Hello all!
I have created this blog so that all family and friends can read about my adventures while I am in Deutschland (Germany). For those of you who don't know, I am travelling to Germany to take part in an Opera Study/Audition Workshop, to further my career and hone my craft as an operatic artist! I will be flying into Frankfurt with Sam, my colleague and fellow soprano, and we will be travelling first to Berlin for a couple days, then to Munich, where we will be based until August 1st. In between, we will be making some day trips, one of which will be to visit Salzburg for the day, with the opportunity to visit the home where Mozart and his wife Constanze lived. My friends and family know that my favourite composer and music idol is Mozart. This trip to his home has been a much anticipated life experience and I can't believe it will be taking place in the next month!
This program I am attending is called Bel Canto Singing and will include voice lessons, masterclasses, coachings, acting classes, German language classes, audition training, the opportunity to attend numerous performances at The Bavarian State Opera (Bayerische Staatsoper), as well as day tours. The program accepts only 12 singers, and I am fortunate to be one of them. For more info on the program, here is the link:
http://www.belcantosinging.com/index.php?p=1_9
My own mentor and voice teacher, Kimberly Barber, is among the faculty, and she put the idea forward for me to audition for this program. My interest in voice study in Germany was sparked by a colleague I worked with in my Opera Diploma year, who lives and works as a singer in Berlin. When I heard that Kim would be an instructor at this program, I knew it was a sign that this was my year to travel to Germany.
I've known I was attending the program since October of 2012, so to think that I will actually be in Germany in 9 days time is surreal. My goal is to write as much as I can while I am physically in Germany and while the experiences are fresh. I hope you will enjoy reading them because I look forward to sharing them with you! I'm hope be writing more in the days leading up to my travel, but as many of you know, travel prep can be quite overwhelming, so bear with me if I don't!
Bis später (until later),
Stephanie
