer post. Meh...better to get that out now so I can focus on the Gala Concert coming this Freitag. We have SO much awesome music planned. I hope someone will be recording this concert! Then I can show you guys what I have been up to while I have been whisked away to Europe. Some of you have obviously seen the many tagged FB pics; I am not always partying. hahahaha 

Oh, and how could I forget. The weather today was finally, FINALLY, beautiful again. Oh, how I missed the sun!!! Theresa and I decided we would lay out and work on zee tans; we literally took lawn chairs from the Klingler and moved them into the mini parking lot, which had the most sun. I wonder how many people we perplexed as we laid out there and soaked up some wonderful and much needed uv rays. 

Okies, that is it for now. Time to sleep. Tanz in die Morgen und a coaching session mit Kathy. ^^ 

Gute nacht! 

-rog 

Free Tag Part Zwei

hallo All-

Well...we didnt end up going on the boat since the girls wanted to go to Pertisau (another town along the lake, very touristy) and go shopping. So...that meant us boyos and the mezzos (minus Lucy) opted out, while the soprani went via bus. We walked around Maurach and all was really chill (much needed) and then met all again at dinner.

Anni Klingler spoils us! Dinner was deliricious; I had the veal, and shared some Asian style with Theresa's risotto. BUT...the dessert...omg, scoop of strawberry and a scoop of rum and raisin homemade ice cream...

ah...Heaven...

lol

Then, others wanted to go out for sundaes afterwards...I didnt need any more dessert and so I opted to go sleep. Bad idea since I woke up after about a 1.5 hour nap. So, I got on FB and did some email/communications. And then, I decided to go for a run to help me get tired.

There mustve been a party somewhere around the Achensee lake since there was booooooming traditional Tirolean music playing (at least I think it is). I ran all the way to the lake, but then couldnt see the path that led around it, so I turned back around and made a figure eight around the kirch and etc. before finally coming home. Yeah, tired...

Had a nice chat about VBS stuff with Kris...but there is still so much stuff to do/plan. When will I have time? I guess the trip home will be filled with planning. lol nothing like jumping from one intense program to another!

Okies, I must go to sleep now since I have Tanz tomorrow morning at 900 UND more importantly a Masterclass with the amazing Oresta Cybriwsky in the evening. I am so ready to learn how to play Verdi and Puccini correctly.

Oh boy...

Okies, gute nacht!

-rog

bergpanmann

hallo All-

Heute ist another free day! yay! Our agenda: Hike up the mountain and eat at the yummy restaurant up there. What really happened? Roger made it up approximately aucht minutos and almost passed out. hahaha...such a trooper, eh? In my defense, the air was really thin and my poor body just couldnt breath. Kudos to the rest who made it all the way to the top: Lucy, Kristin, Kevin, Tatiana, Theresa, Jack, Jessica! Jenn, Alex, and I...wezza had fun taking the "gondola?" basically the cable car, up. However, the view was amazing! Again, my camera cannot possibly capture the beauty of these mountains. Sigh...

We did eat at the yummy restaurant up at the top when the hikers made it up- all muddy and wet; oh, did I mention it was raining too? lol...another reason why I prolly wouldnt have made it up the mountain. Then again, I did get muddy when I slipped down the trail a little bit; nothing like a wet bottom. yay... >.<

Rewinding now, yesterday was our concert at Jenbach, at a train station. I just have to say I am ssssooooo proud of all of us. We all performed so well and it was such a fun concert. Highlights: EVERYONE sang well (and Jess and I had lots of fun at the piano too) but my favorites were: Carmen... oh la la, Tatiana is all I will say; the Barcarolle was lovely- there were times you couldnt distinguish the two voices (cant wait to see the choreography that will go with it); and the trains that kept whizzing by during the performance.

Afterwards...we went to Pizza Venetia and Bar Italia. At the bar, we met a man named Arthur; he is from Maurach. He started talking to Jack and then eventually to the rest of us. Funny thing: he said he went to America for work and of all places, guess he ended up working? In Michigan...at Mackinaw Island. hahahaha...what a small world!

And then, we went to the Neon Party. This is where I say: What happens in Maurach, stays in Maurach. Jack, my man, BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

Okies, I must get back to our free day. I THINK the plan is to ride the boat around the Achensee lake, which stops at many places along the way. But, I never know; I just go with the flow.

Oh, one more thing before I get off the internet: if you guys need a pianist for gigs, sign me up! lol...ima be a poor man when I come home. Europe is expensive! hahaha

-rog

finally some news!

hallo ALL- 

Woot! I am back online. I literally typed each word into altavistababelfish translator to see the translation. hahaha It was a tedious process. I think the fact that I didnt click on "translate this page" on my blog page made Google think I didnt want it translated ever. And speaking of Deutsch, I am getting a little better; HA! I was super proud of myself since I was able to read/comprehend/translate a T shirt I saw in the window while walking with Jess to the store. I of course cannot remember what it said now, but the realization that I can now kind of understand the language is very fun! Remind me to tell you about our German homework and how suggestive some of these adult "learning Deutsch" workbooks are. 

Now, since I have pretty much vier tags to summarize in one post, this might be a long one. And let's see if I can remember what happened. lol 

Sonntag: 

After our totally free day, it was not terribly difficult to get back into the swing of things, but I definitely remember being extremely sluggish. Tanz was very laid back; I think Sabine knew that we were all super tired, so it was mostly just stretching and trying to work out any kinks. Then, back into a full day of coachings, lessons, rehearsals and etc. Abendessen at Klingler was amazing! I swear Anni is competing against herself in trying to serve us delirious meals each day. Lol

Montag:

We learned our numbers in Deutsch today! And more regular (in the present tense) verbs. LOL…oh, speaking of Deutsch, I forgot to do my hw…whoops. Anyway, the day was busy because:

We had our second concert at Achenkirch, on the top level of an old church. Normally they had an electric piano, but the person who is in charge of the space finally bought an old piano from the Vienna Conservatory (at least I am 90% sure that was what he was saying). So yay for having a REAL piano; boo for the piano not having any lower notes. I played the opening introduction for “Questo a quella” and immediately was on edge since I could barely hear the bass notes (and this is after I started banging on them hard [not a time for comments, Nabs]) and then, by extension, my poor singers had nothing for support. Lol…regardless, we got through the concert. Memories: Jess and a minor mode “Ecco ridente” intro. Her look she gave me afterwards was priceless.

Deinstag:

Even though it was just yesterday, I don’t really remember what happened. Haha…Oh, yes I do! I had my first session with Oresta Cybriwsky. What an eye-opening experience that was! Lol…she has a very kinesthetic approach to playing the piano, which is a very different thing than I am used to. Hmmm…it is really hard for me to describe this teaching style. Lets just say, she gave me a different view on how to play certain kinds of music. We talked about how to play Verdi: use the “magic eye” and it will lead you to perfect Verdi playing. Lol well, at least try to in my case. We shall see how it goes on the concert on Frietag…yup, we have another concert coming up!

Mittwoch:

Today was a long day. Some of you have asked why I am so tired and busy and etc. Here is a normal scheduled day for me here at Maurach:

Tanz                                             900 – 1000

Coaching w/ Wright                      1000 – 1100

Coaching w/ KR, JA, Bachman    1100 – 1200

Coaching w/ TS, Cybriwsky         1200 – 1300

Mittagspause (Lunch)                   1300 – 1400

Deutsch Eins                                1400 – 1500

Coaching w/ WM, Bachman        1500 – 1600

Break                                          1600 – 1630

Coaching w/ Wright                     1630 – 1715

Ensemble Rehearsal                     1715 – 1800

Abendessen                                 1800 – 2000

Coaching w/ AP, Bachman          2000 – 2100

Boheme Rehearsal                       2100 – 2200

Waking up gets harder and harder it seems, but I am still managing.

Oh really quick, we met Dmitri Pittas today. He is a student of Bill Neill’s and is singing in Munich, Germany in a production of Bellini’s “I Capuleti e i Montecchi.” He came and had a lesson or three with Bill and then came and talked with us during dinner. He will be singing at the Met in their “La Bohème” production if memory serves me right. ^^ Yeah, meeting real life opera celebrities is cool. Hahaha…

Okies, I must go to sleep since I have another long day; our dress rehearsal for our concert on Freitag is late (after Abendessen) and knowing me I will want to practice AFTER the rehearsal. ^^ Hope all is well at home.

^^

onwards and upwards

First Free Day! YAY

Hallo All- 

Today was our first FREE DAY! ^^ And man, as much as I love making music and working with these singers, it was truly wonderful to have a whole day to just enjoy doing something other than music. But I will get to that later since I first want to talk about...

Our first concert! =D 

Venue: Our concert was held in a very beautiful church in Wiesing, Austria. I forget that churches in Europe are a much bigger deal and more ornate than those in America. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that religion is very important to them (I mean, you can find displays of the crucifixion all over the place in very random locations) and there are more people in the country as a whole who are consistent practitioners of religion (whatever it may be). Regardless, it was filled with beautiful stain glass, sculptures, and there were two glass cases with bodies in them (no joke) and the artwork all over was very stunning. And the sound in that space? Amazing...not as great as my church back in Michigan (yay St. Christopher's) but it was definitely live. 

All the singers did an awesome job (and pianists too ^). Being our first concert here, I think a lot of us truly put in extra energy and it really made each aria cone alive. Also, having only worked for a week, it was really fun to observe the difference from when they first sang on the Vorsingen. Oh, and we had a nice sized crowd. I guess these Maurach people dont hear opera all the time so whenever the program is here, they think it is something really really special and will come out to support us. Also, I noticed on the bakery goods bag that one of the local stores uses has all of our concert information on it. It is almost free publicity. It's so cool! 

I dont know if the concert was recorded; I certainly hope it was. Again, I keep saying it, but the sheer talent of these folks is amazing. And...it can only get better from here. /happysigh 

We all went out afterwards to the local restaurant (across the street from the church) and the mayor of Wiesing bought us all a round of drinks. Yeah...people are like that here. They truly love the arts! So nice! And then after that, all of performers went out to Bar Italia and the Alpenrose for more drinks and drama and post performance partying. Again, singers are never boring to hang out with so you can imagine how much fun we had; then again, what happens in Maurach, stays in Maurach...unless you happen to post pics on FB. hee hee hee 

Now...moving onto today. There is probably no way to fully understand how much fun I had today. And even if I mention the stories, it will just be confusing since (I know it is cliché) you HAD TO BE THERE. NO joke. This crew is not only talented, but hilarious as all get out. 

I have some photo and video footage, but how to even begin describing the awesomeness of today is going to be challenging. I guess I can start off by saying we were supposed to meet at 1020 for breakfast at MPreis, a local grocery store with bakery/deli eating area. The ladies (well some of them) didnt arrive until 1100, when we were supposed to be meeting everyone else at the Klingler. And our mode of transportation: bus (although we were chauffeured via taxi on our first leg of the journey since it was raining and they probably felt sorry for us Americans) from Maurach to Jenbach, and then a train from Jenbach to Innsbruck! You wouldve been SO proud of me: buyin mah ohn tickate an all. The trains...well, lets just say I can now understand why some people have a fascination with them. Powerful, fast, and they certainly make a lot of noise. hahaha 

Innsbruck was a bustling city. Unfortunately, it was raining on and off all day, but even with the showers, it was still fun to walk around. Our first thing we encountered was the Creepy Man. o.0 No joke, there was this man who literally was staring at Lucy the WHOLE time. And then, proceeded to follow us in an awkward "trying to be nonchalant" loop around us. When Lucy left us to go see a friend, Creepy Man did another long circle and actually ran in her direction...yeah. I almost ran after him to karate chop him for being scary, but we realized Lucy lives in Innsbruck so she knows her way around. 

We decided to go eat at this Thai restaurant in the shopping district (food was delirious btw) and then we decided to split up and meet each other back at the train station in a few hours. Thank the Lord Jack was there with me or else it wouldve been a long day. The New Orleans Festival was hopping and we got to see some really good instrumentalists playing Nah 'Leens style music. Oh, insert: I prolly got duped by some gypsies. Yeah...real ones. We kept seeing this group of ladies in green shirts, one of them with a large purple hat. Anyway, the lady with the hat stopped us- CORRECTION, stopped Jack- and basically accosted us. Her story: she was going to get married in two weeks and needed to sell all of this stuff to make money. Well, Jack, kind soul, was all about helping these poor mädels, but guess who ended up actually buying something? Yup...hahaha I got some glow sticks, which one of the ladies promptly started one. Hahaha...it was so shady, I shouldve seen it coming from a mile away. But meh, it was only a few euros and I guess she was desperate. haha...just glad I could help. 

We got a chance to walk around and see all the stores: European stores are very interesting. You have your high-end name brand stores right next to eateries and generic stores; it isnt sectioned off like in most parts of the states. And the atmosphere is definitely open air market. Obvoiusly, Innsbruck was more populated than Maurach and you definitely heard more English native speaking people. But still everyone you meet is nice and they all say "hallo" or smile which is something that you dont get a lot of at home. 

Our journey back to Maurach is too ridiculous to even try to pen it into words. Here are some shout outs: Harry Potter shenanigans (that's 'Arry Potta ta yew, mates): dementors, expelliarmus!; Theresa's racist camera: Did Somebody Blink?; "Pay attention to strange looks"; chilli candy; my extended famiry... o.0...oh God, I dont think I've ever laughed as hard as I did today. Normally I am usually SOOO quiet (^^) but man, I felt really bad for the people sitting around us since I prolly broke the sound barrier with my laugh so many times. If I ever get the chance and the mood is right, I will reference these shout outs and then you can enjoy in the merriment. Let's hope they are as funny as the events themselves when I tell you the stories. 

Okies...thats about it. We went to dinner when we came home at a different hotel restaurant and it was really quiet good, I love Anni Klingler's cooking though. Anyway, I must get off the blogging since I have a long day again tomorrow; it is back to the grind. We have another concert on Monday (yikes!) and the only thing I know for sure that I am playing is "Donde lieta" from La Bohème. AND...I am 99% sure that I will be playing the composers aria. For those in the know, cry and say a prayer for meeeee. lol 

Okies, pfiati! 

-rog

p.s. sorry for any typos and grammatical errors since I am too tired to edit the post. lol...hope I dont embarrass myself... >.> 

pan-ic at the Musiksaal

hallo All-

Aiyolah! I cant believe its been a week (and a day...gasp) since I have been here in this beautiful place. Maurach is unbelievably beautiful: I dont think words can truly ever describe the picturesque views just from walking from the Wach hof to the Hauptschule. I mean today as I was walking to dinner, I looked out into the distance and I was able to see the mountain, with LOTS of green vegetation, that was super far away, which happened to be nestled between the peaks of two other mountains. There was a little sunlight shining directly onto it, as if the clouds had parted just for the region (and it had to be miles and miles, oops, kilometers, away...) and my camera sadly couldn't take a decent picture at all. Also, we saw a rainbow really up close. Such amazingly breathtaking views available to you if you just take the time to look up as you're walking. I wish I could stay here...lol

Since I got home so late last night, I didnt blog. Here is a run down of the big event.

Yesterday's main event was the Tiroler Abend: Tirol Evening. Basically, it is a perfect time to just get together, eat some deliricious foods, dance, sing, and be merry. We went to this building in Pertisau, the next town over, that was built like a hunting lodge. We were immediately shuffled upstairs to the dining area. Within the first 15 mins, they had rolled out this whole pig with sparklers-lighter things which they paraded around the whole room, with the accordion player (accordionist?) and singer trailing behind. Sadly, we didnt get any of the pig, BUT our food was yummy. And sporadically, there were mini shows for us to watch. We had traditional dancing, lots of clapping, slapping the sides and feet, one with benches, this lantern one with hammers and such, and one with bell (literally, more cowbell? is what I thought); there were two groups: one of young boys, and one of OLD guys. And between these events, there was lots and LOTS of dancing (my legs and thighs were so sore the next morning). And since the alcohol just seemed to keep coming, it was too fun. I invented a new dance step: I dont know what to call it, perhaps "the Lederhosen" for celebratory sakes. Shout out to Tatiana for busting the move so expertly with me. hahaha... Lots of fun memories: Martina and her "man," funny pictures, "Hallo Madels," the girl chasing the boy and Matchmaker, our singing of Kufstein, the extremely out of tune low bell, Theresa and her red napkin, J picking up the lady at the bar- oh the list can go on...but its too hard to explain in words.

Oh, I forgot to say that we were chauffeured to this wonderful festival via an old bus with an awesome horn sound effect. hahaha...the driver Höbert was dressed in lederhosen (the whole get-up) and was a very nice man; he paid for all of us to have dinner at this place: ALL OF US!!! It was so generous of him. ^^

I forget what all else happened before the Tiroler Abend, but I am sure it was just as fun.

Today was the normal busy day again. Lots and lots of coachings and staging rehearsals and lessons, and trying to find time to just rehearse with people since we have our...

FIRST CONCERT TOMORROW (well today, now) EVENING!!!

o.0

We had our dress rehearsal today, mind you, it started at 2000 (800 pm for those not in the know) and went until 2220...again, mind you, this is after a LONG day of rehearsals and etc. All of the stuff I am playing on went okayish, except for ONE piece. "Stridono lassú" is a BEAUTIFUL aria from I Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) but it is freaking hard to play. I totally botched the end...you know, the important climax to the piece >.< But like I always ask my singers, I should look at the positive side: having only receiving the music on Tuesday and getting it to the point it is now in only three days is an amazing feat. I have to think on that or else I will go crazy with trying to get that piece perfect...on top of that, getting another Puccini aria just yesterday and having to perform it tomorrow. Thank God I love sight reading (say, what?) or else I would be drowning in black 32nd notes and lots and lots of ledger lines and bleh, I am getting sick just thinking of it. lol Regardless, I will hopefully have it fully under my fingers by tomorrow night.

After our concert tomorrow, we are PARTYING since we have a day off Samstag. Our initial plan was to go hike the the mountains, but it looks like its going to rain. :( boooooo...so our Plan B is going to Innsbruck for the day. And we get to sleep in! ^^ lol and knowing us, we will need it.

So that said, I prolly wont blog tomorrow since I will be out all night. And if I do, it will prolly be superly unintelligible, but most likely entertaining. We shall see...

Anyway, have a great rest of the day you US-ers and I shall hit the hay. Gute Nacht!

-rog

p.s btw...after seeing the traditional dancing at the Tiroler Abend, I can totally see how Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was making fun of the Bavarian and/or German lifestyle; I guess Ian Fleming didn't like zee Germans and just assumed that the Bavarian Austrians were the same as the Germans. haha...just a thought.

[insert clever title that i cant think of right now since im so tired]

hallo All-

Another full day of music. I actually skipped breakfast AND lunch since I had to practice. Don't worry, it won't happen again tomorrow. My poor stomach couldn't handle it today. :( And surprisingly, it wasnt that difficult to get back into practicing. Now that I am older, I know actually HOW to practice, instead of just practicing for the sake of practicing. Do I wish there were more hours in the day? Yes. But, I am at least proud of how far I've gotten in two days practicing of the Carmen quintet. ^^

What is scary is that tomorrow morning at 830 am will mean I will have been here for a whole week!! I can't believe it!!! Everything has been amazing so far: the faculty, the location, the new friends/singers. And of course the food...who could forget the food. We had duck today. ^^ SO deLIRIcious...hahaha

We got to learn a few Austrian folk songs today. One of them was about a bergvagabunden. hahaha...Songs of Travels anyone? Anyway, we are learning them since we will be going to the Tiroler Abend. Basically it seems like a huge party where everyone goes out and dances, yodels, and drinks beer. hahaha...there will be people in traditional lederhosen and durndols (spelling?). And we are supposed to participate in all the activities...Fear not, the beer will not be lonely tomorrow night.

We have our first major concert coming up this Friday. I am excited yet nervous. It will be a fun evening and an awesome chance to see the improvement of all the singers thus far, which btw, some of them have already blown me out of the water by how much difference is already there.

Switching subjects totally: Carol Kirkpatrick is amazing. She has been leading a serious of workshops talking about the important of business for musicians, and in turn, necessary skills needed to communicate. I wont go into a huge dissertation or else we would be here for hours, but her sessions are extremely helpful and I know I will learn so much. I cant wait to see what she has in store for us. (notice the visual system, TOP singers? lol)

Okies, I kind of jumped around today, but obviously my mind is scattered or tired, prolly the latter...meh, who am I kidding? It's definitely both. I will post again when I get back from the Tiroler Abend tomorrow evening. I apologize in advance for any spelling/grammar errors...you know sippies and me. lol

Okies...I must sleep. I have Tanz at 900 am und a two hour coaching afterwards with Kathy. lol

/hug

-rog

sing...what...?

Hallo All-

Today was an eye opener. I mean, it was a Monday morning...it was coolish/raining...a stereotypical movie Monday morning. Actually quite a blah morning. You'd think I would be prepared for the worst. Well, hahaha...I wasn't.

The other pianist and I left Tanze early since we had a session with the Music Director. As some of you may know, we have two big (really involved) scenes that will be showcased later in the program. They are: 1) Carmen quintet "Nous avons en tète" and 2) La Bohème "Donde lieta" into the quartet. So, yeah...the Carmen is crazy hard to play: a gazillion flats, thousands of notes that the page is almost black, too many staves per system to keep track of. The Bohème isn't too far off from the whole crazy multiple flats and notes, but it is obviously more popular. Regardless, we both walk in, and it is GO time. One pianist at the piano to play, the other stand to the side and sing.

.
.
.

o.0

Um...I think I peed my pants. And of course we start with the Carmen.

.
.
.

Yeah, I definitely did.

Brave soul, Jessica, took the bench first and she played well; thus, I sang...well, sort of. It sounded something along the lines of this:

"er.....nu za foh sa ahhhhhhhhh....foi? shabberdaby ffft fffah ... crap!....er, um, soi? something...something...beau, um...avec toi? gah....troo pay ru .... shit!....meh za meee...hoffner zeee um....gaahhhhhh.....foyer! soufflé! l'oiseaux! flambé! je suis i dont know....QUOI!?!?!?!"

ANDDDDDDDDD...of course the door kept opening so I am sure EVERYONE got a chance to hear my wonderful rendition of the piece. Just look up the Carmen quintet and you will understand. Now granted, I KNOW I am supposed to be able to sing and play all my pieces since that is what I am supposed to be able to do. But still, it was pretty scary on both parts. hahaha...so yeah, looks like I get to go to the Hauptschule early in the Morgen every day and practice. Yippeee...

So, after the scary morning awakening, the day proceeded like normal: coachings with faculty and students. Deutsch Eins was fun again: we got to conjugate semi-irregular verbs. Hee hee hee...I feel so smart! haha Yeah right. FYI, I did skip lunch to practice. Yup! I am such a GOOD boy. hahaha ... >.>

We had an early dinner and can you guess what meal I had? ^^ Yup, you guess it! Bratwurst!!! It was very delirious, but what was almost more impressive was the sauerkraut. The whole meal was stupendous. I have a fear that I will come back super fat from all the eating it seems I am doing. Let's hope Sabine's movement class will keep me in check. haha

Something new today: our first performance. YES! Well, it was more of a showcase/opening presentation of TOP. It was at the lobby of Alpenrose hotel and only three of our singers sang. They did well and I think the crowd was definitely happy and surprised at the talent.

The rest of us were introduced and we each had to come up with a unique talent that no one would expect, the hidden talent that isn't even on your resume. lol...sadly I could not come up with one. I thought about cartwheels, but then they would want me to show them and that wouldn't be a good thing to do in dress clothes. I thought about saying I knew how to draw things on the drafting board, but that sounded too nerdy even for me. But Elizabeth saved the day, asking me to say something in Taiwanese. lol... "I love being here. I love playing the piano. I like to drink beer and I love to eat apple strudel," was what I ended up saying. Well, there really isn't a word for apfelstrudel, so I said apple cake. But something tells me no one there at that specific hotel will know. hahaha Also, our headshots and profiles were posted on this display setup and there were small little munchy things with champagne. Talk about classy!

Afterwards, most of us went to the Café Venezia for pizza. I actually did get some pizza this time. Pizza cappriciosa = yum! (again, I am getting excited about food) And you can get things to-go from this place. I might just have to do that for lunch or something! lol

Okies, I am about to pass out from a long tiring day. Hope everyone is doing well!

Gute Nacht!

-rog

Crash Post B: Pannhäusen!

Hallo All-

Today was BUSY!!! And, being in a very delicate shape, it was even harder to wake up. Thank goodness for Goody’s powders. It is definitely the cure-all for headaches. Nabs, I will try to save some for you, but I might end up using them all. lol

Breakfast again was dericious, as it always is. Oh, my stomach says hi: it is growling still. This post might have to be short…hahahaha

Right after breakfast (frühstück), it was supposed to be coachings with Elizabeth, but because she was busy moving, they actually didn’t happen. However, I asked the singers if they just wanted to have free time or if they wanted to rehearse, and both of them said yes, which was the answer I was hoping for. I mean, come on, it gave me a chance to practice coaching them. ^^

Coaching 1 with LC: First we talked about piano editions. She had a “Voi che sapete” (Alfred edition too) that when I first saw it, my eyes got wide (yes, they DO do that…sometimes…) and any pianist would have nightmares having to play off of a score like that. It was a little difficult trying to explain why certain editions are good and some not: pianists! I KNOW you understand this; please share in my worldly gasp of having running 16^th notes in the right hand as you play the opening intro to “Vo ice sapete.” Just imagine it: yeah…gross, eh? Anyway, I hope I was able to explain it well. Hahaha…we then looked over her Pergolesi since she is going to be singing it at a mass tomorrow (even though it is really today, but shhhhhhh). But, the most fun was looking over “Embrace Me” by Gershwin. For those of you who know me, I am a crooner at heart, and songs from that era…ah, heaven. Going over this piece gave me the chance to actually sing. Hee hee…poor girl, having to deal with my blaring, sometimes toneless, singing. Lol She was a good sport.

Coaching 2 with TS: I got to work with this young singer (beautiful voice btw…) on some of my all time favorite rep. Okies, maybe not so much “Je veux vivre” but she still sang that one well. But “Silver Aria,” “Ach, ich kill me now,” “Quando m’en vo”: oh, come on…such standards, but man, super fun to play and sing. I had a lot of fun with this singer; and she was so receptive. Then again, she has the skill and maturity to listen and then take things that will apply; not just doing everything in blind faith. Some singers forget that what one person says isn’t the bible.

I certainly hope I didn’t scare any of these lovely ladies. Hahaha…but those of you who know me, you know how I work. I am all up in yo grill! ^^

I went to go get lunch, but then realized I wasn’t really hungry, so I ate a Lära bar and some grapes (sidenote: fresh fruit…um, yeah…YUMMMMMMMMM and so accessible here!) and then I was good to go.

Deutsch!!! Today we learned how to conjugate some verbs into the present tense. Jack came into our class today, and I think we ended up laughing more than actually speaking da Germano. But, it is nice to actually read and comprehend some Deutsch. Granted: this is like super easy, first grade stuff. But man, youd think we all were pros or something in that class. And what is even more fun is just getting excited when each of us answers correctly. Hahaha…like I said earlier, this class is going to be super gut! Hahaha And yes, my accent is horribad. Frau Schwartzman must be very good at not cringing when it comes to crazy pronunciations.

  

Coaching with Neill with one of the singers was very interesting. First, he is a tenor- and you know, tenors are tenors- but we happened to be working on “Ain’t It a Pretty Night” (again, a standard for me now lol) and the nuances he was able to get out of the singer was very amazing (okies…I need to get a thesaurus and STOP using the word amazing!) and the interpretations are very deep.

Lucky for me, having actually been in this show (esp the SM side) and knowing it inside and out, made me realize what I want to tell my singers when I get home about playing roles in operas. Meh, I might as well tell you now, so you will have a chance to prepare before I get back. You obviously need to know your notes, rhythms, diction, and what your name of your character is: you laugh, but I can guarantee you, there are some people out there that don’t know…scary, eh? You MUST MUST know the setting, backstory, the people you relate and interact with and their backstories, and oh…so much, its as if you could write a dissertation on it. Listen to your professors when they are asking you questions during staging rehearsals. They ask them for a reason: if you cant communicate all this information in your singing, then you have work to do. And now…so will I.

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Okies, we are done with that little soapbox. Moving onto:

Tannhäuser! We went to the Tiroler Wagner Festival (I think that is the title…I will look at the program I got when I went there, even though it is all in German) which was this huge white edifice. The orchestra was behind the see-through black thing: scrim or something? And it was obviously a minimal set and staging concept. Hot as…well, it was hot, and we all were dressed formally. And I was hot…you know, the smexy kind. Hahahahaha…how vain I am! Anyway, no surtitles (yeah…four hours of just German) but the music was incredible. Orchestra was fantastic, but the stars were the soprano who sang Elizabeth and the baritone. I want to learn “O du mein hertz” (not sure if that is the spelling) from Act III. This baritone definitely lives the stereotype of “the baritone”: now we know why the girls go home with them. ^^ So, Brandon, Connor, and Zachary: start practicing! Well, maybe not you, Zachary… =D hahaha

Okies, regardless it was a long day, and Sonntag will be even more! Gah…okies. Time to bring this blog to a close and go eat!

I went out for a walk this morning since I woke up early. There was a slight wind, but it wasn’t a cold one, but it wasn't a warm one either; it was surprisingly in between. Fresh mountain air, you can see the sun hitting the mountain tops before it shows up for the town, oh man…I could get used to a view like this. ^^

Much love, from Austria!

-rog

p.s. kudos to those who can name the reference of the unquoted quote I wrote at the end there. ^^

Crash Post A: It's Frietag...Freitag...Freitag! yeah...i went there

Hallo All-

Today gave me the first inkling of how busy a pianist’s task is going to be here at TOP. We had movement class (now shifted to 900 am!!!) still in the morning. Oh, sidenote: remind me to show you guys some of our awesome moves when I get home. Hahahaha…the stretches are valuable information and the movements (again, to super cool music…I must ask her for a copy of the CDs) help make me realize I have muscles that need to be moving or else things just get all cramped up.

Then, the next activity was Elizabeth’s workshop on acting for singers. Us pianist didn’t get to sit in since we were told we could go to practice at that time. A part of me still thinks I should go to the next one, whenever it is, but after going through the actual day, I realize now that if I do have free time, I should either sit in a coaching with Kathy or actually practice. Gasp! I know, what a concept. Sigh…at least I usually get to work on a grand piano. ^^

Then off to lunch at this Italian pizza joint: very delicious food and not terribly expensive. However, I felt very bad since there were a few of us who had to ask for our checks and then go running off to…

DEUTSCH EINS! (German 1)

Um…this class is for those who have absolutely NO IDEA about anything to do with German. Yalls know the only phrase I know in German: “Um, no speako da germano,” is my only claim to fame to any German conversation material. Well, unless you count the millions of lieder that I play. You know, I only knew the word for Sunday since it is from a German Lied: Sonntag. Hahaha…all I can say is, Frau Schwartzman is a very funny teacher (Lehrerin?) and she is always soooo enthusiastic to her approach to teaching. We learned greetings appropriate for coming and/or going some formal, some informal. And lots more, but I don’t have my paper in front of me. I should’ve packed a big notebook, instead of my poor little pad. Lol I have a feeling I am going to love this class.

Now, next come the coachings with the faculty. Just watching these people work is absolutely amazing. I literally just sat there absorbing as much as I could. What is even more cool is how they convey ideas when the singer is obviously not understanding what theyre trying to say. Having been allowed to sit in on any of Kathy’s coachings is really showing me how much work I still need to do to get to that kind of status. And Elizabeth…watching her direct is extremely eye opening. She has so many ideas of what she wants her singers to do, but then, she has the capacity to explain it in a way that the singer actually GETS it and then, does it. Super cool!

Dinner again was at the Café Klingler (that is our normal dinner place). Let me just say, they have such dericious food: SO YUMMY! I will say though, for those of you who had my version of Barefoot Contessa raspberry in Grand Marnier, with the cinnamon elephant ear- you remember that dessert? There was one served here, VERY SIMILAR to the one I made at home. And it just made me think: wow…cooking is amazing, I LOVE food…must feed Buddha…I’m hungry now. Great…

After dinner was a workshop with Carol Kirkpatrick. Her sessions are learning about the business side of the music industry and how it pertains to opera singers. Our first task though was to basically form a mission statement: how can you sell yourself if you don’t know what you are? Right? Simple question: not an easy answer. When I get my mission statement worked out, you betcha I will be posting it. Lol It was a fun session with finding ways to get rid of negativity, but then it got all serious and hitting home- sobering. I am no stranger to seeing people cry, but it was as if the waterworks started and then it just got passed around. Perhaps I got choked up too, perhaps I didn't; you know me, I never let it show. Regardless, it was a very interesting session that started to make people truly think about who they are and what they want in life. It will be interesting to see where this goes with each individual.

Soooo…having been all worked up with the sessions, which went a bit over (an hour or something), we all decided to go out to one of the local bars: Bar Italia (connected to that pizza joint mentioned earlier). Well, lets just say, this group knows how to have fun. I obviously had a few sippies: long islands and me = happy azn. And there were lots of pictures taken of that night. I soooooooo wish I could post them now, but sadly I cannot. Wonderful…I get to do all photo posting during VBS when I get home. Lol loverly. My Michigander friends, I would’ve made you proud. I didn’t start fobbing until I got back to the charming Wach hof: unfortunately, my wayward roommate has gotten video evidence of this: VIDEO!!!! Sigh…don’t worry, you will get to see it. Haha…why am I so nice?

Okies… that brings Freitag (it’s Freitag, Freitag…gah!) to a close. OMG…so I started singing “It’s Freitag, Freitag” and the Polish student, she looks over at me and goes, “NOOOOO…don’t sing that!!!” hahahahahaha…I guess this youtube clip is even more famous that we thought: it is heard in Europe too. Crashee, eh?

Anyway, even though my stomach is growling: telling me to feed Buddha, I am going to be SOOO nice to you and make a post for yesterday, again, because I love you. ^^

-rog

Crash Post: Intro

Hallo All-

I am sooooo sorry this next post has come so late. I had no idea that so many people were actually reading this blog; after reading so many messages via FB and email from people (Jules, you win the best) asking when my next blog is…1) it made me really happy that you guys care; 2) I will strive to make sure I do it more often, even if I am dying after a really long day of coachings and rehearsals and etc. It is only because I love you all SOOOOOO much…you know, its only all just from the goodness of my heart. To make things easier, I am going to post two separate entries at this point: one will be for Friday and the next one for Saturday, as if I had written them on their respective days. Yeah, yeah, I know its cheating. But hey, it’s my blog and I’ll type if I want to…hmmmm, that didn’t quite work. Ah well, sit back and relax as you peruse the upcoming novels. lol

Enjoy!

-rog 

bel panto style

hallo All-

Soooo...today we hde our first Movement Class. Sabine is amazing! Her session was entertainingly taught and the movements and stretches really are something I will prolly have to do from now on as a daily regimen. We did some basic stretching and core muscle building. We then moved to a series of flowing movements that, to my best knowledge, was something akin to yoga and lyrical dancing. lol...it was just funny to watch all the girls get excited, and us guys, man, we were all so confused. "Wait...this hand goes where? Um...I'm supposed to turn what?" I am just lucky that I started doing yoga, or else MY movements wouldve considerably deviated from what was supposed to happen. They would have been movements of sorts...lets just say, all of us guys will prolly bond in this class. haha

And then...she put it to music. o.0 The track was this rockin beat (sort of) that was kind of new age-ish. And suddenly the whole movement thing just became really fun. lol ... and then, sadly I had to leave since Kathy Wright, the head Vocal Coach, arrived.

Um...Kathy Wright is ING-CRE-DA-BLE!!! She says she bites, and I think some singers will have issues with how frank she is, but perhaps due to my piano background it doesnt seem like that at all. You either play it wrong or play it right. lol...but then again, we dont have diction or phlegm to worry about during our music making. I am soooooooo excited to be able to sit in on ANY of her sessions; I only wish I could just have a session with just her and me alone. But sadly, due to time, that will not happen. But, watching her work with singers is enough to teach me so much.

Vorsingen: we loosely translate it to "Death By Aria." This is where everyone goes up and sings an aria, or two...and it can go on for a while. LOL...lets just say, I am amazed at the talent that we have at this program. And ages, range from 18 - 31. It is CRASHEEE! It will be a lot of fun getting the chance to work with these young singers, such talent! It will be very interesting to see their progression too. ^^ The pianists didnt have to sing, but most likely there will be SOME type of singing when we go out at night on the town. Which of course wont happen a lot >.>

We have a break now, hence the blogging. And then, we are all going to Elizabeth Bachman's house for dinner. I think I will take a nap. There was a lot of sight reading today and my brain is dead. Oh, btw, this is a message to my normal vocalist crew back in MI: Fidelio...not fun to play. If you are assigned this piece, you get to hire another pianist. hahaha

Guten abend aus Austria!

-rog

RERRKOME TO BAGGAGE CRRAAAAAIMMM!

Hallo All-

Wow…I have already had a FULL day of getting acquainted with Achensee; I have already gone to bed and woke up; it is my 506 at the moment, Michigan time is 2306.

I arrived around 830 into Munich Airport. Yay! First thing I noticed: red roofs! I swear at least 90% of the houses in and around Munich have red roofs.

The flight itself was not bad at all. Despite this young kid/baby who kept shouting “NO!” at very random times (and when you thought she was done and you were slowly drifting off to sleep, you’d hear another random, “NO!”) it was a smooth almost 8 hour flight from Philly to Munich. The lady next to me was traveling to Germany to visit her newest grandchild. When she asked me what I was doing going to Germany, I started to tell her about TOP and everything. The girl sitting in front of me (kitty-corner) turned around and introduced herself; she was going to TOP too…and so I met the first of many extremely fun people that are participating in the program.

I realize now that I did not bring my camera to laptop cord and my laptop isn’t cool enough to have a sanDisk slot, so sadly I will have to post pics when I get home. The flight had some fun amenities: you could watch movies, TV shows, play games, listen to music. Had I perused it more at the beginning, I would’ve played the “learn German game” while I had time. I did watch the DragonBall Z movie (NOT because it was Asian inspired) and I found it very interesting, especially since I didn’t even know they made a DBZ movie…lol They also had the game Bejeweled…I of course got the highest score both times I played, but then they wouldn’t let me put a name down. :( boooo Don’t worry, I have a picture to prove this… ^^

When we landed in Germany, the first thing I realized was that I had absolutely NO IDEA what I was supposed to do. I didn’t get the information like everyone else since I prolly wasn’t added to the mass email listing. Regardless, thank goodness Alex was there (aforementioned kitty-corner girl); I basically just followed her around the airport, which btw…was so quiet. Perhaps I am just used to boisterous Americans, or just loud people in general, but it was almost eerily quiet; and you know how loud of a voice I have. It was like I dared not to talk or laugh (heaven forbid I crack a glass pane with my laugh) since it would offend the overall feeling of quietness. o.0

We found the kiosk that was the Four Seasons Service- this was to be the shuttle service that brought us to Maurach am Achensee. We waited for about 30 mins for the other people who were supposed to ride the shuttle with us. When they arrived, we all left the airport in this Mercedes Benz van thing, and it was a very pleasant ride for the most part. Our two other travelers, Scott and Steve, were bikers who worked for Trek; I guess it is a big company that sponsors things for the Tour de France? Anyway, they were very amiable chaps who seemed to travel all over the world. Our driver…well, she was interesting. I swear she was going at least 140 km/h in the 120 zone AND she was whipping super fast on all the mountain passes, and she would switch into the oncoming traffic lane to pass the other cars who mustve been going the correct speed limit. Regardless, after I got used to the crazy whizzing around pace she was driving at, I was able to look outside…and man, it is amazing! Sadly most of the signs are yellow and blue, which you know, is such a bad color combination. I shall forgive the country of Germany for their lack of knowledge in this aspect; this place is too awesome to hold a grudge. Lol

Two words to describe Achensee: breathtakingly beautiful. We kept passing all these cute little towns (which btw, blow good ole Frankenmuth out of the water, sorry) and I kept thinking, oh this one is the one. Nope…we kept driving higher into the mountains and all the views of the mountains with the lake in the foreground cannot be described nor will any of the pictures I took do it justice. I will try very hard to take really good pics, but what I see on the camera simply cannot stand up to the real deal; all the colors figuratively and literally pale in comparison to what I am so lucky to see in reality, right in front of me. /happysigh

We have arrived at the Wach hof (where I am staying) and this lovely lady named Suzanne is our point person for this place. It is a charming building; it looks like your quintessential Bavarian house: the sloped roof, the many balconies with flowers hanging over the side, it feels like an expansion on a bed and breakfast. I could see myself retiring to a place like this. It is so peaceful here; view from the window isn’t the best: we get to see Apartment Kögl (how exciting!) but if you look past the apartment building, you get the mountains in the background, and the occasional smoke from Hermann the train! Lol

After unpacking a little (the nice clothes have to be hung up, you know) Alex and I decided to go exploring. We decided to walk to the lake since it was “right behind” us. Um yeah…slightly false advertising. Yes it is in walking distance, but then again, being a lazy American, a 15 min walk to the lake was more than I expected. It was blazing hot at the time too! But regardless, once we got to the lake, the walk was worth it. The color of the water isn’t green or blue…kind of a mixture. But, what is so amazing about it is how crystal clear it is, especially right near the shore. I hope my camera can take justifiable pictures. If so, I have a new background for my laptop.

After deciding we were tired and hot and hungry, we made our way to SPAR the local supermarket in town. We got some munchies and came back to find some of the other participants hanging out in the front of the building; we just sat down at one of the large tables outside of the Wach hof and started to get to know each other and it was a fun chillaxing time to just sit and meet new people. Yes I know the program is going to be cool and I will learn a lot, but the knowledge that the people you are going to be living with for the next three weeks are all amazing individuals with such different backgrounds…gah…it is going to be SO fun getting to know them. I love this group already! Lol

Quick sidenote: the weather here…yeah, it definitely changes almost at the drop of a hat. We arrived and it was a warm sunny day; progressively got really hot; then it became hot and muggy; then the rain came; and then it dried up with some more sun; and then when evening came around, a wonderful cool breeze came from the shore…oh it was marvelous! Thank you, Michigan, for teaching me how to live with such constant changes in weather.

Tomorrow (well, today now) starts the actual activities. I will get to meet the few that weren’t here yesterday, the faculty, and of course, there is Death by Aria…yay for Vorsingen and then I will get to hear everyone sing! ^^

Okies, signing off for now. I will prolly go back in to sleep for another hour before breakfast and then movement class. Until then, guten morgen, meine freunde! (I hope I typed that correctly!) lol

-rog

 p.s. title of the post is for you, Nabs! Hope all is well at home and dont forget to feed the fishies please! Danke! ^^ 

and the frying pan stays at home...

hallo All-

I have survived the hardest part of the journey thus far: packing! YAY! It took a lot longer than I expected and I was rushing near the end. In my defense, I was getting tired and forgot to eat dinner (don’t worry Mom and Dad, I ate A LOT of granola bars and etc. when I got to the airport), and my ADD and I decided to have a contest to see who would win; I am sure you can guess who came out on top.

Needless to say, I am pretty sure I have everything that is important: Passport: check; Driver's License: check; Travel and Medical Insurances: check; copies of my credit card: check; at least one all black pianist ensemble: check. It seems like I have packed everything but the kitchen sink. Okies, the 10 inch skillet was prolly not a must-have item, but you never know when you might need one, a la Tangled style. I did forget shampoo and stopping by Prof. Helton’s house to grab that German picture book, but other than that, all is good.

The drive to Grand Blanc was uneventful. I will not bore you with a discourse on the selections of my awesome scream-singing, but at least it kept me awake enough to get to Dad’s house. Get there; go in; drink dericious tea- it definitely helped relax my dry throat (oh, and insert Asian joke here ^^ yes, I know you, my friends); get back in the car for another hour-plus drive to Metro. Thanks again, Dad, for driving me. Take care of my car while I am gone!

I cannot believe my bags made it through security; I literally have my yoga mat vicariously attached onto the top of my obviously over-packed carry-on; “Um…yes, Mr. Security Person, this bag is most definitely no longer than 21 inches in length…” /sidewaysglance . . .And my checked bag (we are allowed only 50 lbs. CRASHEE if you ask me) weighed in at 48.6 or something to that effect; I am so lucky it was not over since I seriously have no room in my backpack or carry-on/yoga holder to stuff anything else in.

Oh, quick story insert: going through the security at Detroit Metro. So, we had a slight hold up due to some random guy. Now I can tell you for a fact that the following myth is true: if you are male, traveling alone, slightly ethnic, YOU WILL BE watched closely; it has happened to me numerous times so I am no longer phased by it. But man, at least TRY to look decent. This guy, who was two people ahead of me, kept setting off the alarm when he went through. So of course they make us all wait and they go to inspect him. Get this: he has a huge ACE bandage wrapped around his body, as in continuously wrapped around and around, specifically just below the waistband of the pants. Um…are you trying to shout out that you MIGHT have something to hide? And he is all about denying that he has no metal on his person. Then what is setting off the alarm, buster? Regardless they pulled him out to inspect him more and the line finally continued on. Meh, at least Metro doesn’t put up with silliness.

As my FB status reads, the flight from Metro to Philly was on this REALLY REALLY REALLY tiny plane. I even had to DUCK to get through the door. Um…if I have to duck, there is a real problem here. To help my claustrophobia, I pretty much just promptly fell asleep. Lord knows I needed the nap anyway. I woke up a few times during the bumpy ride and the person next to me was watching “Kick Ass” on his iPhone; btw…really good movie if you haven’t seen it already. So I started watching it with him; he was a nice enough fellow to accommodate my interest, and no doubt my snoring. Ooooo…poor roommate at Austria…lol ^^

As we were coming in to land, I opened up the shade to the window. I can now understand why people say baseball is America’s national sport; I stopped counting baseball diamonds when I got up past 35 or so. Swimming pools, tennis courts, even football fields were no match for how many baseball setups I saw. And mind you, I am no sports fanatic, but that just surprised me…wow, that was a weird sidenote. Back to important matters…

I am sitting here at Gate A15 in Philadelphia International Airport awaiting my flight to Munich, Germany. Landing in Terminal F and having to ride the shuttle to the opposite end of the airport, I pretty much figured would be the case. But upon arriving to Terminal A and looking at the charts, Munich, Germany, has disappeared from the Departures list. 0.o My ticket says Gate A15 and mobile.usairways says it is still A15, so I will just park myself here and hope for the best.

Oh…great. Wonderful! A tenant just set off the metal detector alarm at the gate and it is making a really interesting combination of a screech/blare/high pitched something that is a half step apart. AND no one is coming to turn it off. Lovely…oh yay, a police officer has driven up to look at the problem. But he is just staring at the frame; I guess he doesn’t have the key to stop it. If the pitches were inverted, we would have Major 7ths, and we all know what that means: Ricky Ian Gordon music!!! Lol…gah I am such a music nerd.

OHHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOO…I forgot the chopsticks!!! I was going to go to Maru Sushi and beg Peter to give me a few disposables but I never made it out there. And I didn’t pack any of my own. Hahaha…oh well. I guess I wont be eating any chips while I am gone.

Okies, I am wrapping this up so I can go find some food and possibly take a mini nap. Hmmm…I wonder if I will see any other TOP participants on this next flight.

Much love from your FAVORITE Asian (and if I am not your favorite, we will have a talk when I get back home) ^^

-rog

p.s. Wow…this wireless here at Philly International is really slow. Will I even get a chance to post this before my battery runs out of juice? Maybe if I go grab and wield my skillet, some tech-guy can be convinced to make these interwebs to run faster. Meh…too much work.

panning around

hallo All- 

I have decided that I will blog (well, try to) my up-coming experience in Maurach am Achensee, Tirol, Austria, as I participate in TOP- Tyrolean Opera Program. To say I am excited would be an understatement; words cannot describe the emotions that were (and still are) running through me since I got the notification via email from Elizabeth Bachman, Music Director of TOP, that I was indeed going to Austria. A big thank you to Prof. Helton for bringing this whole program to my attention. Having an opportunity like this that just falls in your lap is truly a blessing come true; I cannot believe how lucky I am! 

Obviously accepting to go on this program has greatly shifted the rest of my summer plans. Said plans were to have a somewhat chill summer, no more busy that normal. But now that I will be in Austria for almost four weeks, things have basically been turned upside down. For those of you who know me, you know how much planning goes into every detail of my life; I am proud to say, though, that I feel I have "gone with the flow" quite well in this case (no comment, Nabs!). So even though I am excited to go, I am sad that other plans had to be cancelled: I definitely was looking forward to visiting a friend in beautiful Traverse City and participate in the Fracker Summer Show. But alas, that will no longer happen. Jules, raincheck for sure. And I will miss all the Fracker "kids" this year; if I can, I will try to make at least one of the show nights. Make me proud by learning your music WWWWAAAAAAYYYYY in advance; I know your pianist will appreciate that immensely. To St. Christopher's folks: I will miss you all while I am gone. Thanks for being a wonderful congregation! Sing happily and loudly during the hymns just for me. ^^ VBS-ers, be ready. When I get home, it is GO TIME! 

But let us move on to other things on my mind...matters like packing. I can't believe that I will be leaving for the airport in exactly one hour! And of course, am I ready? bahahaha... Hey, at least the laundry is done; but now comes the hard task of deciding what to pack. I only can check in a bag weighing at 50 lbs.! That is ridiculous, you crazy airplane rule-making people!!! I guess I get to bring an extra heavy carry-on bag (the yoga mat IS coming so this will be interesting) and they better let me bring it on the plane. But even more daunting of a task is packing the other little stuff: important documents (and their copies), correct electronic chargers and the nice converter plug thingy (thanks, Mary), all the potential grooming supplies...since you know I am so vain and must look the best at all times. hahaha GAH!!! And I am pretty sure I am forgetting some things. lol...I still have to go shopping for a few things that are on my list and pick up the dry-cleaning later today. Busy busy busy... 

For those of you who will now be thinking out loud as you're reading this, "Why don't you just stop blogging and start working?" (and I am pretty sure I can guess WHO is thinking this), this is all I have to say to you: 

". . . iza dohng speakah zee engrish? Ya?" 

And on that note, I am 90% sure I am the ONLY Asian who is going to this program. I hope these people are open-minded. Yalls know how many Asian jokes and comments I make on a daily basis (and how they progress as the day/night goes on or if I have had a few sippies); they don't even phase you anymore. These new people- I almost feel bad for them. haha...they have NO idea whats going to explode in their midst. I have a feeling they're going to expect a serious, quiet, and studious guy who just agrees with everything. HA! Oh, I can be those things, for sure, if the situation calls for it, but that is NOT my normal self. I almost, ALMOST, want to go and just fob and see how far I can get. I know, its horribad, but it would definitely be a charrenge. 0.o 

Oh, and talk about finances! And yes, we were talking about finances (really, you must keep up with the pace). Thank God I have loving parents who are so supportive and some anonymous generous patrons! I certainly didn't budget a trip like this; I was content to spend the rest of my summer as the poor starving hasn't-made-it-yet musician. So......this is all a reason for me to say sorry if you don't get a souvenir! lol I am poor :( 

Hahaha...well, I really should get off this blogger for now. I can access email and FB; my phone is going to be turned off. If you need to get in touch with me, email is best; I don't always check my FB messages. When I figure out my mailing address I will post that as well just in case you feel the need for snail mail (but remember: I am only there for about four weeks). 

For those of you who are interested, here is the link to the website for TOP. You can read all about it and see what I am getting myself into. You can even ready my dream statement in the participants section. 0.o 

LINK: http://www.topopera.com/ 

Well, I think I have typed long enough. Time to get on with the rest of the day! Hope to update soon. Onwards and upwards... Until then, Auf wiedersehen! 

-rog