Direction...Finally!

As a lover of many different genres of music (news to a lot of you, I'm sure :) it has been a challenge for me to decide what to focus in on as a performer. Since high school I knew I wanted to sing, and I that is where I discovered my love of opera and classical vocal music. I preferred that to any of the contemporary music I was familiar with at the time. I'm a storyteller at heart, and so opera appealed to me very much - as much for the stories as for the music.

Yet I wondered if there was something more I should be doing. A few years ago I began writing my own music, but only occasionally, and not with too much purpose. Things were going well for me in the opera area. I was accepted into the Opera Theater Center at Aspen, and then was accepted into an intensive 10 day program in Sweden - the only American citizen - studying with David L. Jones, voice teacher to the international opera star Deborah Voigt. It was at this time that it was confirmed that I'm a dramatic soprano - quite a rare voice type.

Though all these experiences were fantastic, I learned a lot about myself. The most significant discovery was that I don't want to be an opera singer. While I love the art form, I do not love the lifestyle at all. I just don't see that it would be possible for me to sing opera for very long and still maintain my principles and my walk with God. As much as I love opera, I don't love it enough to risk my relationship with God.

So, I have a new direction with my music - I have decided that I will focus my attention on my own compositions. It is Christian, with a celtic/classical feel to it. I'm not sure if I can upload any audio tracks on this blog, but I'll post something here if I can so you can get an idea of what I'm working on. That's all for now :)