Slump

What a busy time of the year!  Last week, I sang Mahler's Second Symphony with the Kansas City Symphony.  It was majestic to say the least - certainly the loudest classical concert that I can remember.
I sang a Bach cantata on Friday at the Conservatory.  It was a very interesting setup in that we had bleachers all around us like an arena.  It was packed as well!  These monthly Bach's Lunch concerts are become more and more popular every time.  I will also be a soloist in next month's concert on March 9.
Also last week was our annual NATS contest for the Kansas City area schools.  It was held at Mid-America Nazarene University in a very nice hall.  Expectedly, I lost to same girl that has beaten me in every NATS competition since I have arrived in Kansas City.  She is spectacular, but I'm just waiting around until she retires so I can get a chance to win!  We are both competing at the NATSAA competition in Chicago in March, so I will certainly need some good luck or some visible muscle tone to impress the judges.
I must admit that this week has been a pretty tough week to get through.  I have been very busy, and I have stayed relatively sane throughout it, but like many singers and artists, I have been down in the dumps at times. It seems that I have recently perfected the "adequate performance"...that is to say that besides the random bad audition (St. Louis) I do generally what I need to do, but I haven't impressed myself.  Since artists are judged heavily on single performances, it is so difficult to change a first impression and if you are not impressive, well you will be easily forgotten.  In short, I am very eager for a good showing sometime.  There's always something negative that I'm trying to get past, or a mess-up that I can't take back.  It's all very frustrating, but hopefully I will gain some confidence in my upcoming performances.
I practiced my butt off today and all of the last five or six days in hopes that I can practice my way out of a slump.  We'll see if it works, as I audition for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City on Saturday.  Too, I am starting work on Le Tragedie de Carmen and singing the role of Don Jose.  AND, my recital (which has been rescheduled YET AGAIN) on Saturday, February 25 at 7:30 at White Recital Hall at UMKC is fast approaching.  Until next time, here's is Don Jose's aria from Carmen.  Which one do you like better?