So I should be sleeping right now, but alas I am not. Tomorrow I have to get up at 6 (for the last time!) and go be with middle schoolers at a choir festival for half the day. More importantly though, tomorrow is MOVING day. I cannot tell you how excited I am to return to civilization.
I was thinking earlier today how exactly 3 weeks from now, I will be in the beautiful (well, so I hear) city of Bath, England. Such a contrast from the hectic middle school atmosphere.
Even though I am moving home tomorrow, this is still going to be a busy weekend. I have my last rehearsal with my Saturday students before their showcase (1 week from Sunday!), and I am playing piano for North Carolina Theatre's Sound of Music auditions.
Wow. One hour left of April. School is over. I am a graduate of Campbell University. I don't know what life has in store for me beyond the next few weeks. Life is good.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
The travel bug bites and doesn't let go.
Graduation is 2 weeks from today. I finish up my student teaching coming up this week, finishing out my bachelor's degree. Time goes by so quickly.
As I look back on the last 4 years, I realize how I have really found my passion and what I am supposed to do. As a freshman 4 years ago, I thought I wanted to be a piano teacher. That option quickly went away in my mind as I began getting students, so I switched to Music Education. Don't get my wrong, education is great and it is the degree I will graduate with, but that's not where my heart is.
The summer after my freshman year, a small theatre in Smithfield, NC needed an accompanist for Sondheim's Putting It Together. I had had my share of watching and enjoying theatre growing up, but I never even considered it as a career option. As soon as that first painful, demanding rehearsal was over (it is Sondheim, after all...the god of musical theatre), I knew this is what I wanted from life. Beyond that show I began playing for all the productions at Campbell University and at small theatres/high schools. Last summer, before my senior year, I had an opportunity for an internship at North Carolina Theatre on a production of Peter Pan. I am SO grateful for that experience and all the amazing people that came into my life from that moment on. Since then, I have had the amazing opportunity to be a part of such a talented, artistic community working alongside and under the direction of some truly amazing and established people in musical theatre. This is where I am supposed to be.
Beyond graduation, I do not know what life has in store. I will be music directing a show in the fall in Raleigh. Me. MUSIC DIRECTOR. I will discuss that more when everything with that has been settled and set in stone. I will continue to work at the North Carolina Theatre Conservatory for some summer programs including a production of the amazing musical, Bat Boy, along with continuing to accompany Broadway classes on a regular schedule this fall. Even with all these local opportunities, I feel like I won't be truly where I need to be until I relocate to New York City. My goal is to be moved by the end of 2009.
Speaking of the most amazing city in the world, I will be there coming up immediately after graduation for several days. I cannot wait to see Next to Normal again (which I am currently listening to), along with other shows like Hair, God of Carnage, West Side Story, etc. That city inspires me. It overwhelms me with inspiration. From New York, I will continue my journey over to the great city of London. Yes, England. I will be in England, alone, and even though some people think I am crazy, I look forward to this more than anything just to get away from what I know...to escape familiarity. To be in a culture unknown to me and to just take it in at my own pace.
Even though I am involved neck-deep in such a creative community every day, I feel like my own creativity has been lacking lately. Every day I teach music, I teach vocal techniques, I play piano, I orchestrate, I conduct. None of this requires too much creativity, just knowledge of the music and how it should be performed. I recently had a discussion with my friend about writing a musical, and I have really become serious about it. Even though the first step of picking what it is about has not even been settled, I cannot wait to begin the creative process.
And so life after school begins. Almost.
As I look back on the last 4 years, I realize how I have really found my passion and what I am supposed to do. As a freshman 4 years ago, I thought I wanted to be a piano teacher. That option quickly went away in my mind as I began getting students, so I switched to Music Education. Don't get my wrong, education is great and it is the degree I will graduate with, but that's not where my heart is.
The summer after my freshman year, a small theatre in Smithfield, NC needed an accompanist for Sondheim's Putting It Together. I had had my share of watching and enjoying theatre growing up, but I never even considered it as a career option. As soon as that first painful, demanding rehearsal was over (it is Sondheim, after all...the god of musical theatre), I knew this is what I wanted from life. Beyond that show I began playing for all the productions at Campbell University and at small theatres/high schools. Last summer, before my senior year, I had an opportunity for an internship at North Carolina Theatre on a production of Peter Pan. I am SO grateful for that experience and all the amazing people that came into my life from that moment on. Since then, I have had the amazing opportunity to be a part of such a talented, artistic community working alongside and under the direction of some truly amazing and established people in musical theatre. This is where I am supposed to be.
Beyond graduation, I do not know what life has in store. I will be music directing a show in the fall in Raleigh. Me. MUSIC DIRECTOR. I will discuss that more when everything with that has been settled and set in stone. I will continue to work at the North Carolina Theatre Conservatory for some summer programs including a production of the amazing musical, Bat Boy, along with continuing to accompany Broadway classes on a regular schedule this fall. Even with all these local opportunities, I feel like I won't be truly where I need to be until I relocate to New York City. My goal is to be moved by the end of 2009.
Speaking of the most amazing city in the world, I will be there coming up immediately after graduation for several days. I cannot wait to see Next to Normal again (which I am currently listening to), along with other shows like Hair, God of Carnage, West Side Story, etc. That city inspires me. It overwhelms me with inspiration. From New York, I will continue my journey over to the great city of London. Yes, England. I will be in England, alone, and even though some people think I am crazy, I look forward to this more than anything just to get away from what I know...to escape familiarity. To be in a culture unknown to me and to just take it in at my own pace.
Even though I am involved neck-deep in such a creative community every day, I feel like my own creativity has been lacking lately. Every day I teach music, I teach vocal techniques, I play piano, I orchestrate, I conduct. None of this requires too much creativity, just knowledge of the music and how it should be performed. I recently had a discussion with my friend about writing a musical, and I have really become serious about it. Even though the first step of picking what it is about has not even been settled, I cannot wait to begin the creative process.
And so life after school begins. Almost.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
