Entries in opera america (10)

Monday
Feb012010

master class with harolyn blackwell 

on january 13, 2010, opera america had the good fortune to have celebrated soprano harolyn blackwell teach a master class as part of our making connections series. she's not only a wonderful singer and actress, she's a terrific teacher, too. here are the photos of her teaching four young artists: courtney mckeown, michelle trovato, sarah davis, and james benjamin rodgers.

you can see the rest of my photos here.

k

Wednesday
Dec092009

what's going on

hello, all! apologies for falling off the radar for the past couple of weeks. some traveling and a busy work/personal schedule combined with the holidays have made me fall behind here. not to worry, though. i have lots of fun things to report and pictures to share.

i had a lovely thanksgiving with my family at my sister's new house in saratoga, ny. i'm so proud of her for buying her first house! it's adorable! unfortunately, i didn't take any pictures while i was there, but i will over christmas. my roommate and i also went on a quick weekend trip to boston to do some christmas shopping. it was so nice to get away and leave everything in nyc behind for a couple of days. sadly, i don't have any pictures of this trip either. even though i did lug my camera all the way there, it was too hard to carry it with my arms full of shopping bags :)

in opera america news, i just finished a brand-new publication that we've been planning for a long time. i'm really pleased with how it turned out. check it out!



a quick reminder - if you would like to order prints for holiday gifts, please do so by this friday, december 11th in order to ensure delivery by christmas.

i'll leave you with this completely untouched photo i took of the empire state building from my office window the other night. the sky was perfect.

happy holidays!

k

Monday
Nov232009

train ride

last weekend was the nea opera honors in washington, dc. and while i don't have any pictures from the event itself, i do have pictures from the train ride home. we rode in the last car and my friend megan was so kind as to point out the delicious light that was happening out the back window of the train. so i went back there several times with my camera as the light changed. at one point the conductor even opened the door for me so that i could have a clear shot (probably not the smartest move, but nice nonetheless). but my favorites are the ones that i took through the filthy window - i like the ttv effect and the lone handprint on the glass.

oh, and i did hang out with brian stokes mitchell, one of the presenters of the event. super nice guy. and i also spent some time chatting with composer and honoree john adams, who is just about the coolest person i've ever met.

k

Monday
Nov092009

what's going on

hi faithful blog readers!

i apologize for the recent lack of updates...i've had a crazy couple of weeks and the crazy just keeps coming. i wrote a little while back about how awesome it was to be at game six of the alcs when the yankees won.  little did i know at the time that i would be at the world series game 6 when the yankees WON. it was crazy and amazing and i will have a huge post about it soon.

i also finally saw the world premiere of the dessner brothers' the long count at bam last week and it was incredible. gorgeous music and imagery, an amazing orchestra, and guest appearances by shara worden, the deal sisters, and matt berninger..,you can't go wrong. i saw sufjan stevens in the lobby before the performance (swoon) and then as i was walking out, i realized i was walking right next to lou reed and laurie anderson. by the time i realized that it was lou's leather jacket that was rubbing against my hand, i got so excited that i fell down the stairs in front of them. awesome.

i went back to my old stomping grounds in d.c. last weekend for the wedding of two very dear friends. it was such a blast to see so many old friends in one place at one time and it was a wonderful wedding. that's me with the beautiful bride shannon above. i wish you guys all the best!!!

it's also been a very busy time at work...next weekend i'll be back in d.c. for a whirlwind trip for the nea opera honors event and the opera america board meeting. last year at the nea opera honors, the amazing and legendary leontyne price was honored. i was too nervous to even speak to her, so i had a colleague take a photo of me standing near her. here it is :)

thanks again to those of you who have bought my artwork. if you're thinking about ordering prints for holiday gifts, please order earlier rather than later. it takes two weeks for me to order the prints and then send them to you, so if you would like one in time for the holidays, please order by december 10.

stay tuned for posts about the yankees game and the rest of the awesome bands i saw at nyctaper's cmj showcase. as always, thanks for reading!

k

Wednesday
Oct212009

lauren flanigan saves the day!!!!!!

on october 14, opera america had its first master class of the year as part of our making connections series. it was supposed to be led by soprano dawn upshaw who unfortunately fell ill and couldn't make it. at the very last minute, lauren flanigan literally saved the day when after a long day of rehearsal for new york city opera's production of esther, lauren came to our office and led a master class that was AMAZING.  she spent at least 45 minutes which each of the wonderful singers (jonathan g. michie, elizabeth pojanowski, jorell williams, and andrea arias-martin) and it was fascinating to watch her teach them.

we are so very grateful to lauren for being such a great friend to opera america.

k

Wednesday
Oct072009

stewart wallace and the bonesetter's daughter - 9.16.09

on wednesday, september 16, the composer stewart wallace and three excellent singers came to opera america to perform excerpts from his opera (with a libretto by amy tan) the bonesetter's daughter. it was a mesmerizing performance that included beautiful singing and some traditional chinese opera. mr. wallace also sang one of the roles which was an unexpected treat. the bonesetter's daughter premiered at san francisco opera last season. here are the photos.

we are so lucky to have these performances in our office! and the amazing dawn upshaw will be here next week to teach a master class.  I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

k

Friday
Oct022009

making connections: audition advice for singers - 9.30.09 

on wednesday, opera america hosted one of its making connections series events in our office and it featured the amazing mezzo-soprano joyce didonato (!) and two very big names in the opera business, gayletha nichols, director of the metropolitan opera national council auditions, and bill palant, vice president and artist manager of img artists. the panel discussion was moderated by our very own jonah nigh.  it was a great discussion and a wonderful opportunity for the many young singers in the audience to hear important audition advice from the most qualified people to give it.

go and see ms. didonato as rosina in the met's barbiere di siviglia - it opens on saturday!

k

Wednesday
Sep302009

robert orth sings the work of daron hagen - 3.18.09

on march 18, the wonderful baritone robert orth came to the opera america office to sing excerpts from the composer daron hagen's work shining brow. it was another exciting performance in our ongoing salon series. here are a few photos of this talented pair.

it was another really special night at oa.

k

Tuesday
Sep082009

what's going on

happy tuesday, everyone!

i just wanted to take a minute and thank everyone who has been reading my blog. i’m still trying to find the right voice and picture/story and personal/work balance, so i appreciate you all hanging in there while i figure it out.

recently, several people have inquired about purchasing my work.  perhaps it isn’t clear (my fault!) but not only is my site a blog – it’s also a portfolio of my work and you can actually buy prints right off the site. all of my collages have paypal links and some of my photographs do. if you are interested in purchasing a photograph that doesn’t have a paypal link, simply send me a message and i’ll add it so that you can buy it from the site. i’m not quite finished with the portfolio sections of my site and the paypal links are the last thing left to do. i promise that it will be finished soon. many thanks to all who have purchased my work.  i can’t tell you what a huge compliment it is and how touched i am.

anyway......

i apologize for the recent lack of posts – this is my busiest time of year at work. i just approved the proof for OPERA America’s Making Connections series brochure…if you’re in nyc and an opera fan/artist, you should definitely come and check out our events.  dawn upshaw, harolyn blackwell, bill burden, joyce didonato, john conklin, darren k. woods, and martina arroyo are all scheduled in this year’s amazing lineup (i am so exited to take pictures of these opera legends!) and that’s not even everyone! you can see the whole schedule here.  i also just put the finishing touches on the fall education-focused issue of Opera America magazine and am about to start on a brand new oa publication which is going to be a really big endeavor but also a really exciting project. more on that to come soon.

i’m also working on a super awesome freelance project.  my college roommate and dear friend nikki is opening a vintage clothing store in buffalo and has asked me to create the marketing materials, package design, and signage.  this project is AWESOME. It is really so different from anything that i’ve ever done before and i’m having a blast trying out new ideas and stretching my creativity.  here’s a sneak peak at the front of the business card. stay tuned for the rest!

i’ve also been keeping busy in my personal life.  two weekends ago, i had guests in from out of town and we went to spike lee’s michael jackson birthday party in prospect park which was incredible – there were so many different types of people dancing and singing and celebrating together. and then my roommate and i threw our own michael jackson pajama party that night. it was so much fun. here’s a picture from the party taken by my super talented friend, marisa. there is a story behind the dustbuster…i’ll share that someday.

then this past weekend, my roommate lisa and i decided to abandon the city for a well-deserved long weekend in cape cod. everything about it was perfect and i’ll be posting pictures and stories from the trip soon.  tomorrow night i am headed to the miller theater at columbia university for a concert by nico muhly, sam amidon, and doveman as part of one of my favorite things in new york, the wordless music series. if you haven’t heard of any of these artists (or the wordless music series, for that matter) start googling now. they are all such incredibly talented musicians. this weekend my brunch group (most of whom are pictured below) is celebrating september birthdays (three out of eight of us – including me – were born in september).

sunday is another of my favorite new york activities, the brooklyn book festival. here are a couple of pictures that i took at the festival a couple of years ago of some of my all-time favorite writers, chuck klosterman, rob sheffield and ed park with a crazy woman who just walked up onto the stage and started eating dollar bills that she pulled from her sock. brooklyn performance art at its finest :)

oh, and speaking of klosterman, you've got to read this.  too funny for words.

i also just bought my ticket to the world premiere of the dessner brothers’ (of the national fame) new piece called “the long count” at bam (another favorite).  go to the website and read about it – it’s going to be amazing. i promise a full report after the show at the end of october. and as i alluded to in a previous post, i’m shooting two amazing concerts next week and i can’t wait!

i have recently discovered two sites that have made me really happy and thought that they just might make your day, too:

BLACK CAB SESSIONS: be prepared to waste at least an entire day here. seriously.

YELLOW BIRD PROJECT: oh, how i love interesting people who care about important issues and also make cool stuff.

and here's an article that is just about the cutest damn thing that i have ever read. children + the beatles = awesome.

happy fall!

k

Saturday
Aug152009

lauren flanigan sings the work of thomas pasatieri

i just realized that i have yet to blog about anything opera-related, which is weird because that's my primary work. thankfully, i have a bunch of opera stuff to share. last year, opera america began an incredible series of salon evenings where we have contemporary opera composers come into our office with singers who interpret their work. our first event had the amazing soprano lauren flanigan singing a couple of works by thomas pasatieri, "before breakfast" and "lady macbeth".  it was incredible to have such awesome talents in our office and i was lucky enough to have a front row seat to photograph the event.

sometimes it's hard to believe how lucky i am to get to be a part of things like this. my only wish is that all of you could have heard it, too.

k