Post by gracebawden on Nov 6, 2010 20:28:31 GMT -5
Ok... finally the update you have all been waiting for...
For the past few weeks Ive been traveling to London for 10 days and then Modena, Italy for 4 weeks with my mum, Matilda. We managed day trips to Manchester and traveled through Essex. Then in Italy, we visited the beautiful cities of Verona and Bologna.
Whilst in London, I was able to catch up with a heap of Grobies which was wonderful as we have often chatted on Facebook and FOJG but never met.
Unfortunately, for most of the stay in London, I had a severe sore throat (possibly tonsilitis) so it was hard to enjoy the trip as much as I'd have liked.
We stayed with wonderful friends, Norma and David, who waited on us and extended their best hospitality. Then we met Sue Corbaci from Hawaii (who manages the male and female Classical Crossover Singer's website) and Linda from Arizona, who happened to be in London for Will Martin's concert, which I got to see too. I also met FB buddies Angel, Dean, Val, the sweet Nicola Jarvis (who runs the Classical Crossover UK website), the gorgeous singer Jennifer Douglas and writer/ composer Colin Gordon-Farleigh, whose song "If Only I Had Wings" I was privileged to record recently.
One of my highlights was meeting UK Tenor, Jon Christos.
Then, on my 18th Birthday, we went from London to Rome for my auditions with the Centro Universale del Bel Canto (CUBEC) run by one of Italy's most famous and revered sopranos, Mirella Freni. Freni was often leading lady to Pavarotti.
The day of the audition was grueling and nerve-wracking, but the results came in promptly! I don't think the gravity and enormity of the exercise really hit me until I was listening to the warm-ups of many AMAZING singers.
With no exceptions, all of those we heard sounded magnificent - everyone of them pitch-perfect & you'd have sworn you were at Covent Gardens or La Scala.
The warm-ups were intimidating enough. On the other hand, of some 40 odd Sopranos, all the Sopranos we heard sounded nearly exactly the same. You couldn't guess who was in which rehearsal studio. Comparatively, I didn't sound like any of them.
We met many gorgeous people from Greece, Mexico, Ukraine, France, London and Korea, to name a few.
There were very few Tenors amongst them - about 1 to every 10 Sopranos. I was by far the youngest - by an average 7 years!. Even several of the youngest looking of all the Sopranos were 25+!
Such is the calibre of Mirella Freni's credentials, we later learned that Mirella Freni has in fact taught at La Scala & every 2 yrs is on its entry selection panel - the next being in 2011.
Many auditionees were graduates of Conservatories across some 30 countries, and many have also played lead roles in operas elsewhere. Considering I haven't yet finished high school, I felt privileged to have made it to the live audition.
I was informed that some 2066 applications were received before 99 shortlisted. In the end, I did not make the scholarship as I was considered too young (we are told no Australian had ever passed gained entry!), BUT I was assessed as "FIT FOR ENTRY" into the CUBEC Academy and was ranked #57 out of 99. Thirty six of these were ranked as NOT FIT.
I was extremely happy with my performance and I was thrilled with the result given that this was my first ever audition for such a privileged place in any academy, much less Ms Freni's own, and in Italy of all places.
Soon after the CUBEC audition, I had an audition with the La Scuola Dell' Opera Italiana (SOI) and, although I am still too young for one of SOI's scholarships, they have offered to auspice my studies if we can raise funds to enable me to live in Italy for 9-12 months. This will give me a solid grounding to get into La Scala in due course. The directors of SOI indicated their confidence that I would be suitable for entry into La Scala and for the opera world in general, and described my voice as "colourful" and delivery in the top notes as "easy".
Whilst in Italy, I was able to be in Rome for the Canonization at the Vatican of The Blessed Mary MacKillop, where I met with two of my sponsors which topped off a wonderful experience in Italy. It was truly amazing to be present at such an inspiring moment in Australia's history.
Our quest now is to raise funds through investment or sponsorships to ensure that I can get the higher-level professional training I need.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS IN SOME WAY GREAT OR SMALL FOLLOWED MY PROGRESS AND OFFERED THEIR SUPPORT.
Love and best to you all
Grace x
For the past few weeks Ive been traveling to London for 10 days and then Modena, Italy for 4 weeks with my mum, Matilda. We managed day trips to Manchester and traveled through Essex. Then in Italy, we visited the beautiful cities of Verona and Bologna.
Whilst in London, I was able to catch up with a heap of Grobies which was wonderful as we have often chatted on Facebook and FOJG but never met.
Unfortunately, for most of the stay in London, I had a severe sore throat (possibly tonsilitis) so it was hard to enjoy the trip as much as I'd have liked.
We stayed with wonderful friends, Norma and David, who waited on us and extended their best hospitality. Then we met Sue Corbaci from Hawaii (who manages the male and female Classical Crossover Singer's website) and Linda from Arizona, who happened to be in London for Will Martin's concert, which I got to see too. I also met FB buddies Angel, Dean, Val, the sweet Nicola Jarvis (who runs the Classical Crossover UK website), the gorgeous singer Jennifer Douglas and writer/ composer Colin Gordon-Farleigh, whose song "If Only I Had Wings" I was privileged to record recently.
One of my highlights was meeting UK Tenor, Jon Christos.
Then, on my 18th Birthday, we went from London to Rome for my auditions with the Centro Universale del Bel Canto (CUBEC) run by one of Italy's most famous and revered sopranos, Mirella Freni. Freni was often leading lady to Pavarotti.
The day of the audition was grueling and nerve-wracking, but the results came in promptly! I don't think the gravity and enormity of the exercise really hit me until I was listening to the warm-ups of many AMAZING singers.
With no exceptions, all of those we heard sounded magnificent - everyone of them pitch-perfect & you'd have sworn you were at Covent Gardens or La Scala.
The warm-ups were intimidating enough. On the other hand, of some 40 odd Sopranos, all the Sopranos we heard sounded nearly exactly the same. You couldn't guess who was in which rehearsal studio. Comparatively, I didn't sound like any of them.
We met many gorgeous people from Greece, Mexico, Ukraine, France, London and Korea, to name a few.
There were very few Tenors amongst them - about 1 to every 10 Sopranos. I was by far the youngest - by an average 7 years!. Even several of the youngest looking of all the Sopranos were 25+!
Such is the calibre of Mirella Freni's credentials, we later learned that Mirella Freni has in fact taught at La Scala & every 2 yrs is on its entry selection panel - the next being in 2011.
Many auditionees were graduates of Conservatories across some 30 countries, and many have also played lead roles in operas elsewhere. Considering I haven't yet finished high school, I felt privileged to have made it to the live audition.
I was informed that some 2066 applications were received before 99 shortlisted. In the end, I did not make the scholarship as I was considered too young (we are told no Australian had ever passed gained entry!), BUT I was assessed as "FIT FOR ENTRY" into the CUBEC Academy and was ranked #57 out of 99. Thirty six of these were ranked as NOT FIT.
I was extremely happy with my performance and I was thrilled with the result given that this was my first ever audition for such a privileged place in any academy, much less Ms Freni's own, and in Italy of all places.
Soon after the CUBEC audition, I had an audition with the La Scuola Dell' Opera Italiana (SOI) and, although I am still too young for one of SOI's scholarships, they have offered to auspice my studies if we can raise funds to enable me to live in Italy for 9-12 months. This will give me a solid grounding to get into La Scala in due course. The directors of SOI indicated their confidence that I would be suitable for entry into La Scala and for the opera world in general, and described my voice as "colourful" and delivery in the top notes as "easy".
Whilst in Italy, I was able to be in Rome for the Canonization at the Vatican of The Blessed Mary MacKillop, where I met with two of my sponsors which topped off a wonderful experience in Italy. It was truly amazing to be present at such an inspiring moment in Australia's history.
Our quest now is to raise funds through investment or sponsorships to ensure that I can get the higher-level professional training I need.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS IN SOME WAY GREAT OR SMALL FOLLOWED MY PROGRESS AND OFFERED THEIR SUPPORT.
Love and best to you all
Grace x