On Being Professional

The title is, of course, an excellent use of hyperbole. I still don't consider myself a professional anything... with the possible exception of professional dogsitter. But I had a really great experience today and I felt the impulse to blog about it. (I go in and out of blog spells, apparently. I still am yet to match September's 17 posts. I obviously had little to do then.)

So my family and I drove up to Ft. Collins today to the somewhat obscure Avogadro's Number Restaurant. (I KNOW! What a cool name! Unfortunately, its address is 605 Mason St. in Ft. Collins, when Avogadro's Number is roughly 6.02 x 10²³, so the numberin

g is a bit off... but maybe its owner was just a chem major at CSU (something that I, for the record, will never be), or a big nerd (something that I, for the record, have always been.)

But I'm getting ahead of myself. This is not a blog about chemistry, but about the joys of singing.

So, anyway, I had my first paying gig, receiving a whopping $25 for my singing ability. This was the first time I was given money for singing in a non-artistic setting. (Though I have accompanied on piano for money, but that wasn't performance... after all, the singer is the main attraction.) But I sang three songs:

Non piu andrai, by Mozart (from the opera The Marriage of Figaro)

Chiquitita la Novia, by Fernando Obradors (fro

m a collection of traditional Spanish songs called Coplas de Carro Dulce)

Our Great Mikado, Virtuous Man, by Gilbert and Sullivan (from the operetta The Mikado)

And I frankly thought they were highly entertaining. The other singers were great as well. And, at the end, I got this lovely little honorarium for my troubles:

It is only $25, which (at least, hopefully) will eventually be like a drop in the bucket of the millions of dollars I'll be making as a vocal performer. But it's just kind of special, because I have never gotten money for singing outside of a competition setting. Just for performing. It feels kind of cool.

The performance's purpose was to honor those who had finalled in the Colorado regional Classical Singer Competition, something that only eight students in the state were invited to do. For those of you following my vocal pursuits, this is the competition that is taking me to LA this summer along with my best duet partner Hillary Thompson, who is amazing as well. It's also the same competition that sent me to New York last year, so this is the second year I've participated in the second round (hopefully, though, this year I'll make it a bit farther... last year I think I was disqualified because I was never told that I needed to have more than one piece prepared-- the website was fairly unclear. This year, of course, I know better.) I'm just as excited this year (even though LA isn't quite New York... haha) and I really hope I get far enough to at least garner some scholarship money. We'll see.

Well, at any rate, I have $25. :D That will pay for lunch at college... for a week. Maybe. Or maybe a few trips to Starbucks. Like now. Or I can spend it on clothes... I could buy more vests. But you know what? It's my money that I earned, so I can buy whatever I want!

(Well, as long as whatever I want falls within the price of $25.)

The Joy of Installing Ovens... Among Other Things

So today was an interesting day.

Last week, my dad decided that it was time to put in a new oven. Because apparently the oven we've been using for the last 14 years can't cook a turkey, and obviously, since we are proud middle-class citizens of the United States of America, the inability to cook a turkey, arguably one of the most patriotic animals that is allowed to be slaughtered and eaten (obviously bald eagles are not exempted from such a status because of the whole "eating and slaughtering" thing, though not necessarily in that order. But I digress.)

And so, my parents, being the absolute darlings they are, decide that we won't get the oven professionally installed. No, after all, they have two "strapping young lads" (and that's a direct quote, mind you) to help carry in and install ovens and other kitchen items. And for the second time in this blog's history, we turn to the magic of the dictionary:

strapping [ˈstræpɪŋ]

adj

(prenominal) tall and sturdy

[from strap (in the archaic sense: to work vigorously)]

Now, I am certainly tall, but I'm not exactly "sturdy." I am certainly the least masculine person in the family, with the possible exception of my mother. And I'm not really an excellent person at such activities as heavy lifting, which this task required a lot of. There was first the heavy lifting of the original oven, which was already considerably large, as ovens are apt to be. And then the new oven, which was like three hundred times (and this is, I must confess, a rough estimate) heavier, and of course a much worse thing to drop on the ground. If we drop the old oven on the ground, who cares, it's an old oven, but the new $1500 oven (which my parents considered a steal- I see it as a chunk of my college fund... haha. But again I'm digressing. All I'm saying is that if it truly was a steal it wouldn't be a big deal if I dropped it and broke it) would of course break and then I'm sure I could have to at least partially contribute to a new oven. And while I have money saved up for college spending money, I don't have enough to throw into a new oven.

And after all that, we still haven't completely put the oven in. It's just awkwardly standing in the kitchen next to a gaping hole where the old oven used to be. It's connected, so in theory we could probably use it as a real oven... it just happens to be a giant block in the middle of the kitchen, which, if left alone, could lead to stubbed toes, angry words, and a body count-- three things that are undoubtedly and equally unpleasant. So, tomorrow (which, I might remind you, is the Christian day of rest... plus it's already Lent. So unorthodox), the strapping young lads will assist their father in sliding this giant piece of machinery into a wall and hoping to the good lord Jesus Christ (it will be Sunday after all-- I must find some way to spiritually engage myself) that it fits.

Also today, I learned that I am definitely and completely incapable of driving a manual stickshift in a car. It's pretty much impossible, so I'm glad that my car is an automatic. Because if it wasn't, I'd... probably be able to drive a stickshift by now. Hmmm. Bad argument. But my brother (who just passed his permit test Friday) and I were learning at the same time, which is not a good combination. I, of course, am much too dependent on the automatic gears, having driven them for the past three years, and so it is understandable that this sudden change would be so... well... sudden.

However, I closed up the day video chatting with my dear friend Ali "Sunshine" Bongiardina over Skype, in which we discussed several hot topics such as abortion, theatre, and college. I also managed to fall out of my chair mid-conversation and was laughed at. My hamster, Fiyero, also partook in the conversation as a silent third party, which was quite pleasant as well. And then that ended, which was sad. My internet kept phasing in and out during the conversation, though, which made for some awkward pauses and difficulties. And then Ali, in the middle of a pleasant conversation, decided that she was going to get food and left me at the altar... or rather... computer, all alone without any love in the world. But luckily, my internet finally stopped being stupid and we went like a full hour without any issues, which was pleasant. It has really reminded me of how much I miss being with my NYT friends, who I just don't get to see as often, which is quite sad.

But while discussing life with Ali, I learned that the CenterStage Theatre Company (located in Boulder-- political friends of mine probably know my feelings about the city... haha) is putting on Titanic: The Musical (yes, there is such a thing, and no it's not based on the movie) this summer, so I'm considering auditioning for that. After all, my goal this years was to participate in five musical productions, and right now I've only gotten four (including Chess), and since Sound of Music with NYT didn't work out, I need to get some last show in before I head to college. Especially if I go to CSU, because they don't do a lot of musical theatre stuff. They do a lot of opera and Gilbert and Sullivan, but they don't do a lot of musical theatre, which is, of course, my first love in the theatre. So I've gotta work in as much as I can. Four productions is just not going to cut it, I'm afraid. So I'm considering that. The only problem is, of course, the location. Frequent rehearsals throughout the summer could be difficult to work with, as I'd be driving to and from Boulder every time I go there, but I have almost the entire summer off-- I'm just unavailable one weekend to go to LA for the Classical Singer Competition (Par-TAY in L-AY!), so if that weekend is when auditions/callbacks are, I'm screwed. But I can certainly hope.

But anyway, all six of my faithful readers, that's all in the life of Eric for today. Still no important scholarship offers from NYU or Miami, and I certainly can't expect any more mail until Monday... and of course school starts back up again after that. Gah. But tomorrow I will be participating in my first ever paying gig at a restaurant in Ft. Collins. (A company, Arias@Avos, is honoring the Classical Singer Finalists for Colorado, of which I am one, at a dinner tomorrow. And I'm being paid a $25 honorarium. Sure, I make more money dog-sitting, but this is indeed the first time I'm being paid to sing (excluding, of course, the times I've won money for vocal competitions), so that's a nice step in the right direction. I can never say my vocal abilities amounted to nothing now! I've got $25 to say the opposite. :)

So that's it, for now. If you haven't heard yet, I'm playing Molokov in the THS Choir's version of the hit musical Chess on April 27th at 6:00pm. Be there or be squared. It's going to be ridiculously AWESOME. :D

College News and Reflections

I apologize for the lame title. :)

So, today was a fairly wonderful day. I got admissions decision from both the University of Miami and NYU, along with admission to their respective music schools, which is really great.

However, I am yet to hear about any scholarship awards for academics or vocal ability, which is really what is going to make the decision for me at the moment, meaning that CSU is still in first for my heart and future.

I know that a lot of people will be shocked that I would choose CSU over NYU or Miami... or even DU, considering the great scholarship package they offered me. But really, as far as undergrad goes, the cheapest university is going to win. I'm already definitely going into a graduate program to get my Masters in Music, and that's when I'll be going for the big name schools. Especially considering that grad students also get great consideration in scholarships. Let's look at Eric's life as it stands right now:

Eric goes to CSU for four years and gets his BM in Vocal Performance in a program that is excellent, if not as well known. He's had a great experience at CSU and has beefed up his resumé considerably (especially when one understands that CSU is one of a handful of universities in the world that has been known to grant Freshmen leading roles in productions- something that's really winning me over at the moment.) Four years have passed, and it's time to apply to grad school. Eric has decided that while Colorado is a wonderful place, it's time to maybe break the mold and go out of state to a conservatory. If things go as planned, Eric will apply to the Manhattan School of Music and the San Francisco Music Conservatory, on top of some other possible schools for a two-year program to get his Masters. In addition, he will reapply to NYU and Miami's graduate programs in hopes that he'll get a good scholarship and then spend the next two years studying his butt off and hopefully starting to establish a career. Once he gets his MM, he leaves school forever and starts pursuing an operatic career. He might start out in the Denver Opera (which, for all intents and purposes, is a fairly well-respected program) or start in some other smaller opera companies before finally making his debut at the New York Metropolitan Opera. After Eric sings opera for a few years and fully matures his voice, he will then transition to Broadway, singing the bass roles that are really only offered to older people (because young characters in shows are almost always tenors because the world is unfair.) After Eric makes his transition to Broadway, he eventually gets the part of the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera (which I'm assuming will still be running at that point) and then dies happily shortly thereafter.

Well, I'm hoping I don't die that quickly as I'm hoping to live to be like 105, but you get the point. I basically have my life mapped out.

The reason why I don't want to go to NYU for undergrad (unless I am offered significant financial aid) is because I don't want to be in debt for the rest of my life. College loans are hard enough to come by anyway in this tragically sucky economy, and paying them off at the same time as waiting for a performance career to spark would be suicidal (both literally and figuratively). My parents are, thankfully, helping me with college, but they have also told me that if I want to go to a private university (which happens to be 8 out of the 9 colleges I've applied to) and I'm not offered significant scholarships to cover a majority of the costs, I'm out of luck. And, unfortunately, federal grants are very difficult to come by and those that do exist will go to people less fortunate than I. I'm not guaranteed a performance career, and I don't want to pay off loans for undergrad. I might be willing to take loans for graduate school, but that's four years down the line.

So, the moral of this blog entry is that if I'm going for a big name, I'll save it until grad school. I am fully confident that CSU's program is just as good as any of the "big-name" schools' programs are- it just comes at a fraction of the price. Another bonus about CSU is, of course, that it's close to home and I've familiarized myself with the program quite nicely. I know the instructors there fairly well, and I have done a lot of research and found that the opera program is very well-respected across the state. I'm not making any commitments yet, of course (I imagine I'll be doing that all the night of April 30th... :P), and I tend to change my mind every two minutes as far as college is concerned, but, at the moment, this is my mindset.

Back in September, I would have jumped instantly when I found out that I was admitted to NYU. And now, though it's fairly painful to let this opportunity slide, I think I'm making a great decision in the long run. And NYU isn't going anywhere. Neither is Miami, or any other opportunity. I've proven to myself now that I can get into both schools and their respective music programs. Transferring is always an option, and so are graduate studies. I've waited 18 years to go to these schools.

Certainly four more won't be too difficult.

The Wonderful World of Colleges and Scholarships

So, I haven't blogged in a while, and I've been pushed by numerous people to do so. Apparently my life is so exciting that if people don't hear about it enough, they get very upset. And I can't have that happening on my watch. So, I'll be sure to keep everyone updated. :D

Really, the main thing discussed in this blog are my college plans. They can be elaborated upon much more in a full blog than in a Facebook status... or even a note. I feel like the blog offers me a greater area of elucidative analysis.

So, anyway, six out of the nine colleges I've applied to have accepted to me, and five of them have offered me significant scholarships.

The contenders:

CSU is in first, having offered me $2000 for academics, $3000 for vocal abilities, and $1000 for joining the honors program. This may not seem like a lot, but since CSU is a state school with a tuition of only about $6500 (according to Cappex.com, at least, excluding room and board), that is very significant. Nearly a full ride. Which is great.

DU is in second, having offered me $17,000 for academics and $10,000 for vocal abilities, making for a very good package. Unfortunately, since DU is in fact a private school and costs a lot more ($35,000 a year, not including room and board), the $27,000 award falls about $8000 short. Granted, it's a great scholarship, but my college fund doesn't quite allow for it.

Coming into third place is DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, which has offered me a whopping $19,000 for academics and an additional $5,000 for vocal abilities. DePauw's tuition, however, is still $33,000, so they're falling short as well.

Rolling on into fourth is Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, which offered me $18,000 for academics. Again, it costs about as much as DePauw, and I didn't actually send them an audition, so they're not very likely. Which is sad, because my beautiful stage wife KT goes there.

At fifth place is St. Olaf College, which only had the decency to offer me a $6500 annual academic award-- hardly enough to make a significant dent in their $35,000 tuition. So they're pretty much out of the running, especially considering I neglected to send them a vocal audition either. (I thought their deadline was January 1, when it was in fact December 15. My bad.)

And in last place is Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, the alma matter of my aunt and both of my grandparents. They've offered me nothing. Those jerks.

At this point, I'm still waiting for admission decisions from NYU, The University of Miami, and the University of the Pacific. My hopes for significant scholarships are, of course, not high from NYU, but I can still have hope, can't I? I should hear from them around April for both academic and music scholarships (if any). I'll probably have a week in all to decide where I'm going.

Right now it's CSU, which actually is not something that I feel bad about. I've had a few family members (who, by the way, are NOT paying my tuition) who have chastised me for sinking as low to go to a state school (GASP!), but I have others (including my immediate family) who are all for CSU, because all in all I've been very impressed by what I've seen of their program and they have, in fact, made me the best offer so far. Plus, Ft. Collins is not too far from home. And if, for some bizarre reason, I do not like it there, I can always transfer my credits someplace else. I, of course, would probably go someplace else to obtain my Masters in Music Performance (I'm still hoping for a big name conservatory-- either Manhattan or the San Francisco Conservatory), but that's four years down the road.

And so, until next time, I bid you adieu, my faithful readers. I wish you the best. When I make my decision, you'll be the first to know. (With, of course, the possible exception of the university itself... and my family... and probably people on Facebook. THEN blog-readers.)

The Tuxedo Post

This has basically been one of the best days of the year so far for me. Granted... there's only been nineteen days this year, but the first weeks back from school were kind of sucky and left me feeling defeated, plus the whole Zodiac scare didn't do much.

Anyway, the big news of today is that NYU apparently liked my prescreening CD I sent in and have invited me to audition on campus. Should I choose to accept this invitation, I'll go over to Manhattan one weekend and audition, and hopefully see a Broadway show while I'm there... maybe. We'll see. :D

I'm not as excited about NYU as I was earlier (I'm probably most likely going to CSU and then hopefully transferring to Manhattan School of Music), but I definitely want to keep my options open, and NYU is still my dream school, because it's freaking NYU. So if I get some sort of excellent offer, then so help me I'm going there.

But that's not the point of this post. What really put the icing on the cake was tonight's Senior Choir Concert. OH MY GOD. IT WAS SO AWESOME.

Everything went right... there was no "Groove Thing" Debacle like last year (though I'm of course not trying to say that last year's Senior Concert was in any was inferior to this year's... they're far too different to be even remotely comparable).

Last year's concert was a lot more traditional. All the choirs were separated, and there was very little movement among the choir as a whole. Sure, we danced and had fun, but it was different. We also ended on a mellower note, Josh Groban's "Thankful," a beautiful and meaningful piece, but not quite an audience-pleaser.

This year we ended with "Don't Stop Believin'," by Journey, to raucous applause. All the risers were placed in one long arch on the stage. There was no real sense of division between the choirs. And there was a heckuva lot more movement. I'm talking full-out dancing. I don't think I've even been in a show (and I've been in Footloose, the premiere dancing show) with such intricate dance moves that, overall, we're performed well by everyone. I would have never guessed that that would have happened, because such a large group of people would be difficult to do more than just a little bit of swaying, right?

Wrong.

Time and time again I am amazed at what this group of students can do. I first noticed it at the first dress rehearsal of Tale of Two Cities, where everyone was put together for the first time and everything just clicked, as if we'd been rehearsing for years. Then I was amazed on Art Day, when we have to maneuver ourselves around hundreds of students and faculty members AS A GROUP, all in the space of a few minutes. And now we managed to pull this off, against all odds. This group is truly miraculous.

Now, as a senior, I have the option to dress up formally for the concert as to contrast against the underclassmen, who are clad in the traditional white shirt and dark pants. I, being the freak about formal clothes that I am, decided to wear my tuxedo with my new emerald green vest. I figured there'd be a few other boys wearing suits, so the fact that I was being obnoxious wearing a tuxedo would blend in well.

Well, I was the only one wearing a tuxedo. A gentleman after the concert told me (and I choose to believe that he was just teasing playfully) that I had overdressed for the occasion.

I don't think I did.

I only get one Senior Concert. After tomorrow night, there will be no more Senior Concerts. No more miraculous dancing to tunes from Glee. Sure, I'll hopefully still be in choral ensembles in college, but there won't be anything like what I've had to offer from the THS choir.

So, I don't think it's possible to overdress for the occasion. There were plenty of girls wearing gowns worthy of prom... they didn't overdress either.

The truth is, when celebrating something as magnificent as this choir, there is nothing that can be done overboard. This choir deserves my utmost, sincere respect. In that regard, I was underdressed. There is no way to wear an outfit worthy of celebration of this magnificent group of people.

But I'm guessing a tuxedo comes close. And I'll be wearing it again tomorrow night. :)

GOAT

AS IF I DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH GOING ON WITH MY LIFE...

After 5,000 years of existence, a professor in Minneapolis (who, for all intensive purposes, has no business meddling in the affairs of other people... like me), has stated that the Zodiac cycle that we have come to know and love is completely false, and that there is an additional sign, Ophiuchus. So, instead of a nice even twelve zodiac constellations, there's thirteen, adding everything into the mix.

Now, I'm no big Zodiac freak, but I've always been an Aquarius. Now I'm a Capricorn.

Capricorn... is a goat.

CAPRICORN IS A GOAT.

WHAT.

No, no, you're not telling me that I went from water bearer (which was already a fairly lame zodiac sign to be born with) to... A GOAT.

GOAT.

GOAT.

GOAT.

NO.

I can't be a goat. Goats are lame. Do people go around getting tattoos of goats? No. The majority of people with zodiac tattoos are, I'm guessing, not Capricorns.

This has thrown me way off. I don't even know what to say. It's beyond ridiculous. I always thought I was lucky enough to be an Aquarius, who narrowly escaped being a goat.

Now I have to wait another 5,000 years for another professor to discover the 14th zodiac constellation, which will maybe put me around Sagittarius. The centaur. That's a little less lame than a goat.

I'm already the rooster in the Chinese Zodiac... now I'm a goat in the star zodiac. What's next? My social security number? I'm in the process of applying to college. What if everything changes. WHAT IF THE ENTIRE WORLD AS I KNOW IT COLLAPSES AROUND ME? If the Zodiac can change on a dime like this, then nothing is for certain. I could wake up tomorrow to discover I'm purple.

And the icing on the cake is that I have my Lit Oral tomorrow and I should be studying for that but instead I'm sitting here reading up on the Zodiac and making sarcastic remarks about it in a blog.

GAH.

2011 Update

First off, I LOVE CHRISTA SO MUCH BECAUSE WE ARE BEST FRIENDS WHO NEVER GO ON DATES.

Secondly, I haven't posted in a while because 1) I was on Christmas break and tried to just sleep most of the time and 2) Since break has ended, I haven't had a moment to myself. But for the sake of my readers, I will make a quick post to let you know how life has been going in the life of Eric.

As far as colleges go, I have applied to nine universities (my parents are annoyed) and, of those nine, I have received three acceptances (no, I haven't received six rejections. :P) I have been accepted to Colorado State University, Luther College (IA), and DePauw University (IN), all with fairly significant academic scholarships. I'm supposed to hear from the University of Miami by January 15. Let's all cross our fingers. I've actually been looking into Miami's Vocal Performance program, and I really like it. Also, it's one of two places I have applied where snow virtually doesn't exist, which is also nice. Perhaps now is the time when I'm most motivated to go someplace like Miami. But I've also been very impressed with DePauw's music program-- when I went to the Classical Singer Convention/Competition in NYC last summer, I had a master class with their classical vocal teacher, and she was really awesome.

Anyway, yeah. I've sent recorded auditions to Miami and NYU (actually, New York was a prescreening... if they like me enough to invite me to audition, I might have to talk my parents in letting me go there for a live audition.) I'm auditioning at CSU sometime in February, and I have plans to audition at DU as soon as possible (especially since they removed me from their Early Action application because, apparently, since I signed up to the music school, the audition is part of the actual application, and I won't even get in until I send that in.) I'm auditioning for DePauw on March 6-7 (live-- I'm actually really excited), and I'm probably going to send recorded auditions to Luther and Capital University. I'm not sure about University of the Pacific or St. Olaf yet-- I'll have to see where that leads me.

But school itself has been keeping me busy. I've been working on my G4 Project for science. We're examining the voltage of electrolytes in sports drinks and then assessing their effectiveness on slowing heart-rate while exercising... I know it sounds very exciting. And then I have my Lit Oral Examination (yes, it's a funny name) this Friday, for which I feel reasonably prepared.

In a more positive note, the THS Senior Choir Concert is next week, and I'm singing a solo with my friend Kiani (who, for the record, is awesome) on the final night of the concert, for which I'm very excited. I finally have my entire outfit ready... I'm going all out and wearing a tux with a green vest, then switching into a royal blue vest for my performances with Select and VJ. (It's January 19-20 at 7pm... and it's free. :D) Then we go directly into our choir musical, which is confirmed to be Chess (it's a Cold War musical... I'm very excited), and the same week I audition for that, I will audition for Sound of Music at NYT, which (assuming I get in) will be my last show there, which is endlessly sad for me, because I only have done two other shows there before, because I was lame and only did school stuff until last year.

Did I mention that I was accepted into the Colorado All-State Choir earlier in my blog? Well, if you haven't heard, I did, and I'm very excited. I'm singing Bass 2 (really low) in the Men's Chorus, and I've been working hard on memorizing the songs on top of every-bloody-thing else I have to do.

So it's understandable that I haven't blogged in a while. :)