Snappy Opera Tunes

I am playing a whole lot of choral pieces today. Wagner, Verdi, Orff, and Puccini just to name a few. It is really a nice cross section of requiems and opera pieces.

 

We are going to be performing it at a Baptist Church during the season of Lent and so I am curious how “O Fortuna” or the “Habanera” from Carmen are going to be received. You can take the altar boy out of the church but you can’t take the church out of the altar boy. I could create a rather tasteless joke at this point but I will resist the temptation.

 

Tomorrow Mr. Teeny becomes Ms. Teeny and the meowing and writhing will finally abate for awhile. It is driving me mad. Give it up already cats.

 

Everyone is NOT a Star

Have you noticed with the invention of reality television shows like American Idol that suddenly everyone is a star? It seems even my hair dresser has a Christmas “CD” that she has produced and is selling on her website. I feel this is utter insanity.

 

The truth is that talent, true talent is rare. Not everyone who thinks they can sing or perform is Hollywood or Broadway bound. There are the few exceptions, but I am so tired of everyone thinking they are a “star.”

 

I guess I have Hannah Montana to blame. Good ole Miley Cyrus with her gravely teenage voice has convinced a whole generation that they are superstars. Uggg.

 

I know from where I speak. I was performing from an early age and played my first paid gig when I was eleven. I went to the top of where I could go in Clearwater, Florida and had to move on somewhere else when I got to high school.

 

The solution was that I went to North Carolina School of the Arts. In the 1980’s this was a totally different animal then it is today. It was a true conservatory. I ate, slept and worked everyday at music. I soon realized I was but a drop of talent in a vast ocean of even greater talent. I was humbled.

 

There are local arts schools run by people that had talent, had their fifteen minutes of fame and now make their money promising children stardom. These kids get starry eyed and slack brained. Many of these kids become homeschooled. What is that all about? Even if these kids have talent, do they want to be illiterate, socially retarded artists? Believe me there are plenty of those out there.

 

Who is to blame, the charlatans that are shoveling out these ridiculous promises or the parents that are squandering their child’s academic and collegiate future in the hopes of a bit part in a sitcom or a 30 second commercial spot. Maybe they truly believe in the term “starving artist.”

 

My solution? Following your dreams and have a back up plan. Get out of town and experience what is out in the rest of the world. NEVER EVER read your own press because family and friends will ALWAYS think you are a star. And for those home school kids- GO TO SCHOOL! Go to prom, try out for the football team or cheerleading squad and get a grip on reality. Turn off Idol and Dancing with the Stars and bury your head in a good novel.