Elisasunshine2013's Blog

Juries Are Coming!!!

elisasunshine2013 — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 01:34:33 +0000

So I just received my English song for juries right before Thanksgiving break, and am just now realizing how complicated it really is; Jake Heggie is a little sneaker with his rhythms, which is unfortunate for me at the moment because I have a week to learn it, memorize it, and get it performance ready. Fantastic.

I have most of it learned, but there are a few entrances that I miss every once in a while, and I’m afraid that I won’t have enough time to learn it by the end of the week…oh well…

That’s all for now!

Oops again…

elisasunshine2013 — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 01:05:35 +0000

So maybe I have not been the most attentive to this poor practice blog, but no fear! I have returned!

Over Thanksgiving break, I had a little practice session by myself in my echoey house in the middle of the day that was glorious. Well I guess I wasn’t alone; when I started singing high F’s and above, one of my two twerpy dogs began adding his own sound to the mix. Granted, it was a doggy wail (aka howling), but we were musicking nonetheless. He didn’t break eye contact with me as we danced around the kitchen, pausing during exceptionally long notes and seeing who would tire first; naturally, I beat him (take that, Reggie!), what with my classical training and all It was one of the funnest practice sessions I’ve had, and helped calm my nerves slightly about juries because I had more parts of my songs memorized than I initially thought.

Love you, Reggie! Keep up with the wailing!

That’s all for now!

Ying Quartet

elisasunshine2013 — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:48:16 +0000

So last week, on Monday, I found myself sitting in the audience of the Ying Quartet Recital. It had been a long day, but the demands of music school recital attendance were nagging at my conscience. I was not looking forward to another recital, especially since I felt so exhausted that I wouldn’t even be prepared to enjoy the music! I was NOT in a listening mood, I was in a let-me-sleep mood. Looking at the program, and seeing the words “Intermission”, nearly made me faint.Fantastic. Since classical music occasionally makes the best music to fall asleep to, I was slightly nervous about falling asleep in public. I kept telling myself to just power through it, and I would give myself the coveted prize of sleep afterward.

However, I did not need to give myself a pep talk the second the Ying Quartet walked onstage. They were so composed, and professional without being stiff and haughty. As soon as they began playing, I was swept away in the cadence of the music, infused with their individual interpretations that combined to create such an awesome sound! I fell in love. They were playing common classical music, but I was so enamored by their performance that I could not wait to hear the rest of the recital!

It was not only the music that caught me; I loved the fact that in their programs, they not only gave their own biography, but explained all of the songs and their importance in the recital and to the quartet. One of the songs was composed especially for them (if I remember correctly), and this song blew me away. It was titled “New Atlantis”, and was arranged for string quartet. However, it had some fancy shmancy prerecorded sounds (of water and random notes to accentuate the quartet), and pertained to New Orleans or something to do with all of the hurricanes. There was one part where there was a faint echo of a New Prleans Parade theme before it was drowned by the sound of the water and the quartet. I was transported, however, not to New Orleans, but to the era when the Titanic sank; all I could think about was that huge ship and the underwater footage that history channels occasionally show pertaining to its final resting place at the bottom of the ocean.

All in all, I loved the Ying Quartet! The way they spoke when describing the new piece, and their strong and successful attempts to connect to the audience and allow them to be immersed completely in their music astounded me. I understood completely why they are in such high demand internationally!

Barbarina??

elisasunshine2013 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:21:35 +0000

So last night I had studio (shocking, I know!), with only 3 of us present. I was not very thrilled to be forced to sing 2 songs from memory in front of my peers, but I sucked it up and got up in front by the piano and just sang. IT WAS GLORIOUS! I thought I would clam up and freeze, forgetting my songs and the crucial skills of how to sing, basically. However, I did the opposite: I used the character in the song as my connection to everythign musical and musicking, and my audience was stunned silent. Literally. After I had finished singing “Batti, Batti” (which is a long Mozart aria from Don Giovanni), my professor and fellow students just sat in silence for a few seconds and stared at me. Now, this was slightly unsettling for me, because I thought I had done a pretty good job; hell, I shocked myself. I thought they would have some comments or something for me, so I was scared that I had messed up or made a fool of myself. However, the first words out of my professor’s mouth after I had finished was “Wow, the girls cast as Barbarina were incredibly lucky you were sick during opera auditions this year!”

……..

I DID SOMETHING RIGHT!!!

This was a big deal to me, because I have never thought of myself as good since I arrived on campus, but this event gave me hope; I’m not just another vocal performance student, and maybe I really do have a shot at making a career out of performance! This was a break-through, because recently I have been trying to figure out my “back-up” career, counting on the fact that I would fail in the performance world, However, now I realize where hard work really does come in to help; I have the ability to succeed, I just need to make sure my mind’s in the game along with my body!

Now, I did not do everything perfect, and I received some helpful comments to improve my performance, but seeing the shock on their faces reminded me of two important things: one, people do not expect great things out of me, because their first impressions of me was the sick girl who can’t song to save her life. This is a good thing, because the only pressure I feel right now is from myself, not from everyone else; I don’t need to worry about maintaining a reputation, because mine started at rock bottom, and the only way to go from here is up! Second, I have a gift, and I need to pursue it!

Finally, I can do what I came here to do: perform!

That’s all for now!

Back to Blogging!

elisasunshine2013 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:12:12 +0000

So I know I have been negligent of my poor practice blog, but I’m back!!

Lately, I’ve been finding myself spending more and more time in the practice room, going through the motions of my vocal songs rather than piano; it seems tobe a theme that either piano or voice gets the short end of the stick, and this week it’s been piano. However, I have learned some important things about myelf during these practice sessions: one, I can actually do it by myself! two, I actually try and pay attention to what my professor has been telling me instead of just simply going through the motions for the sake if it, and three, I actually enjoy it more than I initially thought I would! Oh, the joys of practicing…

Also, I’ve discovered that I am a pretty quick learner where new music is concerned, as my coach has repeatedly informed me; I never knew I could pick up pieces so quickly! When I first arrived at DePauw, I believed that I was behind everyone else, although this might have had something to do with my being sick for the first 3 weeks of school, which was possibly the worst timing in my whole life. Fantastic…

Anyways, I’m back on the practicing circuit, so more blogs to come!

That’s all for now!

Insomniac Theatre!

elisasunshine2013 — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:01:41 +0000

So I know this has nothing to do with music, but it was a performing experience and I’d really love to talk about it…

This Saturday I performed in Insomniac, which is an event here at Depauw that spans 24 hours. In this short amount of time, participants write, direct, and act one-act plays, which might sound simple to the average person. But, my friends, it was anything but! The auditions for actors came first on Friday nightn, and the directors the proceeded to fight over who would be in who’s play. Then, the writing part came in; all through the night, the writers stayed up, trying to perfect their plays and simply come up with an idea. Next, the actors arrived promptly at 8 in the morning Saturday, and were handed their scripts and went off with their directors and fellow castmates. Next, the rehearsal process began, lasting most of the day, excluding lunch breaks, of course. The performance occurred at 7:30 on Saturday in Kerr Theatre.

Personally, this experience was so much fun! At first, I was a little concerned when I read through my script and discovered what the play was about; I learned that I had to rap in front of an audience, which is something I wouldn’t even do in the privacy of my own room! It doesn’t take a genius to see that I’m possibly one of the whitest kids on campus. Second, I learned that I had to grind on my costar, which, again, is not exactly in my personality description; I save dancing for when I am in the safety of a huge crowd of people, and no one really can see what my body is attempting.

As the day progressed, I learned that I didn’t really care what people were going to think of me; I put all of my fears aside, and decided to try and embody my crazy character to the best of my abilities! Maybe it was due to the sleep I sacrificed the night before in the name of socialization, or maybe I finally understood what it meant to truly act. Either way, Elisa Sunshine took the day off, and Rain took her place (the directors thought it was hilarious that I was playing someone with such an opposite name; again, they were sleep-deprived too). I had such a blast during the experience, and made some great friendships, even strengthened others! I’m so glad I was cast with my best guy friend, because otherwise the play would have been immensely awkward with a stranger as my costar. The audience loved loved LOVED our play!!! People keep coming up to me and saying how much they enjoyed it, how funny it was, how awesome my friend and I were…we were told on several occasions that our play was the best, thanks to our crazy writers/directors and our crazy selves. We were interviewed for the DePauw tv station, and asked to be interviewed for the newspaper.

I’m so glad I decided to do this, because I really needed to be reminded about my talents; I had forgotten about how much I lover performing, and all of this positive feedback really helped me remember what makes me ME!

That’s all for now!

Bad Music Student…

elisasunshine2013 — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:49:08 +0000

So I haven’t been keeping up with my personal blogs like I should be, but I’ve been having so many issues with my voice lately that I haven’t really wanted to reflect on my practice sessions, which have been fewer and fewer since my throat ruptured…Anyways, I’m getting better at piano, but feel like I’m getting worse at singing; something needs to change, and change soon!

I’ll see what I can do…I’m going to a voice doctor in a few weeks over Thanksgiving break, so we shall see what happens…oh the joys of science and biology…

That’s all for now!

Oops…

elisasunshine2013 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:49:28 +0000

So, I have completely forgotten about blogging for the past two weeks, since science has rendered me incapable of singing until the two holes in my narrow-but-recently-widened esophagus heal well enough to join the rest of the world in eating normal food again and sending my diet of mashed potatoes (which are completely absent from the menu at DePauw) and yogurt (which is disgusting; who wants to eat living, thriving bacteria consciously?!) to the depths of hell from whence it came. As well as all of the drugs the mean doctors put me on to prevent me from choking again…the nerve…

But anyways, I had to miss NATS, the singing competition that takes DePauw singers by storm. It was good and sucky at the same time. It was fantastic.

Thank you, miracles of science.

FALL BREAK!!!!!

elisasunshine2013 — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:36:37 +0000

It’s almost here! One more meeting, two more midterms, and a plane ride away!!!

I can’t wait to go back home to familiarity, and consistency, and health (hopefully)! I look forward to a week of remedial music training and learning all of the concepts I’ve been putting off for weeks…and to going back to piano! Yay working fingers! Hopefully they start loosening up this weekend so I can practice my butt off at home…

I’m so glad we have a grand piano in the living room, because it has great acoustics and lighting, and both of my parents work during the day so I have it all to myself. It is the largest room in the house, so I look forward to open space while practicing, and colored walls, and plants, and sun! Oh, California…how I have missed thee…

That’s all for now!

How is That Possible??

elisasunshine2013 — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:00:33 +0000

How can one weekend be both the best since college began and the worst ever? Well, I’ll tell you how…first with the good: home cooked meals, loving families, prancing puppies, guitar gods, dramatic younger siblings, and quality time with the girls. Add in a stolen phone (mine, of course), a drippy nose, and a sore throat that would put the patron saint of health out of commission for a year and you have the perfect recipe.

I’m really starting to get annoyed that I can never sing. Every time I start to get better, I get sick again. WHAT THE HELL?!?! I NEED TO SING IF I WANT TO BE A VOCAL PERFORMANCE MAJOR!!!!!

I had to fake singing in the choir concert today, which totally sucked because we will never sing those songs again and I’m obsessed with them! The only song I sang (or rather rasped) was the 8-part Women’s Choir song, because one part consisted of one other girl and myself. It was quite painful, and I had to feed a lot of air through my chords to keep the sound coming, but I survived. I seriously hope I didn’t ruin anything…my chords have never felt so raw, swollen, and painful before. I experienced a slight burning sensation, which I know can’t be good. God help me! I need to sing!

I feel like a complaining diva, because I’m always sick. I’m sure the other kids think I exaggerate and am always complaining, but I’m really starting to freak out. This isn’t normal for me. At all.

Words cannot express how frustrated I am, so…

That’s all for now!