A Little Girl Who Loved Opera...

So, I’m a little strange. Not many people know from an early age what they want to be when they grow up, much less end up accomplishing it. But I guess I’m an exception. From the grand old age of five, I had decided I was going to be an opera singer. 

I remember, with a twinge of embarrassment, little five year old me telling my mom I wanted my 6th birthday party to be opera themed and to have all my friends come dressed as their favorite opera singers (I assumed that every six year old had one, apparently). Well, I had that birthday party, and darned if I didn’t somehow get all those poor little girls to dress up as characters they knew absolutely nothing about while I insisted on changing my own costume twice throughout the course of the day because I couldn’t decide on just one opera character to be for the day. My mom, always a good sport, put on a fancy black dress and feather boa to become the Lustige Witwe, and my dad (who is notorious in our family for dodging all costumed events after having a scarring Christmas Tree costume incident in the late ‘80s) even donned a clown nose to be Pagliacci. I’ll never forget that birthday party, not only because my family and friends will never LET me forget it, but also because it was one of the most fun parties I can remember. I know that just speaks volumes of my popularity in college ,but oh well... the secret is out. I wasn’t a partier. Hard to believe, I know. And you were already imagining me as the wild and exotic type. So sorry to disappoint.

The more I recall my childhood memories, the more I realize just how strange I was... Am.... Whatever. I mean, what six year old do you know that tears up listening to Signore, Ascolta? What six year old do you know who actually even knows what Signore, Ascolta is, for that matter? And what six year old do you know that would rather watch an opera than the Disney channel? Well, to be honest, I wasn’t even allowed to watch the Disney channel... maybe that added to the weirdness. Anyway, I guess I was a morose little kid, but who could blame me when I spent all day rehearsing death scenes. I am, and always have been, a deep thinker (to a fault more often than not), and opera just seemed to speak to me as nothing else could. Opera is deep, intricate, and heartfelt. Opera makes beautiful art out of life’s darkest situations, and somehow, a little melancholy girl who really hadn’t experienced any of those dark situations herself but sensed and felt them deeply, grasped on to it and was enthralled. 

Now, I could go on and on with stories from my less than typical childhood, I could even go into the fact that for a couple years before my opera obsession, I was convinced I was going to be a professional clown (and dressed accordingly), but I think I’ll save the other stories for another entry. The bottom line is I was not your average kid. I was always dramatic, always in costume, in short, I was a ham. And what better place for a ham to end up than on stage... Now all I can think of is that scene from “To Kill a Mockingbird” when the little girl is dressed up in a ham costume. I never understood how they decided on a ham costume of all things or why ham was really pertinent to the storyline. If somebody reads this and has an answer feel free to enlighten me. Ok, sorry, rabbit trail. Bottom line, I was always a ham and I’m still a ham because almost 20 years later, I ended up an opera singer after all. 

God’s plan for my life took me on some pretty crazy twists and turns before I got to this point. For a while I was a competitive dancer, and after that I thought about studying law or politics, for a while I didn’t even really want to go to college, and for a while I wanted to change my major to Jewish Studies until my college voice teacher locked me in her office and talked some sense into me. I was always meant to be an opera singer, so she told me,  and I can clearly see that now. But in the midst of those late teen/early adulthood years, everything seemed misty and foggy, like one of those days when you can barely see ten feet in front of you to drive. Life seems to pull you in a million different directions and offer you a million different possibilities, so its easy to lose sight of what God has been leading you toward all along.Well, my sophomore year of college I got serious about music. I had finally made the conscious decision that this was what I wanted to do and what I was meant to be and I had to be committed to it. Everyone who has studied music in college knows that it’s way too hard and time consuming to be anything but 150% in. Anyway, now I’m a senior  getting ready to move on to grad school in the next year. Though my professional operatic endeavors have only earned me a grand total of $194 so far, I’m pretty darn proud of that $194. I’m excited about what the future holds, and if my passion for singing opera has anything to do with how well I’ll do in it, I think I might do pretty well. 

I hope this blog which relates my various musical adventures will help explain why I am the way I am through these stories from my hilariously dysfunctional childhood. I hope it will also prove entertaining (and maybe enlightening?)  for you all.  Stay tuned for the next entry!

                                        (I'm the one in the middle with the rose in my hair)